Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron was in a KISS cover band as a teenager ... and got a sent a cease-and-desist letter from the actual KISS.
The rocker, who first gained fame as a member of Soundgarden and also played in Temple of the Dog, recounted the story during a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show.
"I was in a neighborhood KISS cover band when I was 13, 14, or something like that," Cameron recalled. "We played local high schools, keggers, whatnot. And my dad was friends with the head of the stagehand union in San Diego, so when KISS was playing there — it was during the Alive! tour, so that was '75 — we got to go see KISS do a soundcheck at the San Diego Sports Arena."
"So I brought the two guys that I was in the KISS band with, Tim and Dave Mahoney, to the soundcheck, and we brought our photo album from our stupid KISS cover band," Cameron continued. "My mom made my costume, Tim's mom made his costume, we built these rickety platforms in Tim's garage. We made flash pots out of coffee cans and a light socket with a little flash powder inside of them. It was janky, low rent, horrible. So anyways, we took this photo album to meet Paul Stanley, we got a photo with him. We were sort of like, 'Hey man, we're in a KISS cover band, here's our stupid little photo album.'"
"Cut to like, I dunno, four to six months later, we get a cease-and-desist letter from Aucoin Management. We were big KISS fans. KISS used to put the logo from Aucoin Management on their albums. So we were all excited. 'Whoa, we’re getting a letter from Aucoin Management, we've made it!' And it was a cease-and-desist from KISS. Because I think we just called our band KISS. We didn't really think ahead there. So after that, we had 'KISS,' in parentheses, 'Imitation.'"
KISS has said they are retiring from touring and letting digital avatars take their place.
Soon, another KISS imitation will become the real KISS. At their final concert at Madison Square Garden in December, KISS unveiled new digital avatars created in collaboration with Pophouse and George Lucas' visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic that will perform virtual shows as KISS while the real band retires from touring.
The band recently sold its song catalog, master recordings, publishing rights, name, image, and likeness to Pophouse, the Swedish company behind the popular ABBA Voyage virtual concert residency, for more than $300 million.
"As part of the partnership, Pophouse will create digital versions of KISS that will allow the band and their unique personas to live forever," Pophouse and Kiss said in a press release. "Through a magical combination of cutting-edge technology and unrivaled creativity, Pophouse will bring the full, authentic KISS experience to both existing and new fans for years to come. The avatar show is planned to launch in 2027."
Pearl Jam just released their new album 'Dark Matter.'
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The other band that Matt Cameron is in besides KISS (Imitation) — you know, a little band called Pearl Jam — just released a new album of their own, Dark Matter, on Friday.
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