Chris Cameron | The Mercury
Jayme Thornton
Ace Frehley, founding member of the rock band KISS, has had a busy year. The rock/metal guitarist sometimes known as “Space Ace” for his out-of-this-world performances and his sci-fi stage persona, recently released his first album in five years titled, “Space Invader,” he got engaged, and he was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame with his old bandmates from KISS.
The long-time New York native moved to the West Coast to live with his fiancé, Rachel Gordon, who shares some of the songwriting credits on his new album. Moving to San Diego has helped fuel his creativity.
“It’s a less stressful place and moving here allowed me to focus on the songwriting,” Frehley said.
The guitarist has Attention Deficit Disorder and sought out a quiet studio in California to write and record the new album.
“I don’t have a formula for writing,” he said. “Sometimes it starts on an electric or acoustic guitar just as a melody. It might come to me in the morning or if I’m driving and I’ve noticed that if I buy a new guitar, playing it always inspires me to write new songs.”
Frehley notes that he has about 60 guitars in his current collection, but that collection exceeded more than 150 instruments at one time. Within that collection are the guitarist’s signature Les Paul models manufactured by Gibson and Epiphone.