In terms of how he ended up playing with Criss, Stone indicated: “Well, I went to the audition—and I got the gig! “Laughs” I was still living in Los Angeles when Peter was looking for a singer and guitar player. My girlfriend at the time was friends with this woman who was friends with Mark Montague, who was the bass player in Peter Criss’s band. And somehow, through the grapevine, I heard about Mark Montague.

I got the number, got Mark’s number, and called him. I said, “Hey, this woman said I could get an audition.” He said, “Yeah, yeah.” He set me up, and I came down. The main reason I did it—well, I loved KISS. And I’d never really seen what Peter looked like, you know? I really wanted to go—well, number one, just to jam with Peter Criss, because that’s really cool. Then, I just wanted to see what he looked like as a normal dude, you know?

I walked in and met him, but he was behind the kit. I can’t remember what songs we did. I think it was “Nothing to Lose” and something else. I was singing and playing guitar. He counted off the first song—dink, dink, dink on the cowbell—and we kicked in. And I was like, “Holy crap, that’s the guy.” Peter has a style—just the way he hits his toms, you can tell it’s him. It’s instant. I’m like, “Holy shit, that’s fucking Peter Criss!” He’s like the rock and roll heavy metal Ringo to me, and he’s a big jazz fan, too. I mean, he loves Gene Krupa, that kind of thing.”

On what it as like working with Criss in the studio, Stone recalled: “Peter, I’ve got to say, was always super solid. You know, he steps up and delivers the goods. Peter was always consistent when I played with him. There were times when he had problems with his shoulders and other issues, like arthritis. Even if he was hurting during the day and took it easy at soundcheck, you wouldn’t know what it would be like when showtime came.”

With respect to what size of shows that Criss‘ band played, Stone revealed: “We played mostly small and medium-sized clubs, but the band was great. And you know, the lineup with Mike McLaughlin was really good—it was a solid rock band. I’m so honored to have worked with any of the KISS guys. And like I said, Peter was always great. I learned so much from him, and there were so many nights after shows when we’d sit in the back lounge, crack open a Rolling Rock, and I’d just fire questions at him because I wanted to learn. And I figured, man, who else could give you better insights than a guy who sold 40 million records—or whatever it was, 100 million at that point? I don’t even know.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Mike Stone via Metal-Rules‘ website.