Although KISS catapulted to fame in the 1970s--the height of marijuana usage--he now decries drug use. Although he's raising two children with actress and former playmate Shannon Tweed-- who is in his new movie-- he's wary of marriage. And despite admitting to his Jewish and Israeli heritage, Simmons would rather start a new religion, KISS-tianity. (No kidding.)

Indeed, Simmons, who is also an actor (Runaway, Wanted Dead or Alive), makes for an entertaining interview. After all, anyone who has made a name for himself, in part, by donning outrageous heavy metal regalia and heavy, Kabuki-style makeup has to be intriguing, right? And, given KISS's phenomenal success--80 million-plus records sold, many of them gold and platinum--we'd be foolish not to pay attention.

The long, curly-haired Simmons appears sans makeup to promote Detroit Rock City, the New Line film that stars Edward Furlong (American History X), Sam Huntington (Jungle2Jungle), newcomer James DeBello and Giuseppe Andrews (Unstrung Heroes) as four teens who do all kinds of crazy things to get to a KISS concert. Meanwhile, Simmons, KISS co-founder Paul ("Starchild") Stanley, and band members Ace ("Space") Frehley and Peter ("Catman") Criss appear as themselves, belting out such tunes as the obvious Detroit Rock City and Nothing Can Keep Me From You (Editor's Note: See related film review.)

Here are excerpts from a recent interview with Gene Simmons:

Jewish Family & Life!: What made you decide to produce Detroit Rock City?

Simmons: Well, it's either that or working for a living. KISS is always accused of being sort of manipulative in its intent as opposed to just sort of going out there and doing whatever it feels, and I will grant you that that's exactly what we are. We actually sit around thinking, "How can we do this better? How can we make this bigger?" But it doesn't end there because KISS should be all things to all people. I'd like to think that religion doesn't have one on us, and I'd prefer to have KISS-tianity as a matter of fact. It has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?

GenJ: And your role in KISS-tianity would be?

Simmons: [deadpans] I would be God. Why should the world worship that other guy....? He's Jewish too. What's He got [that I don't]?

GenJ: This from a nice Jewish boy?

Simmons: Israeli too. I suppose whether I define myself as a Jew or not is beside the point because the world does. It's like whether or not you define yourself as black or not is not the point. You are black, I am Jewish, and you are whatever you are, except the difference though is that the white Anglo-Saxon-Protestant majority has a choice and there's a lot of leeway. The minorities have less of a choice of how they define themselves. The power elite simply says, "You are that, that's all there is." So, I'm a Jew because I'm a Jew--that's what society tells me.

GenJ: Why did you change your name from Chaim Witz to Gene Simmons?

Simmons: I want choices. We're all given religions, names, nationalities, other stuff. When do we get to choose? The few things that you get to choose are your lip color and your hair color and how high your shoes are going to be. That's not enough for me. I want to choose my name, I want to choose where I live, who I socialize with, and I want to have my own life, my own identity.

GenJ: Are you concerned that Detroit Rock City will send a positive message about drugs to kids?

Simmons: No. I prefer to lead my own lifestyle and practice what I preach as opposed to some moms and dads who say, "Don't you ever smoke" [while they're smoking]. There's that sort of double standard where people tell you how you should lead your life, but they don't practice what they preach. Preachers, priests tell us, "Don't do this, don't do that," and then they molest our children in the basement.

GenJ: Why do you think so many band members get into drugs?

Simmons: [with a sardonic smile] I love that the bands get into drugs.

I have no sympathy for anybody who is privileged and decides to [harm] themselves. That's not tragic, that's a choice. If you're being tortured someplace or you get run over by a car, that's tragic because you don't have a choice in life. How come it's always white guys on top of skyscrapers [saying] "The world is terrible, I've got two cars [and] I'm gonna kill myself"?

GenJ: Tell us about you and your wife Shannon Tweed.

Simmons: For the record, we're not married. I've never been married. Marriage is a wonderful institution, but I've heard you've gotta be nuts to be in an institution.

GenJ: How many children do you have?

Simmons: I have two children that I know of. [They're] 10 and 7, one boy and one girl.

GenJ: How much of a role did you have in the making of Detroit Rock City?

Simmons: I sort of set the rules [while making the picture] and I have the most to lose and so does KISS because if the sense of it and the vibe of it is wrong, it hurts KISS and, like Disney, I try to protect all things KISS. It was very important that the feeling of the movie was that KISS--we're sort of heroic figures as opposed to heroin-induced losers.

Connie Benesch is Entertainment Content Editor for GenerationJ.com, JewishFamily.com, Jvibe.com and JewishCulture.com. She has an extensive background covering entertainment for numerous outlets, including E!Online, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Entertainment Weekly and The Los Angeles Times. In addition to her work for the Jewish websites, Benesch does content consulting, editing and writing for new and about-to-be revamped corporate websites.