Soft and Music

After playing only a handful of shows in 2007, Kiss will be back in action next year for a series of “Kiss festivals around the Indy car racing series,” bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons tells Billboard.

“We’ll do 15 dates or so,” he adds. “We’ll also go to Australia and New Zealand and maybe do four to six shows, but nothing comprehensive until we feel like it.”

The first date to be announced is March 16 in Melbourne, in conjunction with the Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix. Tickets go on sale Nov. 30.

Meanwhile, it’s been nine years since Kiss’ last studio album, but Simmons says fans shouldn’t hold their breath for another one. “There is nothing in me that wants to go in there and do new music,” he says. “How are you going to deliver it? How are you going to get paid for it if people can just get it for free?

However, Simmons is preparing a boxed set of his solo music, “Monster,” which he says will feature “150 unreleased songs.” And, “Kiss will have another boxed set of unreleased music in the next year.”