Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron recently revealed a resolution to a decades-old incident with KISS through a post on Instagram.
A young Matt Cameron, before his days with Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, was just a 13-year-old kid in San Diego, jamming in a KISS cover band with his friends. They called themselves “KISS”—yes, the exact name—and even had homemade costumes and DIY pyrotechnics. Their enthusiasm led them to meet Paul Stanley during a KISS soundcheck in 1975, where they proudly presented a photo album of their tribute band.
A few months later, excitement turned to surprise when they received a cease-and-desist letter from KISS’s management, Aucoin Management, instructing them to stop using the name “KISS.”
Cameron has now revealed in his Instagram caption that the matter has been settled. He wrote: “Case Closed. Thank you so much Roman Fernandez for this incredibly thoughtful gift.”
Cameron recalled this incident during an interview on the Howard Stern Show, expressing both amusement and disbelief at the situation.
He said: “I was in a neighborhood KISS cover band when I was 13, 14 or something like that. We played our local high school’s keggers, and whatnot. My dad was friends with the head of the stagehand union in San Diego. KISS was playing there during the ‘Alive!’ tour in ’75. We got to go see KISS do a soundcheck at the San Diego Sports Arena.”
Cameron described their DIY approach to recreating KISS’s iconic image:
“My mom made my costume, and Tim’s mom made his costume. We built these rickety plywood platforms in Tim’s garage. We made flash pots out of coffee cans and a light socket with a little flash powder inside of it. It was janky, low rent, horrible.”
The situation shifted after their encounter with KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Cameron recalled:
“We took this photo album to meet KISS frontman Paul Stanley. We got a photo with him. We said, ‘Hey man, we’re in a KISS cover band. Here’s our stupid little photo album.”
He added: “Four to six months later, we received a cease-and-desist letter from KISS’ then-management company Aucoin Management. We were big KISS fans. KISS used to put the Aucoin Management logo on their albums. We felt excited when we got the letter. We thought, ‘Whoa, we’re getting a letter from Aucoin Management. We’ve made it.’ Then we realized it was a cease-and-desist from KISS.”
