Las Vegas Weekly

April 2, 2009 · 11:47 PM

The KISS is mini, the reception mighty

By Melissa Arseniuk

It's amazing what a little well-placed face paint will do for your love life.

Photo: LAX

When it comes to getting girls, Joseph Fatale says it’s all about the make-up.

In fact, the Mini KISS bassist says he gets more action with the make-up on than off.

“We get more girls being in Mini KISS make-up than we doing being out of Mini KISS make-up,” he said. “It brings it a lot. It’s like a magnet.”

Sitting on a couch backstage at LAX before the band’s Wednesday night performance, Fatale, a.k.a. “Mini Gene,” held nothing back.

“We’ve had our share of good times with the girls, absolutely,” he said. “It’s all good.”

There’s more to the make-up than breaking the ice with the opposite sex, however.

Jeremy Stott, a.k.a. “Mini Paul,” said that the elaborate face paint is a key part of the band’s performance.

“It wouldn’t be KISS (without the iconic face paint). It would be just anybody else,” he said.

One might imagine a group of make-up wearing little men dressed up like the members of KISS might be given a hard time, but the mini musicians said problems are few and far between.

“There’s always been a lot of love for us,” Fatale said, noting he’s been assuming the role of Gene Simmons for over a decade now.

The band’s drummer, Kurt Levee, a.k.a. “Mini Peter,” said the flack they catch has nothing to do with their music or their size.

“There’ve been some incidents, but what do you say? It’s jealousy,” he said.

“You’ve got your drunken idiots,” Fatale acknowledged, “(but) nobody really messes with us.”

“And if they do, we’ll take them out,” Levee said with a laugh.

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