Matt Cameron received a “cease and desist” letter from Kiss at 14

One of the most important drummers of Grunge, Matt Cameron first achieved fame as a member of Soundgarden and then as part of Pearl Jam, band he is also a member since 1998. They are currently promoting their latest album “Dark Matter” and in an interview with Howard Stern (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), Cameron recalled a funny story involving Kiss.

Since he was a teenager, he has been a big fan of Kiss and he formed with a few friends a cover band of the group back in the 70s. But after having the chance to meet Paul Stanley before one show and showing him a photobook of his cover group it took only a few months for them to receive a “cease and desist” letter from Kiss management.

Matt Cameron recalls receiving a “cease and desist” letter from Kiss when he was 14

“I was in a neighborhood Kiss cover band when I was 13, 14 or something like that. We played (at) some of our local high schools and my dad was friends with the head of Stagehand Union in San Diego. So when Kiss was playing there, it was during the Alive tour, that was 75. We got (the chance) to go see Kiss do a soundcheck at the San Diego Sports Arena. I brought the two guys that I was in the Kiss band with, Tim and Dave Mahoney to the soundcheck. We brought our photo album from our stupid Kiss cover band.”

“My mom made me my costume, 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 little flash powder inside of them. It was janky low rent horrible. So anyways, we took this photo album to meet Paul Stanley, we got a photo with him. So we were sort of like ‘Hey man, we’re in a Kiss cover band. Here’s our stupid little photo album’.”

He continued:

“Cut to like, I don’t know, four to six months later, we get a cease and desist letter from Aucoin management and we were big Kiss fans. So Kiss used to put the logo from Aucoin management on their albums. So we were all excited, ‘Wow, we’re getting a letter from Aucoin managament, we made it!’ And it was a cease and desist from Kiss. I think it was because we just called the band ‘Kiss’. We didn’t really think ahead there. So after that we had a “Kiss” in parenthesis imitation,” Matt Cameron said.

Kiss was formed in New York City in 1973 and was active until 2023 when the group came to an end. The original line-up had Paul Stanley (Vocals and guitar), Gene Simmons (Bass and vocals), Ace Frehley (Guitar and occasional vocals) and Peter Criss (Drums and occasional vocals). That line-up remained together for seven years, until Peter Criss left the group.

Two years later it was Ace Frehley who decided to leave and although the original band got together again for a reunion in the 90s and early 00s, it was Gene and Paul who kept the group going from the 80s onwards. By the time Soundgarden released their debut album “Ultramega OK” in 1988, Kiss already had released 14 successful studio albums.