For greater than half a century, KISS’ Gene Simmons has been one of the crucial recognizable figures of rock and roll. Simmons rose to stardom because the “demonic” bassist and co-lead singer of the rock band shaped in New York Metropolis in 1973. 

“All my life I have been a chameleon. All the things is a dressing up,” Simmons mentioned in an interview for “CBS Mornings” that aired on Wednesday. 

However his devilish make-up and theatrical persona are a stark distinction to his very humble upbringing because the son of an immigrant single mom. Lengthy earlier than he grew to become a KISS icon, he was recognized merely as Chaim Witz, that means “life” in Hebrew.

The highway to KISS

“You wish to be in a rock band?” Simmons recalled his mom asking. “That is not going to fly, babe.”

Earlier than transferring to New York at age 8, Simmons was born in Israel – a toddler of Jewish refugees from Hungary. His mom, Flora Klein, survived the Holocaust.

“After the horrific unimaginable life my mom went via the place she noticed her total household, our household, worn out in entrance of her face, each resolution I used to be going to make I considered my mom first,” Simmons mentioned.

Simmons vowed to be there for his mom each step of the way in which, reminding himself, “Do not break your mom’s coronary heart. Do not do it.”

He mentioned it was an statement his mom made that impressed him to be a musician. Whereas watching The Beatles carry out on “The Ed Sullivan Present” one night time, Simmons recalled his mom coming in and commenting in Hungarian.   

“I will always remember this…she mentioned one thing like, in Hungarian, ‘They’re actually bizarre individuals.’ And at that time, I assumed they’re cool,” Simmons mentioned.

The start of “Rock and Roll All Nite”

After making some cash from singing background for different artists at New York Metropolis’s Electrical Girl Studios, Simmons and his pal Paul Stanley went on to kind the legendary band KISS of their early 20s. 

Eddie Kramer, who labored with The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, agreed to supply and engineer their first demo. However they struggled in obscurity till a problem from their label’s president led to one of the crucial well-known strains in rock historical past.

Whereas shopping for frozen scorching canines and a can of beans in San Francisco, Simmons remembers Stanley turning to him and buzzing among the lyrics to the tune that will later change into the enduring 1975 hit “Rock and Roll All Nite.”

“We have been in San Francisco, we went downstairs to purchase frozen hotdogs and a can of beans. And Paul mentioned, what do you consider this?” 

“That is actually good. What do you bought? He goes, ‘That is all I’ve acquired,'” mentioned Simmons after Stanley sang the refrain. They finally put extra verses collectively. 

“And that is how the tune was born,” he mentioned.

By 1977, following the discharge of their live performance album “Alive!”, they have been one of the crucial well-known bands in America. At the moment, KISS has extra gold albums than some other American band and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. 

Although KISS retired from performing as a band, Simmons, now 75, is presently on tour.

“You are operating a race in a way, the race of life and the end line is developing proper forward of you. What are you going to do? Decelerate, or are you going to hurry up?” Simmons mentioned.

An electrical boat firm with roots in Torrance is taking steps to deliver battery-powered workboats and charging infrastructure to the Port of Los Angeles, the place diesel-burning vessels emit tons of carbon dioxide.

Arc Boat Co., a Southern California startup that sells electrical boats for leisure use, mentioned it’ll open a analysis and improvement facility on the port in June.

The ability indicators a transfer towards electrification on the nation’s busiest port and marks Arc’s growth into the industrial sector.

Arc’s promise to ship an electrified fleet of workboats comes 5 years forward of a 2030 deadline set by the ports of Los Angeles and Lengthy Seaside to transition to zero-emission gear.

The dual ports, located on greater than 10,000 acres on San Pedro Bay, depend on heavy-duty cranes, tugboats and vehicles to maneuver cargo. Changing the roughly 2,000 tugboats within the U.S. with electrical alternate options might forestall greater than 1.6 million automobiles’ price of greenhouse gas emissions yearly, in line with Arc.

“Throughout the complete marine business, going electrical makes an unbelievable quantity of sense,” Arc co-founder and Chief Govt Mitch Lee mentioned in an interview. “These boats don’t have fumes, and you’ll lower your working prices considerably.”

Electrical boats require minimal upkeep and 0 gas, an interesting mixture for industrial operators who wish to lower your expenses and customers seeking to benefit from the water, Lee mentioned. Arc’s boats are additionally quieter and simpler to maneuver than conventional boats, he mentioned.

Co-founders Ryan Cook dinner, left, and Mitch Lee sit on an electrical boat at Arc Boat Co. on Could 12, 2025, in Torrance.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Occasions)

The electrification of autos on the water might quickly acquire momentum, mentioned Petros Ioannou, an engineering professor at USC who researches transportation expertise.

“The principle cause for going electrical is absolutely the setting,” Ioannou mentioned. “The query is whether or not they’re able to remedy the technological and logistical issues” introduced by electrical boats, together with energy, vary and charging limitations.

Regardless of the challenges of constructing a battery able to propelling a ship, a number of corporations together with Navier and X Shore are producing and promoting electrical vessels. Arc’s enterprise presently revolves round leisure boats for water sports activities, beginning at $268,000.

In a partnership with Portland, Ore.-based shipyard Diversified Marine Inc., Arc plans to retrofit a 26-foot-long truckable tugboat with lithium-ion battery packs and a 600-horsepower drivetrain. The vessel would be the first zero-emission tug to help operations on the Port of Los Angeles, Arc mentioned.

Tugboats are a vital instrument on the ports of Los Angeles and Lengthy Seaside, the place they information bigger vessels and transfer gear equivalent to barges and cranes.

“Tugs run quick, repetitive missions requiring excessive torque, and begin and finish on the identical house base,” Arc mentioned in an announcement asserting its retrofitting project. “Not solely does that make them well-suited to going electrical, however doing so drastically reduces working bills.”

Teaming up with Diversified Marine permits Arc to launch its new workboat in collaboration with a number of entities that do enterprise on the port, Lee mentioned.

“Diversified already is aware of find out how to faucet into the port operations and get this vessel to work,” he mentioned. “We’re modernizing their tugboat and deploying it into the Port of L.A., and we’re in a position to present charging infrastructure as properly.”

A tugboat is retrofitted with an electrical motor at Arc Boat Co. on Could 12, 2025, in Torrance.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Occasions)

Switching from diesel-powered to electrical workboats can save industrial operators roughly 50% on upkeep and gas prices, Lee mentioned, including that Arc’s new analysis and improvement facility will present the groundwork to make the change doable.

The corporate didn’t disclose how a lot cash it was placing into the analysis facility and accompanying charging community, however mentioned it in all probability would require an funding of lower than $10 million.

The ability will sit inside a 35-acre analysis campus operated by the nonprofit AltaSea. It would help prototype improvement of electrical workboats, on-water testing and fleet deployment, Arc mentioned. The corporate builds its battery packs out of a separate facility in Los Angeles.

“Decarbonization at our ports is a crucial step to attaining actual, substantive local weather progress,” AltaSea mentioned in an announcement. “Arc Boat’s new R&D facility and charging infrastructure will assist make the Port of L.A. a worldwide mannequin for sustainable maritime operations.”

Launched in 2021 by former Boeing and SpaceX engineers, Arc has a mission to impress every thing on the water, Lee mentioned. Earlier than co-founding Arc with fellow Northwestern alum Ryan Cook dinner, Lee grew up within the Bay Space and continuously boated together with his household.

Arc has obtained greater than $100 million in funding funds from California-based enterprise capital companies together with Andreessen Horowitz and Decrease Carbon Capital, amongst others. The startup employs 170 folks, together with consultants with backgrounds at electrical automobile corporations Rivian and Tesla.

The corporate didn’t disclose its annual income, however mentioned demand for its boats is excessive. Two fashions can be found to be delivered nationwide, together with the Arc Sport, designed for wake browsing and water snowboarding; and the Arc One, a luxurious cruiser.

Arc is the one electrical boat firm to construct its personal battery packs in-house, Lee mentioned.

Though meeting is finished in Los Angeles, President Trump’s steep tariffs on U.S. commerce companions — together with a 145% tax on items imported from China — have nonetheless introduced a problem. The tariff on China has since been decreased to 30%.

“We’re positively impacted by tariffs and the electrical automobile market has heavy ties to Chinese supply chains,” Lee mentioned. “We’re additionally forward of the curve and much more vertically built-in than most corporations.”

With ambitions to construct electrical boats able to hauling cargo and touring lengthy distances, Arc might want to keep on the forefront of battery improvement, Ioannou from USC mentioned. Producing its batteries domestically might give Arc a bonus as tariffs disrupt world commerce.

“Whether or not this house will progress in a fast manner will very a lot rely upon the battery expertise and availability,” Ioannou mentioned.

“While you go from gasoline to electrical, there are specific advantages that you just get, however a number of complications too,” he mentioned.