‘Shout it Out Loud’: Spokane contractor rocks as KISS frontman, Paul Stanley, after hours

Chris Bewick is living the dream of every KISS fan.

A Spokane-based regional cabinet contractor for Home Depot by day, after hours, Bewick swaps that measuring tape for a guitar and enters into a retro rock universe exploding with psychedelic makeup and pyrotechnics in his portrayal of legendary KISS frontman, Paul Stanley, with the Seattle-based tribute band, Almost Human.

“A lot of famous rock guitarists will say they started playing guitar because of KISS, and I’m one of them. I used to jump around in my room with a tennis racket and blinking Christmas tree lights listening to KISS and pretending I was in the band,” he said.

A farm kid raised in the small town of Sprague, Bewick’s journey into the arena of foggy stages and smoking guitars commenced after his father brought home a reel-to-reel tape player from an overseas military trip. “I’m listening to all of this old R&B and soul music from the ’60s … after that, I started getting into the ’70s rock,” he said. A high-energy child, the older kids who babysat Bewick would often prop him up in front of a turntable with a headset and let him go at it.

“I started listening to records … looking at the albums and reading everything and just imagining what that was like,” he recalled.

From that point forward, Bewick was always holding a guitar.

“All of the small towns had like one guy who was good at something, so I was the guitar guy from Sprague,” he said.

A talented singer and songwriter, Bewick attended WSU in the late 1980s. He toured around campus with a small rock group called Euphoria.

“That was a really big deal. People knew the words to our songs,” he said.

Before his gig with Almost Human, Bewick played with rock tribute groups, the Brittn’s and Sun King. He has even squeezed into spandex to grind out 1980s hits with the Spokane-based metal party band, Hairsteria.

“We’re actually sort of sniffing around, talking about starting that up again next year,” he said.

Becoming Paul Stanley is like prepping for a Vogue magazine photo shoot.

Bewick spends more time in front of the mirror applying makeup than a supermodel.

“It’s grueling. It’s really difficult. It takes about two and a half hours if we’re not rushed.” His galvanizing wardrobe contains multiple skintight appendages. Heavy duty hairspray is a must.

“I started growing my hair out when I joined the KISS band and so now I don’t wear a wig anymore. It’s a struggle to get it to look like 1970s Paul Stanley hair,” he said.

A shock rock group, KISS shot to fame in the mid-1970s with hits, “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “Beth” and “Detroit Rock City.” The band quickly gained notoriety for over-the-top stage theatrics such as levitating drum kits and blood-spitting.

“They’re sort of the original, glam era of ’70s rock,” Bewick said. “They’re so iconic and such characters visually. You can go anywhere in the world and stick out your tongue and someone is gonna know what Gene Simmons is all about.”

Bewick’s counterpart, KISS lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Stanley, is known for smashing pristine stringed instruments onstage at concerts. The wasteful stunt makes Bewick cringe.

“I’ve only done that a few times,” he said.

The name, Almost Human, was derived from an obscure KISS tune of the same title.

“There are a lot of KISS tribute bands, like all around the world, and a lot of the obvious names are taken,” Bewick said.

Almost Human mostly performs west of the Cascades, but they have rocked the Spokane area a couple of times. While out playing at casinos and fairs, Bewick is always hearing comments such as, “Wow, this is just like watching KISS from the ’70s, like in the poster on my wall,” which he views as the ultimate compliment, “because that’s what we’re shooting for, we’re trying to be like 1977-78 KISS,” he said.

After sharing a stage with his Almost Human bandmates for hours, Bewick is more than ready to kick off those platform shoes, grab a makeup wipe and kiss that Stanley persona goodbye. In his free time, he enjoys jamming with his own band, Voltalux, golfing or working on cars.

“I kind of live on two sides of a fence,” he said. Bewick admits his long, natural locks can make that transition from Stanley back into plain old Chris a bit, well … hairy. “Sometimes that’s hard to hide. People will look at you like, ‘What’s up with this guy and his ’70s hairdo?’ ”

Cynthia Reugh can be reached at cynthia13048@gmail.com.