By Joe Shepter

With more than twenty-five years and thousands of sold-out shows in its rear view mirror, mega-band KISS ain't taking its lead foot up off the gas. Go grab your Guinness Book, because KISSONLINE is maybe the largest, and definitely the most rockin' band site around.

Clocking it at 2.6 gigs, KISSONLINE is so packed with facts, figures, and face-paint, it's darn near disturbing. There are tour dates, photos, song clips, and interviews by the thousands. There's also a discography, a whole concert recorded by handicam, and the KISS Army Depot, where you can buy a life-sized KISS cutout for $29.95. But let's not forget the good stuff. What about guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley talking about his critically acclaimed run as the lead in the Phantom of the Opera in Toronto? Or daily KISS news translated into eight different languages, including Croatian?

As KISS bassist Gene Simmons says, "KISSONLINE is the bloodline that keeps the heartbeat of KISS fandom pumping. And we all know the answer to this one... one pump or two?!"

The man behind the mayhem is KISSONLINE Webmaster Mike Brandvold. "I'm one of those guys who never stopped wearing his KISS T-shirt, no matter what," he says.

Brandvold's story begins in 1995, when he was working as a network manager for a hardware chain. Hearing about HTML, Brandvold did what any lifelong fan of the band would do: he immediately built a KISS site.

That site was called KISS OTAKU and though it started out slowly, it soon got a big shot in the arm. In 1996, KISS reformed with its original lineup, put the makeup back on, and erupted with all its fire-breathing, blood-spitting fury on stages worldwide. The response was insane. A whole concert sold out in six minutes, KISS dolls reinvaded store shelves, and the band became the top-grossing act of the year.

At the time, KISS gave Brandvold a ticket to every concert, and he turned around and gave them to anyone who had a camera and was willing to write a review. Everything he got back from those reporters went up on the site. "I never want to decide what some fan will think is cool," he says. "So I just put it all up, even if it's out of focus."

With that philosophy, KISS OTAKU soon grew to be such a hot ticket that even the band took notice. In 1998, Brandvold received a call from Simmons, asking if he was interested in doing the site full time.

Was he interested? "I think it's everyone's dream as a kid to be able to work for their favorite band," Bandvold says.

Working for Signatures Network, which is the exclusive licensee of the KISS franchise, Brandvold now has access to all the band's official stuff. He can put up everything from Psycho Circus Comics and prototype packaging to the special German KISS logo (the usual KISS logo has to be altered in Germany because of its similarity to a Nazi symbol). And he does.

To keep the digital show on the road, KISSONLINE uses Adobe tools. All of the site's 6,200 pages and 22,000 elements are handled in Adobe GoLive®, with graphics produced and optimized in Adobe Photoshop® and Adobe ImageReady®. "I've pushed about every limit I can on GoLive," says Brandvold, "and I can't get the little guy to say uncle."

As for Brandvold and KISSONLINE, the marriage is a happy one. Asked about his favorite memory so far, he's baffled at first. "There are so many," he says. "I got to see the band play the World Championship Wrestling Monday Night Nitro and get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame." Wrestling and rock and roll, what more could anyone ask for?