Head of the class

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Head teacher: Gene Simmons

What do rock legends Kiss look like without the make-up? Sitting across from legendary frontman Gene Simmons, he of the unfeasible tongue and groupie-grooved bedpost, is like facing Ozzy Osbourne's well-preserved younger brother.

But there's more to Simmons than your average mega-rich Yankee stadium rock superstar. A former sixth grade teacher in New York - before Kiss smacked their way to global fame on the back of cartoon-style cosmetics and stadiumfriendly anthems - Simmons is going back to his roots in Rock School, a reality TV programme that (whisper it) possesses the vibe of integrity.

Riffing on the tune cranked out by Jack Black's film School Of Rock, Simmons has taken on the task of turning ten uptight classical music pupils from Christ's Hospital School, West Sussex, into a killer rock band. Their prize? A gig supporting Motˆrhead. Simmons scarcely needs the money but he is driven by an inquisitive mind and an irresistible chance to see how his life could have turned out.

'I'd only been teaching about six months when Kiss took off,' he says. 'And I've always wanted to know whether I'd be any good.'

Though Rock School doffs its cap to the clichÈd US picture of quaint olde England - Christ's pupils sport Tudor-style uniforms and Simmons plays up to his ladykiller image by arriving at the school with a brace of blonde beauties - what shines through is how Simmons sincerely believes in his mission.

'My job is to create little rock gods. You don't have to play your instruments very well at all. It's all about attitude. What it comes down to is: "Do you think you are somebody or not?" And if you do, don't worry about ruffling feathers. 'I advocate breaking social rules made up by somebody for no particular reason.'

Having shot to stardom beneath the Kiss make-up, Simmons is an intriguing mixture of the open and the opaque. He greets me barefaced but for the interview dons his rock'n'roll shades, a surrogate mask for a private man.

Of course, Rock School would fall flat on its effects pedals without the children. But Simmons has mined solid gold in the form of Lord Of The Rings-obsessed imp Josh Bell, the kind of genuinely eccentric talent The X Factor would kill for. The oddball outsider in a class of viola and organplaying 13-year-olds, Bell becomes lead singer and brings a lump to the throat as he seizes on rock'n'roll as his salvation from eternal geekdom.

'Emperor [Bell's rock star name] was the one who had the true rock'n'roll feeling,' says Simmons. 'He had nothing to lose: frontmen have to have nothing to lose. He's the outcast but it's the smallest dog that barks the loudest.'

Feeding his initially unwilling pupils a diet of classic rock, from Queen to Kiss signature hit, God Gave Rock'n'Roll To You, Simmons is fuelled by his belief that 'rock is the electric church of the world, with the power to bring people together'.

Simmons lived in Israel until he turned eight and was raised by his mother who survived a Nazi concentration camp. And like many immigrants to the US, he is a passionate believer in the American dream. His credo - 'rock'n'roll is about finding out who you are' - strikes a deeply personal chord.

'What I fell in love with about Christ's Hospital was that not everybody's rich - what counts is having the

brains and the ambition.' And, six months after filming Rock School, Simmons is still trading e-mails with Emperor Josh Bell.

Don't be surprised if Simmons, ever the entrepreneur, ends up managing him.

Rock School starts on Channel 4 on Friday at 9.30pm.

 

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