Simon Diez Simon Diez

Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming!

Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming!

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Las Vegas and asked Bruce if he’d be cool with us working together again. He kindly said yes, and I was super excited!

The day before all this happened, I was having dinner with my good friend Aubrey when Bruce called to discuss some ideas for our shoot. In the middle of the conversation, he casually mentioned, “Oh, by the way, some of these pics might end up in an article Guitar World Magazine is writing about me and my new line of guitars,” along with a few other things. You know… no big deal, right? But in that moment, the pressure went from "that's cool" to "DAMN!!"

Imagine this: you get the chance to work with your guitar hero—a legendary player whose resume includes Michael Bolton, KISS, and Grand Funk Railroad. I’ve watched this guy hundreds of times on video and listened to his guitar solos even more. In fact, he’s the one playing my all-time favorite solo on KISS's Alive III during "Creatures of the Night." On top of that, he's an incredible human being, and now we were creating magic together. Oh, and there's a chance our work could be featured in one of the biggest music magazines in the world. Opportunities like this? They don’t come around every day.

We worked at the Rock and Roll Chapel and totally crushed the shoot. The pictures turned out amazing, but what really made that day special for me was something Bruce said. I’ll never forget it. He looked at me and said, “I can tell by the look on your face that we’re doing good, but you’re not completely happy. What can we do to take this from good to great?” I told him, “Well, I love working with you, but right now, I feel like I’m trying to pose you instead of just letting you be you. With all due respect, I don’t think we need that. I want Bruce Kulick the rockstar, not just Bruce Kulick my friend.” He nodded, said "OK" grabbed his sunglasses, and BAM!!!! I saw the transformation happen right there in front of my eyes. You have no idea how hard it was to stay cool and not totally geek out while Bruce Kulick, the rockstar, played just for me and my camera. It was absolutely insane—one of the best days of my life. Actually, that day I snapped my favorite shot outside of my studio. Mike, who is another die-hard KISS fan and one of my best friends, was there with me, said, “I can’t believe what you just said to him, and I can’t believe what just happened. This is incredible.”

I couldn’t be happier with life right now. This is awesome!
Thank you, Bruce, for letting me be a part of your amazing journey. Words can’t express how much this meant to me.

Here’s the article from Guitar World Magazine:
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/bruce-kulick-axn-custom-guitars




**This picture was shot with Nikon Z6 III + Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 Pro APS-C Lens For Nikon Z-Mount

https://viltrox.com/products/viltrox-af-27mm-f1-2-aps-c-lens-for-nikno-z-mount

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