When Scott McClusky was 9 years old in 1977, he had an experience at school one day that changed his life. "I went to catholic school and one day some of the kids were passing around these KISS trading cards," McClusky says in a phone interview from his California office. "That was my first exposure to KISS. I saw this card with Ace on it and I was just entranced by that card."

Now McClusky has made it his life's work to play, move, dress and act more like Ace than Ace himself. If anyone would have been asked to stand in for the KISS guitarist, you'd figure McClusky would be the ideal candidate.

When the subject comes up about McClusky ever having ever filled in or even been asked to fill in for the original guitarist, he laughs in a coy manner and then assumes the mock-formal tone of a presidential press secretary. "I can neither confirm nor deny those rumors," he says, with an audible nudge-nudge, wink-wink.

When Scott McClusky moved from upstate New York to Hollywood, California to pursue a career in film and acting, he ended up landing a part in the New Line Cinema film Detroit Rock City as a double for Ace Frehley(Click to see photos). Soon thereafter McClusky was contacted by KISS for help with a fall Playboy photo shoot featuring models in KISS make up. Scott painted all the Ace Frehley-faced playmates and helped with the twenty-plus others. (Click to see photos)

After simulating the KISS concert experience for ten years, McClusky has acquired some of the canary-eating swagger that is always typified the members of KISS. When asked about the competitiveness of the tribute band business, he dismissively retorts, "There's no competition with other bands, 'cause we smoke 'em all." He is unfailingly quick to separate himself from the pretenders in this genre of pretense.

To date, Hotter Than Hell has been featured on CNN, Entertainment Tonight, American Journal, MTV, VH1, Access Hollywood, and NBC's Today Show. HTH just wrapped up filming a documentary entitled "Mockstars" for Artisan Productions that will be released for television internationally.

Who knows, maybe one day Simmons and Stanley will simply hand the car keys over to McClusky and tell him to keep the KISS machine going.