Two brothers legally changed their names to monikers to provide some extra “oomph” to their marketing campaign for their new project.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times
So, how seriously can you take someone who sets out to reinvent himself, who has no work experience in his new field, who auctions his DNA on eBay and who legally changes his name to “Rock Star” or “Super Star”?
Well, apparently seriously enough to attract industry talent as diverse as a Grammy award-winning metal rocker and KISS bandmate, a film and TV producer and a conservative political watchdog and Pepperdine University professor.
Malibu residents, and twin brothers, Marc and Kris Kancler say it’s not about ego. Their new personas reflect their backgrounds in marketing. When they set out on a new project, they needed some extra “oomph.”
“We are working on a CD, a book and have just landed a deal with [a major studio franchise],” Marc (otherwise known as “Rock Star”) said in an interview with The Malibu Times. “I thought the name change would be a good way to get some attention,” adding jokingly, “I suggested to Kris that he take the name ‘Porn Star,’ but he wasn’t into it.”
The book the brothers are soon to publish, titled, “The First 90 & Beyond,” focuses on Kris Kancler’s (Super Star) battle to overcome years of addiction. Their CD, titled “Serenity,” reflects, Kris said, “What I found by becoming sober.”
“Kris’ addiction was a journey of delusion, anger and sadness,” Marc said. “It was an emotional roller coaster. His sobriety is 95 percent of the reason for this project.”
Kris became sober about nine months ago, around the time his father, a physicist and entrepreneur, died and when the brothers changed their names. Their drivers’ licenses and credit cards feature their new monikers.
“We grew up in Rochester, New York,” Marc said. “We were total KISS freaks and I always told my dad that one day I was going to be a rock star. A couple of months before he passed, I was able to go to my dad and say, ‘Well, I’m a rock star now.'”
Their ambitions didn’t always include shirtless guitar riffing and fire breathing live performances. Kris was a certified Microsoft engineer and started his own consulting firm where, he said, “I was pretty successful until I started doing coke and lost all my clients. I’d been drunk since I was 12 years old.”
In Chicago, where the brothers moved while in their 20s, Marc owned a web design company that catered to musicians. Marc plays the guitar and writes music; Kris plays drums and writes lyrics. They played together in a band with another set of twins.
Their book and CD project became a way to help others facing addiction, as much as a celebration of Kris’ newly productive life.
“The first 90 days of sobriety are the hardest,” Kris said. “I remember sitting on the kitchen floor with my hands under my legs, just concentrating on getting through the next moment. It was either that or wake up in someone else’s house.”
Declaring they want to “make sobriety cool,” Marc and Kris launched a nonprofit organization called We Are One to reach out to at-risk youth through their book and CD, a speaking tour and a possible reality TV show. They moved permanently to Malibu and found a sympathetic community.
“Recovering in Malibu is the best thing that could’ve happened to me,” Kris said. “People have been very receptive and ready to help us get our story out. If this helps someone else stay sober just six hours longer, we’ve won.”
In fact, their story intrigued local professional musicians and, despite a lack of any other recording history, the Kanclers found themselves hooked up with their childhood idols, guitarist Bob Kulick of KISS fame and KISS’ manager, Doc McGhee. They are all working together on the CD in a Van Nuys studio.
News of the duo spread and music producer Spencer Proffer was brought on board, along with producer George Paige of GPA Entertainment. Both have years of industry experience and some 150 major movie and television projects between them.
“I was totally taken by how likeable Marc and Kris are,” Paige said. “It’s like years ago in Boston, when the guys in Aerosmith kept begging me to come hear them play. I finally went to hear them sing in a school gym. Joey Kramer did this 20-minute drum solo and I was about to leave. Then they played “Dream On” and I was hooked. I managed them for about 15 minutes. Meeting Kris and hearing them was like that.”
Paige said they are about to ink a deal with a “major studio franchise,” with Rock Star and Super Star contributing two songs, but he didn’t want names published till the project was sealed.
“It’s incredibly ironic that they ended up working with the manager of KISS,” Paige said. “I admit I was skeptical when I heard about the name change thing. But it was just a silly marketing idea. They are great, sincere guys.”
Pepperdine professor Robert G. Kaufman, author of “In Defense of the Bush Doctrine” and the antithesis of rocker-dom, felt the same.
“I work out with Kris at Malibu Gym and, when he told me his story, I offered to help structure his book for him,” Kaufman said. “This is not my usual readership. But these guys are the prototypical great American story. My wife said that I never looked so cool before.”
Marc said he is a firm believer in the power of promotion.
“The thing with marketing, shall we say my source of DNA, was a joke,” he said. “My girlfriend said I couldn’t get national attention in one day. So I offered my sperm on eBay, as the genes of ‘The world’s most perfect DNA.’ Well, it’s not, of course, but I got 33 bids.” His girlfriend ended up buying it so no one else could.
“This is about reaching people who need help,” Marc continued. “I say, let’s get on this roller coaster and worry about the ride later.”
More information about Rock Star and Super Star can be obtained online at www.rockstarrockstar.com