Interview with Brian Wheat of Tesla

From the back of a car in the middle of an Autobaan somewhere in Germany, the voice of Tesla bassist Brian Wheat was at the other end of the line. It’s eight thirty in the evening, on the way to the airport for a flight back home to the USA, and Brian had just finished a long day off interviews and press for the forthcoming Tesla album, 'Into the Now'. Despite Brian freezing in the driving snow and minus ten degree temperatures he was in great form and more than eager to chat about all things Tesla.

Back in 1995 when Tesla decided to call it a day, looking back now, did you think that it would be inevitable that you would work together again at some point in the future as Tesla?

"Well back then we all just went our separate ways. I think it was inevitable really. I mean we had such a chemistry between everybody that I think in the back of our minds we knew we would do it again. ‘Bust a Nut’ should have been called ‘Bustin’ Up’. We had so many arguments over that record. It was a treadmill - album, tour, album. It was constant, and it had been for ten years. It was partly pride that caused us to split in the first place. It was partly that Jeff and Tommy had major issues with substance abuse. Everything just collided in the middle and we had nowhere to go. We were tired and bitchy, we had to take a break, just for sanity's sake."

The reunion shows in your home town of Sacremento were a great success in 2001. You went on the road for almost seven months and released the double album ‘Replugged Live’. What was it like to get back on stage for the first time in six years, all of you together?

"Live, no difference at all. It was just the same as it ever was. I’m not sure about the reunion though, I mean we never ‘broke up’ as such. I think we had Tesla Chapter 1 from '85 to '95. This was the start of Chapter 2. We were just so happy to get back out there and play. Nobody had issues, Tommy was clean and sober and everybody was rarin’ to go. The ‘Replugged Live’ album though didn’t do as well as we would have liked. First off it came out on 9/11, so with everything that was going on then people weren’t interested in music, so effectively it just stalled. I thought it was a pretty accurate representation of the band though, I like that record. I think the one thing the tour did for us though was to prove all five of us were itching to get back to being a band again."

Which brings us around nicely to your new album ‘Into the Now’, the first studio recording since 1995. It’s done, it’s finished. What are your thoughts on it now?

"Well we initially wrote 25 to 30 songs for the album, some were really ‘out there’ and others sounded way too…..old, you know. What we wanted to do was to take that classic Tesla sound and not retread old ground, we wanted to try something new, without overstepping the boundary. What we wanted to do was combine old and new, hence the album title ‘Into the Now’. It’s a very exciting time for me. There has been a lot of talk about the new album, reviews have been very, very positive so far and it looks like the fans still want us to play and record and that is a great feeling."

Tesla have done it all: the big arenas, the platinum and multi platinum albums. There really can’t be much left for you guys to achieve. What is your perception of success with this record?

"You know, I genuinely don’t think this will be a platinum record. I would love for it to happen but the reality of the situation is unless you are on MTV, or mainstream radio all day every day, it won’t happen. We are happy that we got another opportunity to make a record, and that to me is success, the record is made. That’s success."

What does the future hold for Tesla?

"I’ll tell you what’s not in the future, breaking up! We tried that one and we managed to fuck that up too!! No seriously, I think we will continue to tour and record, although on the touring issue we won’t be out for six or eight months at a time. We are all in different places now. Some of us are married, some have kids, mortgages and all those elements have to be taken into consideration. I think we’ll go out on the road for four or six weeks at a time and then home for a few weeks. That helps preserve your sanity and it also helps keep us fresh and interested."

You mentioned chemistry earlier on. How was the chemistry between you as you recorded this album?

"Well it was great. Sure we had little arguments from time to time over songs but nothing major, just the fact that we are passionate about the music and we want it to sound great. The biggest challenge was to make a contemporary record and have a good time doing it, and in the end we achieved that. Tommy was great, he’s in real good shape. Jeff just does what Jeff does best, and as for the rest of us, well, we did the very best we could in making this record sound the way we wanted it to. I’m very proud of it, all the guys are. I honestly think that this album contains some of the best playing I have ever heard from us. Yeah, the chemistry is there alright."

Are Tesla still waving the flag for the blue collar workers?

"You bet. We are and always have been a blue collar band. We’ve been that way for almost twenty years now - no bullshit, straight ahead rock and roll, no fancy this or that. We are just like everybody else. We know how hard it is to earn a dollar, what it’s like to pay rent, you know."

So what are the tour plans? Will we see you back in Europe any time soon?

"Well we start in the states in March and we’re out until May. We’ll be doing four weeks on, two weeks off. We’ve learned that from our past mistakes, besides we’re cranky old bastards now anyway..haha. No, we’d much prefer to do 150 shows in 300 days now, instead of 150 shows in 175 days like we used to. You have to try and balance everything, getting home every few weeks helps keep you fresh , and stops us from killing each other ... just joking. After that, we’d really like to come to Europe. Now that we have a European label in Sanctuary it just may be possible. I’ve no idea for how long or where we’d play, but I have heard it so many times over the last few days about playing in Europe again that I am very seriously going to talk to the band about trying to make it happen this year."

So Brian, what would you say to anybody reading this interview that may be considering checking out the ‘Into the Now’ album?

"You mean everybody hasn’t got it already? [laughs] No, I would say that we think this is a very strong album, it’s definitely up there with our best work. There’s no point in trying to bullshit people into buying something you don’t believe in. We believe very strongly in the album, as do the record company. I would say that if no holds barred, no frills, straight ahead, honest rock and roll with loud guitars is your bag, then that is exactly what you’re going to get!!!"