{"id":1595,"date":"1987-10-01T00:00:35","date_gmt":"1987-10-01T00:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=1595"},"modified":"2013-05-28T16:23:53","modified_gmt":"2013-05-28T16:23:53","slug":"feature-tesla-mf26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-tesla-mf26\/","title":{"rendered":"TESLA – Rhyme And Resonance (MF26, 1987) | Features @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

TESLA – Rhyme And Resonance<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
\nDave Reynolds<\/span>
\nMetal Forces, Issue 26 (1987)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Tesla (l-r): Tommy Skeoch, Brian Wheat, Jeff Keith, Troy Luccketta and
Frank Hannon<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Released in the last remaining weeks of 1986, Tesla\u2019s debut album, Mechanical Resonance<\/em><\/a>, is going great guns, especially in the US thanks to opening slots on tours with David Lee Roth and Alice Cooper. Now the Sacramento, California-based quintet are ensconced on a world tour opening for management stable mates Def Leppard, a stint which will no doubt mean that many more copies of Mechanical Resonance<\/em> (first ever review was in Metal Forces<\/em> issue #21) will be snapped up by lovers of hard rock\u2019n\u2019heavy metal music. Great stuff.<\/p>\n

Tesla were recently kicking serious ass over here in the UK on the opening leg of the Def Leppard \/ Tesla billing and, on the afternoon of the first of three Hammersmith Odeon dates in London, yours truly was found to be Iigging with vocalist Jeff Keith and guitarist Tommy Skeoch all for the sake of Metal Forces<\/em>\u2019 first major feature on \u2019em.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t so long ago that Tesla had been gracing Europe with a set of showcase gigs in London (two nights at the Marquee), Amsterdam and Germany. Had Tesla expected to be back so soon? Jeff: \u201cNo, we hadn\u2019t expected it but that\u2019s the way things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tommy: \u201cLast time we came here I honestly didn\u2019t think we\u2019d be back for quite a while, but here we are, back with Def Leppard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you think Tesla having the same management as Def Leppard, Q-Prime Inc., helped? Tommy: \u201cWell, they\u2019ve hooked us up with a lot of great things, so, yeah, I guess it helped. The last time we were in Europe we loved it because, obviously, we\u2019d never been here before. It was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201cThe first night we played at the Marquee in May was just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tommy: \u201cThe people over here get into bands more. There\u2019s just a really special, different vibe in European audiences, singing your songs and everything which you don\u2019t get a great deal in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been very lucky getting the breaks tour wise, that has meant that Mechanical Resonance<\/em> has become a hot seller. Jeff: \u201cWell we have our management to thank for that and also David Lee Roth and his organisation who picked us out to open for him once Cinderella had gone off to join the Bon Jovi tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I first heard the album, an advance tape last November, it immediately struck me as being a very 70s influenced thing with traces of bands like Montrose and such like. Do you agree with that? Tommy: \u201cTotally.\u201d<\/p>\n

But you\u2019ve also been lumped in with the M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce<\/a>, Ratt, Dokken category. Tommy: \u201cRight, but we\u2019re definitely not influenced by \u2019em.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next Tesla album won\u2019t be out until at least the end of next year. Why? Tommy: \u201cBecause after the Leppard tour of the States, which will last for seven months, we plan on maybe going to Japan or do some headlining shows of our own before starting work on a new record. The thing is, Mechanical Resonance<\/em> is still selling so why make another one so soon?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201cIn other words, we still have to give this one a chance. With Leppard we\u2019re going through the UK and all the A-Z spots in America, all the big places and also the places that we\u2019ve never hit where they don\u2019t even know us. This Leppard tour will really set things moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, you\u2019ve already been getting the attention of the commercial metal press in the States with features in Hit Parader<\/em> and Circus<\/em> etc. Tommy: \u201cI guess Geffen Records is really pushing us. Everybody is behind us. We\u2019re getting a great deal of help with exposure like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your latest single in the UK is \u2018Modern Day Cowboy\u2019, which was the first in America. Before that \u2018Little Suzi\u2019s On The Up\u2019 was released over here. Why did you cover the song (previously recorded by pop rock band Ph.D, who wrote the track)? Tommy: \u201cWho was it who put us on to that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201cRonnie Montrose. Ronnie produced a four-song demo for us when we were called City Kidd and he played a tape of the Ph.D version to us which he thought we could do, and work with. He was right because if you compare our version to the original they certainly don\u2019t sound the same. The song has always stuck with us. Tommy and Troy (Luccketta; drums) weren\u2019t even in the band when we started playing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the average age of the songs on your album? Tommy: \u201cA lot of the album\u2019s songs are songs we wrote right up to the time we recorded it. Most of the songs only go back as far as two or three months before going in to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201cYeah, we didn\u2019t even have a name at that point because we didn\u2019t want to be known as City Kidd anymore. It was only when doing the record that our management came up with Tesla and explained the concept behind it, so that\u2019s what we became.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve also become the biggest band out of Sacramento since Steel Breeze! Tommy: \u201cYeah, what happened to them?!!\u201d<\/p>\n

They died. Anyway, what do you have planned for your second album? Jeff: \u201cIt\u2019s really too early to say. It\u2019s gonna be raw like the first one and recorded in the same way with the same production team too.\u201d<\/p>\n

I understand the recent \u2018Modern Day Cowboy\u2019 12-inch single of live cuts is a UK release only. Tommy: \u201cYeah, that\u2019s right. It was a record company idea; something to tie in with the tour. I hate it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201cWe\u2019ve got so much better live tapes. This stuff they\u2019ve put out was a radio broadcast of a show we did in Milwaukee in front of 11,000 people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tommy: \u201cThe mix is useless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201cIt\u2019s all really because the record company wanted something to put out to promote the tour, and that was the only tape they had at the time; they liked it so they put it out. We\u2019re not really that annoyed about it because they give us so much freedom elsewhere. With the first album for instance, the sleeve\u2019n\u2019all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, I guess so. Actually with this whole elaborate concept some people are under the impression that you\u2019re the first thinking man\u2019s metal band! Tommy: \u201cHa! Ha! I don\u2019t know about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201cWe\u2019re not wise at all man!\u201d<\/p>\n

Tommy: \u201cWe\u2019re into the concept that\u2019s all. We\u2019re not philosophers at all. It\u2019s just that the concept appealed to us with the comparisons between rock\u2019n\u2019roll and Tesla. Rock\u2019n\u2019roll is electric and Nikola Tesla was an underdog in the science world just like rock\u2019n\u2019roll is in the music world.\u201d<\/p>\n

I understand it was all Cliff Burnstein, your co-manager\u2019s idea? Tommy: \u201cYeah, but Tom Zutaut, A&R man at Geffen, also had something to do with it too. They\u2019d both been in a book store reading all about it a year before and it suddenly sparked in Cliff\u2019s mind to suggest it to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

What kind of names had you, as a band, come up with previously? Tommy: \u201cTuff Luck. Now there\u2019s a band with that name. Rock Holland. We came up with some fucked up names!\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201cRemember Hammer Lane? Ha! Ha! We were getting ready to do the album and we were cruising down this four lane street called Hammer Lane and I suggested it as a name. That was as bad as it was getting!\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve noticed you\u2019re one of the few bands who can get away with the no image thing and just get a reputation with your music. Jeff: \u201cWell it was either that or nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tommy: \u201cWe\u2019re not into all that dressing up weird and shit. We like rock\u2019n\u2019roll and we\u2019re just dudes\u2026 who don\u2019t look like ladies! That\u2019s our show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Has your record company or management tried to dress you up? Jeff: \u201cNo, completely the opposite. Now and then we might go to a store and find a neat little jacket we like or something, but it\u2019s nothing like Poison or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you listen to any glam stuff? Jeff: \u201cSure, we listen to everything; Ratt, Dokken, Aerosmith, AC\/DC, Def Leppard…\u201d<\/p>\n

How about the, uh, heavier stuff? Tommy: \u201cYeah, I\u2019m into that fuckin\u2019 heavy shit!\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201cI don\u2019t listen to it, though I\u2019ve got nothing against it. I like Metallica though. I can only handle thrash if it\u2019s a controlled type of thrash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tommy: \u201cYou have to be able to have some humour about it, you can\u2019t get seriously into it. I don\u2019t dwell on it. I like to laugh with it\u2026 it makes me happy. The lyrics and stuff crack me up. Metallica has a little bit more of a message though, and I think that\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

What sort of message do you think that is? Tommy: \u201cHow kids feel rebellious and stuff, and I just feel Metallica are an extension of it, that\u2019s all. It think it\u2019s good, it\u2019s healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

How about the Christian metal stuff? Tommy: \u201cI don\u2019t like that. I think the feeling of rock\u2019n\u2019roll is much more sleazier than talking about God. I don\u2019t think it connects. But I don\u2019t like Satanic bands either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you had any trouble with the PMRC yet? Jeff: \u201cNever talked to \u2019em Dave! If they call me up I\u2019ll tell \u2019em what I think though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tommy: \u201cOur message doesn\u2019t get controversial. Our songs are more true to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201c\u2018Modern Day Cowboy\u2019, for instance, was inspired by reading and watching the news. This was around the time there were terrorist attacks and planes getting blown up. What got me thinking was when I was watching old westerns and gangster movies on TV, and I saw these three stages as to how the modern day cowboy has developed. Now the weapon is just a button. A nuclear assault. The evolution of violence. We put it all in the video.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tell me more about Nikola Tesla. Has anybody related to him been in touch with you yet? Jeff: \u201cNo, but we did go to Colorado Springs where his laboratory was. It was one of the first places in America that had electricity. They had a real love \/ hate relationship for him, because he gave them electricity but whenever he would experiment he\u2019d cause a power blackout. His laboratory isn\u2019t there anymore but there is a sign that says where it stood. We felt the buzz that\u2019s where it was!\u201d<\/p>\n

I understand he was possibly murdered by the CIA or something? Tommy: \u201cYeah, there\u2019s a lot of weird stories. He was a weird guy, a real eccentric.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff: \u201cHe used to frighten people way back when because this guy was talking about things back then that some of \u2019em haven\u2019t even been applied yet. This guy was talking about satellites and turbine engines on a jet at a time when they barely had planes. Well, he was just way ahead of his time and people were scared of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sounds like some of those stupid TV evangelists and senators\u2019 wives when faced with the booming thrust of supersonic heavy rock! There\u2019s a strong chance that Tesla could, in fact, zoom back for a quick headline visit in the UK early next year following the all-round success of the support shows with Leppard. They rocked, didn\u2019t they kids?!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more to come. Don\u2019t touch that dial, don\u2019t tamper with the mechanics. I\u2019m off for a pizza.<\/p>\n

Interview taken from Metal Forces, Issue 26 (1987)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TESLA – Rhyme And Resonance Dave Reynolds Metal Forces, Issue 26 (1987) Tesla (l-r): Tommy Skeoch, Brian Wheat, Jeff Keith, Troy Luccketta and Frank Hannon Released in the last remaining weeks of 1986, Tesla\u2019s debut album, Mechanical Resonance, is going great guns, especially in the US thanks to opening slots on tours with David Lee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tesla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1595"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11722,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions\/11722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}