Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 27, 1992 TAG: 9203270245
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOE TENNIS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Electric guitars - as displayed on the five-member group's latest release, "Psychotic Supper" - are here to stay, bassist Brian Wheat promises.
"Mainly, we're a hard-rock band, and we always have been," Wheat said in an telephone interview.
"Psychotic Supper" is power-packed with blistering cuts like "Edison's Medicine" and "Call It What You Want" - all stuff heavier than the band's previous efforts like 1989's "The Great Radio Controversy."
The decadent, aggressive sound on "Psychotic Supper" comes from using raw takes and few overdubs, Wheat said.
"The major difference is this album was recorded in the city, and `Radio' was recorded in the country. There's a lot more energy, and it's a bit more rawer," Wheat said.
He added: "We've shown that we're the best with what comes straight out of us. Maybe where before we would go back and fix the rough edges in a song, now we left it like it was. And if a song was eight-minutes long, then it was eight inutes long. If it felt good, we did it. . . .
"We wanted a different vibe, a different scene. This time we wanted the energy of the city, wanted aggressiveness all around us. What better place for that than New York City?"
Wheat says he loves the band's latest single, "What You Give," which clocks in at seven minutes and 15 seconds. But he adds, "I don't really have a favorite. I like every song on this album. . . .
"It's like having children, and you don't really have a favorite one because it all comes from within," said Wheat, who has no children. (He does have two dogs - Rigby and Sadie.)
The title "Psychotic Supper" is like the band's two previous studio albums: There's a connection to the band's namesake, inventor Nikola Tesla, the maverick scientist regarded as the Father of Electricity and the Father of Radio.
"Psychotic Supper" refers to Tesla's germ phobia. He would ritually clean each dish, glass and piece of silverware with precisely 18 napkins before eating.
Recently, the band has spearheaded a petition to convince the Smithsonian Institution to properly recognize the contributions of the mad genius. Thanks partly to the group's efforts, a Tesla commemoration is now scheduled for 1993, and an exhibit will tour thereafter.
Wheat, 28, started playing bass in a garage band in Sacramento, Calif., as a teen-ager.
He formed the band Earthshaker in 1981 with Tesla guitarist Frank Hannon. Tesla's present lineup - Wheat, Hannon, vocalist Jeff Keith, drummer Troy Luccketta and guitarist Tommy Skeoch - came together in 1984. The band's first LP, "Mechanical Resonance," appeared in 1986.
Since then, Tesla has built a following through radio airplay of such hits as "Modern Day Cowboy," "Love Song," "Signs" and "The Way it Is." Also, the band has toured incessantly.
Touring, these days, is great, Wheat said. "It's all new because it's the first time we've ever headlined, so every day is like a new experience, you know? . . . I love it because we get to play as long as we want. After you support [other acts] for five years, it's pretty gratifying to headline."
Wheat calls Tesla's music "honest, real and from the heart. . . . When we're melodic, we're more melodic than ever, and when we have that classic rock sound, it's more classic than ever. . . . The secret to Tesla is honesty: We make records we can play live."
The musician said he never compares Tesla's music to other band's, "because I don't trip on other people's trips. We are who we are. And if people like what we have to offer, then great. If not, then they'll listen to somebody else. I don't worry about what the next guy's doing."
What's more, the guys in the band don't worry about where they're playing to have a good time, Wheat said. "Be it Roanoke, be it Charleston or wherever we are that day, that's what I'm thinking about."
TESLA AND FIREHOUSE Tonight at 8 at the Roanoke Civic Center. $17.50 advance, $19.50 door. Tickets on sale at box office and TicketMaster locations. 981-1201, (800) 543-3041.
by CNB