TESLA and Station Family Fund Relief Concert
On February 25, 2005, the Wake Up To Love Foundation will host a relief concert to
benefit the survivors of the Station Nightclub Fire.
The event will be held at the Providence Performing Arts Center
in Providence, Rhode Island and includes performances by Tesla,
Shinedown, and Vanilla Fudge featuring Pat Travers and Carmine Appice,
along with other bands to be announced.
The concert will mark the second anniversary of the fourth largest nightclub
fire in this country�s history. The tragedy at the Station
200 survivors and left 65 children without one or both parents. Two years
after the tragedy, there are still no adequate funds available for
the victim�s families or survivors who attempt to live with permanent physical handicaps.
Though there will be litigation and lawsuits over this tragedy, it will
be 5 to 10 years before any cases make it to court. There are only
15 survivors of the fire who qualified for any social security benefits
and many of those do not even come close to meeting their monthly needs.
All proceeds from ticket sales and charity auctions benefit the Station Family
Fund, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) charitable organization founded by
survivors and family members affected by the Station Nightclub fire. The SFF
provides immediate short-term relief and services as well as long-term
support and will serve the needs of the survivors and victim�s families
that may arise in the future. The Station Family Fund's goal, through
community outreach, is to alleviate any financial hardship that may be
incurred so that the survivor's and victims' families may focus on the long
physical, emotional and spiritual healing process. A portion of the
proceeds will also benefit The Doc Fund in memory of Michael
�Doc� Gonsalves by WHJY who is a sponsor of the event.
Further information can be found at www.stationfamilyfund.org or www.wakeuptolove.com
for more on the acts www.teslatheband.com, www.shinedown.com,www.pattravers.com, and www.carmineappice.net
Tickets will go on-sale Saturday January 15th and can be purchased via the
Providence Performing Arts Center Website at www.ppacri.org, in person at the PPAC box
office or via phone by calling 401-421-ARTS (2787)
There are very limited pit seats at $50.00, $40.00, $ 37.50, and $35.00.
If you would like to send a Donation of any kind you can send them directly to:
Station Family Fund
300 Quaker Lane
PMB 214 Suite 7
Warwick, RI. 02886
Tommy returns!
We are very happy to announce that Tommy Skeoch is doing very well and will be rejoining us for
the Scorpions/Tesla tour, beginning October 21st. We would like to thank all of our fans for
their tremendous show of support during the last few months.
We�d also like to extend a special thanks to Scott
Johnson for filling in during Tommy�s absence. See you on the road!
+July 15, 2004
A Message from Jeff, Frank, Brian and Troy
Our friend, brother and band mate Tommy Skeoch is taking some
time off from the band to seek treatment for addiction,
an illness that cannot be defeated without help.
We hope you will all join us in wishing him a very healthy recovery
so that he is able to return to the band.
We�d also like to thank our friend Scott Johnson,
who will be filling in on guitar in Tommy�s absence for the upcoming shows.
+June 7, 2004
Tesla wins a California Music Award!
Tesla won in the Spirit of Rock category in the California Music Awards (formerly know as the Bammies).
Tesla also performed three songs at the event including Signs, Caught In A Dream,
and Words. Tesla would like to thank everyone for attending the awards show and for voting for Tesla!
+June 3, 2004
Tesla is featured on VH1!
Tesla is featured this week on VH1�s �The Greatest: 100 Most Metal Moments (60 - 41)�.
In addition to being featured in the countdown, Tesla is narrating throughout.
Tune in and check them out! Click here for programming details.
March 19th, 2004
+CAUGHT IN A DREAM IS RECIEVING 850+ SPINS!
Tesla's first single, "Caught in a Dream" is getting 850+ spins per week!
BDS/Monitor Heritage Rock #3*
R&R Rock #7*
BDS/Monitor Active Rock #40*
R&R Active Rock #43*
Mediabase Classic Rock #3*
"A complete rebirth of a band. We're on 2 tracks, and it is by far #1 Phones!" KDKB - Long Paul
"This is so huge...big phones!" WYSP - Spike
"Surprise of the year so far!" WCCC - Mike Karolyi
TESLA TO APPEAR ON JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!
Tesla is confimed for their first national TV performance
on April 1st, 2004 on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel live!
TESLA IS IN THE TOP 40 AGAIN!
From VH1.com Big news for Tesla and their fans: Into The Now, the band's first release in five years, has debuted in the top-40,
according to numbers from Nielsen SoundScan. Perhaps what drew the fans to head out to the record stores in droves was Tesla's
penchant for optimistic songwriting.
Tommy Skeoch and Jeff Keith says there's no other way for them to be. (Actuality #4) "(Tommy)
It's a natural thing. (Jeff) In all honesty, for Tesla to come out with a positive attitude, especially in this day in age, it's just right up our alley. (Tommy) I mean,
we have songs that are really heavy, but a lot of them, in just lyrics sometimes, are ninety nine percent of the time positive, even if it's a heavy, kind of agro song." Tesla are also out on the road spreading their
message of upbeat rock 'n roll
- they're currently making their way through the Midwest; they played Iowa last
night and will be in Chicago tomorrow night.
OVER 30,000 scans in the first week!
Billboard Sales Charts:
Billboard Top 200 #31
Top Internet #4,
Current Hard Music Core Stores #2
Top Hard Music #4
Ranked at:
Best Buy #8
Bull Moose #5
Newbury Comics #6
Tower #23
Hastings #24
Musicland #38
Transworld #39
INTO THE NOW DEBUTS AT #31 ON BILLBOARD!
It has been almost 10 years since Tesla has been on Billboard�s top 200 chart. This week, Into The Now debuts at 31 on Billboard�s top 200!
This very strong showing for Into The Now is a great sign�but of course it is always a long road on the charts! This will help build momentum for sales over the coming months.
Often the second week will fall off because of the first week�s pre-orders�but expect to see them climbing back up week after week from there!
Teslatheband.com received a call from
Tesla this morning and they want to thank all of you very much for your support! Without you, this wouldn�t be possible!
Historical stats from past releases:
Mechanical Resonance debuted at 170 and peeked at 32
Great Radio Controversy debuted at 83 and peeked at 18
Five Man Acoustical Jam debuted at 74 and peeked at 12
Psychotic Supper debuted at 13 and peeked at 13
Bust a Nut debuted at 20 and peeked at 20
January 9th, 2004
+TESLA TO RELEASE LONG-AWAITED NEW STUDIO ALBUM 'INTO THE NOW'
The 12 songs on 'Into the Now' include: "Into the Now," "Look @ Me," "What a Shame," "Heaven Nine Eleven," "Words Can't Explain," "Caught In a Dream," "Miles Away," "Mighty Mouse," "Got No Glory," "Come to Me," "Recognize" and "Only You."
These stellar songs fit with Tesla's well established melodic style of gritty and emotionally resonant hard rock that sold more than 17 million albums worldwide and yet many of them add fresh, satisfying sonic textures and arrangement twists. The band has grown, and the music has followed.
'Into the Now' marks a completely new beginning for Tesla. The quintet had reunited, toured extensively and released the acclaimed double live album 'Replugged Live' on Sanctuary, but the real test came with writing new material.
Tesla changed its entire way of working for 'Into the Now' and that included serious personal and musical reconnections
as the foundation for the new album. After such a long layoff, the band members wondered whether they would be able to write strong songs and produce an album largely by themselves.
Keith, Hannon, Skeoch, Wheat and Luccketta agreed that they had to be satisfied with the songs, and that wasn't always the case in the past.
They realized how important this new album was going to be, and the quality of the songs was the most important consideration.
The band often rewrote full sections or entire songs and sometimes recorded as many as three different demos for each one. Writer's block
was a problem at times and the members would not settle on songs they weren't comfortable with. They knew instinctively which songs were great and which ones were not.
"To try to get away from a Tesla feel just wouldn't be natural, but we still tried new things. The songwriting process was exciting and rewarding but was, at times, very hard and aggravating.
I was a little scared. 'Can I still write?' thoughts were poisoning my mind. But our songs have to have heart. We must believe
in them and feel it," Keith says. "Producing the album largely by ourselves added an extra element of fun too."
"The trick on the whole is to keep the Tesla style in place and yet still grow musically and satisfy
yourself but not change so much that your fans are caught offguard," says Wheat. "We wrote about 20 or 30 songs and these were the 12 best."
"The whole songwriting process was different from previous records. We didn't settle for the first thing we wrote," Hannon says. "A lot of that had to do with us being better
friends and being more together than ever. It felt totally comfortable. Having the songs
totally ready before recording is like sanding a house before painting it; the foundation has to be there."
"Looking back at it now, it was all worth it. It was scary producing it on our own but it turned out great. And we really focused on every nook and cranny on every song.
We couldn't have written and produced the new album without the newfound communication within the band," Skeoch says. "The emphasis had to be on great songs. About half the material was written before the Rock Never Stops summer tour in 2002 and the other half
was written after that. We were really eager to get a new album out there, but then we realized that the songs had to be great and that we shouldn't hurry. Why do it if it's not great?"
The give-and-take guitar interplay between Hannon and Skeoch has always been crucial to Tesla's music, and that natural relationship was even more important on 'Into the Now.'
"There's always been a magic between us. I can't put my finger on it," Skeoch says. "We've never fought over solos or who was going to play what part.
It just works out. For example, there were some guitar solos on this album that we each tried but it just didn't feel right until the other one did it. 'Words Can't Explain'
and 'Got No Glory' were retracked a couple of times, and 'Heaven Nine Eleven' and 'Recognize' were rewritten with different chords and verse structures."
"When we were writing songs, we were able to live with them. We relied on a voting process to decide
which ones we loved and were going to use. That was something new for us," Hannon says.
"A song took a majority vote -- three out of five votes -- to get it approved. It worked. We'd always feel better after making a decision," Luccketta says. "I knew we'd pull it together. This was our biggest growth spurt. We're tighter than ever. We've learned a lot of lessons."
"Each song is a snapshot of an event that took place during the making of the record. There were a lot of
experiences we had to go through during these last two years. A lot of pain and growth. For example, several friends of ours died during this time," Hannon says. "I have really learned a lot making this record. There are so many benefits to
taking your time and making sure songs stand up months after you've written them and you're still working."
One major luxury Tesla had making 'Into the Now' was recording in Hannon's Sacramento studio. Hannon worked on the preproduction demos there as well. Using this studio gave them plenty of time and saved a lot of money. Producing and recording the album themselves offered unlimited creative flexibility. Rosen helped with engineering and restructuring the tempos of certain songs. For example, Hannon says that Rosen's tempo suggestions for 'Heaven Nine Eleven' resulted in a "street beat."
The autobiographical title track "Into the Now" is one of the most intriguing songs. It addresses the past while also becoming a statement of purpose about the present and future. Musically speaking, its relentlessly pounding rhythmic thump explores new territory.
"A big part of production was the writing and, sometimes more importantly, the editing. There were several songs where there were sections that just didn't work, so we'd just cut those out and tighten things up," Hannon remembers. "And we are more aggressive with rhythm guitar parts on this album than ever before too. Using technology is a balancing act, but one of the fun things that it allowed us to do was manipulate some sounds. There's a part on the song 'Into the Now' that sounds like it's record scratching but it's actually a guitar sound that we got."
"There were a lot of things to write about. I wrote most of the lyrics although Frank was a big help. He wrote all the lyrics himself for 'Heaven Nine Eleven' which was inspired by September 11 and what it was like witnessing this terrible tragedy," Keith says.
Tesla enjoyed the creative freedom that modern recording technology provided but it was important that the songs could be performed live.
"We did use overdubs, but we have to be able to play our songs live. We don't want to have a keyboard player behind the scenes or anything like that. If people aren't believing it's you on stage playing the music then it loses the magic," says Keith.
Luccketta puts it simply: "We are a live band."
Tesla, named for the important but historically overlooked scientist Nikola Tesla, certainly built a well-deserved reputation as one of the best live bands in existence. Touring behind successful albums such as the platinum debut 'Mechanical Resonance,' double platinum 'The Great Radio Controversy,' platinum 'Psychotic Supper' and gold 'Bust a Nut' earned a rabidly loyal fan base. Songs like "Modern Day Cowboy," "Little Suzi," "Love Song," "Heaven's Trail (No Way Out)" and "Edison's Medicine" were fireballs. Tesla's major commercial breakthrough was the unprecedented live acoustic platinum-selling album 'Five Man Acoustical Jam' and its smash single "Signs," a remake of the Five Man Electrical Band's hit.
Past successes have secured Tesla a place in the storied history of hard rock but now it's time the band brings itself and its fans 'Into the Now.'
*all news courtesy of teslatheband.com
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