In a new interview with Canada’s The Metal Voice, TESLA bassist Brian Wheat reflected on the experience of touring with David Lee Roth on the VAN HALEN singer’s “Eat ‘Em And Smile” tour in 1987. Asked what David was like on the road, Brian said (hear audio below): “Well, he’s always in David mode. But to be quite honest with you, I only spoke to him one time the whole tour. We walked in a room, and it was all David mode, and it was all that whole, ‘Hey, it’s Dave TV.’ Yeah, he was like that. That was my take on him. But, like I said, I only got to spoke to him one time, and he wanted to manage [TESLA]. Talk about coming out of fucking left field. He was just, like, ‘Hey, I really like you guys. I really wanna manage you.’ We were, like, ‘Whoa! Okay, well, we’ve got this management company, Q Prime. You’ve heard of them?’ So that was it. But, yeah, he was that way.”
Brian is currently promoting his recently released autobiography, “Son Of A Milkman: My Crazy Life With Tesla”. In the 304-page hardcover book, which arrived on December 15 via Post Hill Press, Wheat lifts the lid on living the rock ‘n’ roll life while struggling with anxiety, depression and other issues seldom discussed by musicians.
“Son Of A Milkman” features a foreword by DEF LEPPARD vocalist Joe Elliott, and was co-written with award-winning journalist and author Chris Epting, whose titles include “Adrenalized” (co-written with DEF LEPPARD‘s Phil Collen) and “Change Of Seasons” (co-written with John Oates).
Wheat co-founded TESLA, which became one of the biggest bands of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Brian owns a recording studio by the name of J Street Recorders in Sacramento, California. PAPA ROACH, TESLA, PAT TRAVERS, DEFTONES, KODIAK JACK, FLASHFIRES and many others have recorded there.
TESLA spent most of 2019 touring in support of its latest album, “Shock”, which was released in March of that year via UMe. The follow-up to 2014’s “Simplicity” was produced by DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen.
