In a new interview with Jam Man, TESLA drummer Troy Luccketta was asked how he and his bandmates have managed to stay together for nearly four decades. He responded (see video below): “Well, we broke up in ’96, and then we got back together in October 2000. It was only gonna be [a reunion] for one show. And now it’s 20 years later. And through that process, we learned a lot about how to stay together, how to respect one another.
“Unfortunately, alcohol and drugs play a part in rock and roll sometimes,” he continued. “TESLA doesn’t have any drugs or alcohol on a tour — not even a beer backstage — since ’04. So we’re talking 16 years. We had a conference and decided that we didn’t even want any alcohol or nothing to get in the way. Because sometimes, if someone drinks too much, there could be a problem and they might do something stupid, and it might affect the band. So we got rid of all of those potential problems, and we learned how to be really respectful of another other.
“35 years is a long time for a band to stay together,” Troy added. “We have four out of the five original members in the band, and it’s a tough thing to do. But that’s how we’ve managed to do it. It’s been a lot of respect for one another, and we genuinely [get along with each other]. When we’re sharing one bus, that’s a confined space, and people can get irritable after a while. We don’t do it perfectly, but we do it pretty darn good.”
Asked if it bothers him that former TESLA guitarist Tommy Skeoch has been using the band name to promote his new project RESIST & BITE, Troy said: “No. I’m wishing Tommy well. We were just talking about some of the things that breaks up bands, and that was unfortunate, because that’s really what took Tommy out of the band at the time. It was just problems that he had to figure out. And I think he’s doing really well now. He’s got a new band, and he’s gotta promote his band. He was one fifth of the band at the time, and he wrote great songs in TESLA. He’s a great talent. So he’s always gonna have an association to the name of the band, and that’s fair.”
Skeoch left TESLA in 2006 to receive treatment for substance-abuse issues.
TESLA spent most of last year touring in support of its latest album, “Shock”, which was released in March 2019 via UMe. The follow-up to 2014’s “Simplicity” was produced by DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen.
Jam Man Talks with Tesla the Band drummer Troy Luccketta about how the band cooped with lockdown, putting out 5 man London Jam and not being able to tour, how touring has affected his life and things he missed out on for the band, how they avoided being a hair band, staying together for over 30 years and the choices they made to continue like having a completely sober backstage and why they had to get rid of Tommy but wish nothing but the best for him and his new band, and when recording new music do they try and keep their sound or adapt to what music is like now, and the controversy over Shock and the different sound they had on that Album produced by Def Leppard ‘s Phil Collen
Posted by Rocking With Jam Man on Wednesday, October 28, 2020
