Despite a career spanning more than 40 years and over 14 million albums sold, the members of Tesla are not as financially comfortable as you’d expect.
In fact, guitarist Frank Hannon tells Sonic Perspectives that part of the reason his band constantly tours is that they need the money.
“We’re a lot older now and we have to tour a lot to make a living. We’re not rich. We never became millionaires,” he admitted, noting that it’s also the reason Tesla has begun releasing singles instead of albums. “We still have to pay our bills, and so it makes more sense, the philosophy of going out on tour and writing a song and while that song is fresh, putting it out and enjoying it at the time.”
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Hannon went on to note that the pandemic had a heavy financial impact on his band – and they’re only slowly starting to come out of it. “We took such a huge loss being grounded for two years that we’re still barely pulling ourselves out of that hole financially,” he said.
“But that being said, the blessing to it is that when we focus on a song like [their recent single] ‘All About Love’ or [2022’s] ‘Time To Rock!’ and just focus on that and then go out and play it live while it’s hot, it just tastes better,” Hannon said. “It’s like eating a meal as soon as you get it off the stove and you put it on your plate, man — that’s when it tastes good. So, for us, we can write a song and make it happen and then hit the road and play it. And I like it better, honestly.”
Why Tesla Has Turned to Singles
While some fans may decry the move toward singles and away from albums, Hannon and his band have embraced it. “The days of taking a year off and arguing in a studio over 10 songs that aren’t gonna really get their full due [are over],” he said. “Because, really, the best way to create songs is to let them live for a while and to try ’em out at the shows and stuff, and it takes a lot of time.
“So, if you notice, a lot of bands, including ourselves, the albums, all 10 songs aren’t as good anymore because the process of spending all that time trying to make every song great, it’s just not realistic anymore,” Hannon said. “So, it works much better for us just to put all of our eggs into one song or maybe two and really make them as best as we can be and go out on the road and play ’em while they’re fresh.”
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Gallery Credit: Corey Irwin
