In 2016 Tesla signed a management deal with Howard Kaufman, who was managing Aerosmith, Stevie Nicks, and Def Leppard, among others. Our main guy at the company was Mike Kobayashi. Howard was like the godfather. Unfortunately, Howard passed away in 2017, so after that, Mike took over full command of our management.
Tesla has been touring heavily since 2015, doing summer tours with Def Leppard for three years straight now. Phil Collen brought us a song that he’d written called “Save That Goodness.” He also suggested that because it’s the thirtieth anniversary of Mechanical Resonance that we record a live version of that album. So we did that and put “Save That Goodness” on as a bonus track.
The band liked the production that Phil did on “Save That Goodness” so much that we asked him to produce our next studio album. We recorded tracks out on the road. Phil might say, “Let’s do that solo today.” So after sound check, Phil, Frank, and I would go into a recording room I have set up at all shows and lay it down. It’s a great way to work.
Tesla wouldn’t be where we are if it weren’t for Def Leppard, straight up. They’ve always been supportive of us. They’re our big brothers. They must like us. Ever since they gave us those little four-track tape decks, they’ve always looked out for us. Phil was telling us now, “You need to dress better onstage.” So during a tour break we got a few wardrobe people to come up to Sacramento where we were shooting the “Save That Goodness” video. You can see the difference. No more T-shirts and ripped jeans. It looks great onstage as well.
My health got a lot better around then too. Just staying out of stressful situations is key. Really, it’s just how I react to stress. Diet is the other thing. When I had raw chef Jeni Cook preparing all my meals, it was wonderful. But it’s not practical on the road. We don’t get enough room for her to set up everything she needs. Eating raw is very involved, more intense than vegetarian and vegan, because nothing is cooked. Getting the full benefit of the nutrients in the raw food is what really controls the inflammation caused by the autoimmune disease. I had Jeni come out to my home for three months during our six-month break in 2018, alternating months. I went all-out on the raw food and got ready for the back end of 2018, when we were on the road the whole time.
My goal for my weight is 170 pounds. I’ll never get back to 150, that’s unreasonable. I think it would actually be unhealthy to do what I’d have to do to lose that much weight. But 170 is attainable. I’m under 200 pounds now, but it gets tougher as I lose the core weight that I’ve been at for decades now. The prednisone weight actually comes off pretty easy as long as I stay on the regimen of exercise and diet. This last 25 pounds is gonna be a bitch, but that won’t stop me.
In November 2015 something happened that is pretty much the highlight of my career, if not my entire life. Jimmy Page was being honored in Seattle at the EMP Museum. Many rock luminaries performed his music for him that night: Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick, Duff McKagan from Guns N’ Roses, along with guys from Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and others—and me, of all people. Given my friendship with Jimmy, I was asked to be there and play with Jimmy’s one-time The Firm bandmate Paul Rodgers, which was a thrill in itself because I’m a huge fan of Paul’s going all the way back to Free and Bad Company.
I get up to play on stage with Paul, and when Jimmy sees me from his seat, he just smiles and starts laughing like he can’t believe it. He didn’t know I was going to be there, and I guess he was pleasantly surprised. We are making lots of eye contact and sharing the inside joke as friends, which was already a pretty fucking cool thing. But then the bar gets raised. I don’t think anybody ever expected Jimmy to really get up and play, but, just in case, there was a Les Paul on stage with his name on it. As the tribute is wrapping up, Jimmy comes up on stage to huddle up, and it appears as if it is “game on.” Now it’s getting interesting. He straps on the Les, leans over to me as we are standing in front of the drums, and whispers the question, “What are we going to do?” Well, I mean what else would we do? Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll!” He nods and then his expression changes. It’s game time. Fire’s in his eyes and all that. He’s becoming Jimmy fucking Page right before my eyes as he counts in the song and then boom, there are those cords that came screaming out of my speakers when I was a kid. And I’m right next to him playing bass as the band rips through one of the all-time Zeppelin classics. If that was my last night on the planet I would’ve left with a huge smile on my face. I was floating on air…. Talk about a dream come true—playing next to my pal Jimmy Page onstage. I woke up the next morning thinking it had been a dream, but there on the homepage of Rolling Stone was a picture of the event, two shots featuring me and Jimmy, playing next to each other. Thinking about it now, yeah, this was definitely the highlight of my life.
Tesla has definitely become a brand. We’ve built it into that. Recording and touring is what makes it work. We can go another ten years, I think. But we need to put out records that will build a new audience. If we can’t do that, I don’t know how long I’ll keep going. We’re at a level now that is tough for me because of my health. I need a full-size bed in the back lounge of a bus, and I need to control my diet. We’re not making the kind of money that will let me do that. We need to go up a level in terms of our draw. Then I could do that. But I’m a team player. I started this thing with Frank, and I’m all in for as long as I can.
I’m in a position today where I’m really the only guy in the band who can handle all the shit that happens. Whether it’s Jeff or Troy, sometimes even Frank, I’m the only guy who handles those situations. There are no surprises. Mike is great as a manager, but he hasn’t got those years of influence, of credibility with the guys. Our road manager doesn’t have that either. Sometimes it’s push coming to shove, and it’s me. Just is. Sometimes I don’t want it, but I have it.
You’ve already gotten the sense that I can be a little rough around the edges, and I’m aware of that. It’s part of my personality. Sometimes in meet-and-greets, if we’re having a business problem or internal band spat, I can be a little gruff with the fans. Jeff, Frank, and Dave are always real nice with the fans, but I’ve got a rep as being a little antisocial on occasion. My autoimmune issues can set me on edge as well. I’ve only missed three shows in thirty-five years, and they were all because I couldn’t stand up or even get out of bed. So, I’ll be the asshole, but I’m the asshole who’s kept the band together. Sorry fans, nothing personal.
I don’t think a breakup is imminent. There’s still frustration in the band. There’s four guys who have very strong opinions and don’t always agree, but we always find a way where majority rules. It scared the shit out of me when I got sick on a recent tour. I thought maybe I should stay at home, take some time off, and let someone else go out there and play while I try to get healthy. I’ve got everything under control, and it feels good to be back out with the band again. I don’t like touring, but I love playing. When we’re out there on stage it feels great, no one can get to us. But being on a bus with twelve people and having to compromise to other peoples’ schedules and all that shit takes its toll. I’ve got to find a place today where it’s not too taxing on my health, and I’m starting to do that.
I try to not think about the next attack, which almost surely will happen someday. That would just increase my stress and make the next onset come sooner and bigger. It’s so hard to do. The pressures that cause the stress aren’t going away. There are very few issues I confront and decisions I make or am involved in that are unimportant. Most of them have a significant effect on both Tesla and Soulmotor in some way. There are almost always financial considerations and fallout that have to be dealt with, and much of all that can be unpredictable and complicated. The music business is nothing if not flaky because at heart, it’s about people’s taste, and that’s subjective. Whether it’s the band, the fans, the larger audience, or the suits that run the corporations, no one can predict what’s next. That’s why everyone tends to jump on the new fad, because as the saying goes, nothing succeeds like success.