In a new interview with Ethan Dometrius, Tesla bassist Brian Wheat once again took issue with the label “hair metal,” saying that the pejorative term was coined as a way to disparage acts thought to have been all flash and no substance. Regarding Tesla being unfairly lumped in with such acts as Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Skid Row and L.A. Guns, Wheat said (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net). “I think Tesla probably has more in common with The Black Crowes than we would some of the other bands that they call ‘hair’ bands.”
“It used to drive me nuts because I used to take it, when people were saying it in kind of a derogatory, condescending way, ‘Oh, they’re a hair band,’ which we never were,” he explained. “We were no more a hair band than The Black Crowes are. The Black Crowes and Tesla are both blues-based rock bands. We both are heavily rooted in blues-based English rock. I mean, Tesla was like Humble Pie or Bad Company or Led Zeppelin, with two guitar players. Or AC/DC or UFO. Those were the things we grew up on. We weren’t of that thing, but they wanna put us in there. And I’m over it now. It doesn’t bother me. It used to really piss me off, but these days, last 10 years, I’ve just kind of said, ‘Okay, whatever you wanna call us. As long as you’re calling us something and talking about us and coming and seeing us play, then I don’t care. Call us whatever you wanna call us.'”
When Dometrius noted that Tesla is probably benefiting from the fact that “hair metal” is “having a bit of a resurgence” right now and is becoming more popular again, Wheat said, “I guess. I wasn’t aware it’s popular. I didn’t know if there was a resurgence. I mean, Tesla have kind of been doing the same thing we’ve always been doing for the last 20 years — playing anywhere from 60 to a hundred shows a year, depending on how we feel and what the climate is.
When you say ‘hair’ bands to me, when you say Ratt, their [debut] record came out — what? — in ’84? There was no ‘hair band’ term then,” Brian continued. “I mean, the Scorpions were out in ’84. They had a huge record. Van Halen came out — Van Halen‘s 1984 was a huge album. Was Van Halen a hair band? They had long hair.”
“It’s kind of a slight in a way, which is the thing that kind of annoys me about it,” Wheat added. “It’s, like, well, how about we’re just all playing rock music.”
Wheat previously discussed the topic, in a March 2021 interview, with The Cassius Morris Show. Wheat said at the time, “I find [the term ‘hair metal’] condescending. What does f–king hair have to do with the music? Should we be called ‘cock metal’ because we all have big dicks? Seriously, it’s, like, ‘hair metal’ — what does that have to do with [anything music-related]? It’s condescending. It’s a putdown. It’s almost like saying, ‘Well, the music’s not valid. They just had good hair.’ That’s what it’s like.
You can take the greatest hair metal band, whoever it is. I don’t even know — who’s hair metal? Would Mötley Crüe be considered hair metal? I guess they would. Well, Home Sweet Home was a great song. What did f–king hair have to f–king do with that song? Dr. Feelgood was a great song. So it’s condescending. It’s a putdown. Should we say about Nirvana ‘uncleanly music,’ ’cause they look like they didn’t bathe?”
“I don’t like it,” he reiterated. “Just talk about the music, because that’s what what matters. Not about the hair. If you wanna call it anything, call it ’80s metal — call it 1980s rock. ‘Cause that’s what it was — it was rock that came out of the ’80s and early ’90s. The Black Crowes came out a year later than Tesla, and they’re not called a hair metal band.
“Why call us a hair metal band when all we were doing was imitating Aerosmith?” Wheat added. “I think we’re very parallel to an Aerosmith. I think, personally, if you can’t go see Aersomith and you wanna see a good version of Aerosmith, go see Tesla. They’re very similar. I mean, Jeff Keith looks like Steven Tyler; he sings like Steven Tyler.”
Earlier this month, TESLA released the official music video for the electric version of All About Love, the title track of the band’s latest six-song EP, All About Love.
Released last November, All About Love includes four versions of All About Love (acoustic, electric, hybrid, live); a live version of Walk Away a concert favorite from Reel To Real, Vol. 1; and another new song, From The Heart, an instrumental track by guitarist Frank Hannon.