Post by DRB on May 20, 2009 23:08:56 GMT -5
THIS WAS TAKEN FROM AN INTERVIEW THAT FRANK HANNON RECENTLY DID WITH JEB WRIGHT FROM CLASSIC ROCK RE-VISITED:
Jeb: Is TESLA more of a team now than ever before?
FH: Without a doubt we are more of a team now more than ever. We have been through so many ups and downs that we now appreciate the band more. We don’t have the person in the band anymore that was causing the majority of the problems. We have Dave Rude in the band now, who makes a positive contribution to the team. It is really a combination of a lot of things.
Jeb: Dave is a great guy. I know he looks up to you as a musician. He did the covers album with TESLA but this was his first album of original material with the band. How much was he just soaking it all in during the making of this CD?
FH: He was right there with us. All five of us were in there with the producer. We would all throw ideas back and forth with each other. We would bring an idea in and we would spend a day on it. Dave was an equal part of all of that. He is a member of the band, no doubt. He is not a hired gun; he is a TESLA member.
Jeb: When I first saw you without Tommy Skeoch I was wondering if you could pull it off. He is a strong personality and he was great on stage.
FH: People struggle with change when it comes to bands. The majority of our fans know it was a much needed change.
Jeb: Was it tough? I know that you were not shooting heroin and he was. But at the same time, you all are not saints. What made what he was doing make you decide he had to go?
FH: There is a difference between having a beer or a glass of wine and laying butt ass naked on the side of the road, unable to stand up—there is a big difference. After being stalled so much, you have to draw the line.
Jeb: I loved the way you brought Dave out at the beginning of the DVD and you and he did a dueling guitar battle with him. I thought that was a cool way of introducing him to the audience.
FH: Dave can hold his own, he is fucking great. It didn’t come easy. I look at it like this: I gave Tommy Skeoch so many freaking chances—over and over and over again. We went through the ringer. I think the Karma Gods looked down and said, "You guys have been through so much, I am going to give you Dave Rude."
I flew to LA and I auditioned a guy there and we had others try out. My band, The Frank Hannon Band, that you saw open for Schenker, one night, I had five guitar players sit in with me. They didn’t know it but I was auditioning them for TESLA. I found Dave on the computer and he came down and sat in and he was a Godsend. He fit in and it was perfect, I was jumping up and down for two weeks.
Jeb: Is TESLA more of a team now than ever before?
FH: Without a doubt we are more of a team now more than ever. We have been through so many ups and downs that we now appreciate the band more. We don’t have the person in the band anymore that was causing the majority of the problems. We have Dave Rude in the band now, who makes a positive contribution to the team. It is really a combination of a lot of things.
Jeb: Dave is a great guy. I know he looks up to you as a musician. He did the covers album with TESLA but this was his first album of original material with the band. How much was he just soaking it all in during the making of this CD?
FH: He was right there with us. All five of us were in there with the producer. We would all throw ideas back and forth with each other. We would bring an idea in and we would spend a day on it. Dave was an equal part of all of that. He is a member of the band, no doubt. He is not a hired gun; he is a TESLA member.
Jeb: When I first saw you without Tommy Skeoch I was wondering if you could pull it off. He is a strong personality and he was great on stage.
FH: People struggle with change when it comes to bands. The majority of our fans know it was a much needed change.
Jeb: Was it tough? I know that you were not shooting heroin and he was. But at the same time, you all are not saints. What made what he was doing make you decide he had to go?
FH: There is a difference between having a beer or a glass of wine and laying butt ass naked on the side of the road, unable to stand up—there is a big difference. After being stalled so much, you have to draw the line.
Jeb: I loved the way you brought Dave out at the beginning of the DVD and you and he did a dueling guitar battle with him. I thought that was a cool way of introducing him to the audience.
FH: Dave can hold his own, he is fucking great. It didn’t come easy. I look at it like this: I gave Tommy Skeoch so many freaking chances—over and over and over again. We went through the ringer. I think the Karma Gods looked down and said, "You guys have been through so much, I am going to give you Dave Rude."
I flew to LA and I auditioned a guy there and we had others try out. My band, The Frank Hannon Band, that you saw open for Schenker, one night, I had five guitar players sit in with me. They didn’t know it but I was auditioning them for TESLA. I found Dave on the computer and he came down and sat in and he was a Godsend. He fit in and it was perfect, I was jumping up and down for two weeks.