Jeb Wright from Classicrockrevisited.com spoke with TESLA guitarist Frank Hannon recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Jeb: Not long ago, Tesla was split up. Looking back now, a little bit older and more mature, what have you been able to learn from that to keep the band moving forward?

Frank: "I think you have to pace yourself. Instead of breaking up, we should have just taken a break. We never took a break and it took a toll. Now, we tour for a month and we go home for a month. We try to maintain a healthy balance. So many bands make the mistake of breaking up instead of taking a break from each other. We have learned from our mistakes—we keep making mistakes but we learn from them now."

Jeb: Tesla fans are loyal but I have to admit that Tesla is loyal to your fans. You guys seem like you are real people.

Frank: "We still have problems like anybody else. We are the kind of band where we are really not a household name. I just watched this commercial for this heavy metal 8'0's compilation that is coming out. It has TWISTED SISTER, POISON, RATT and WARRANT on there but there was no Tesla. We have a loyal fan base that is really dedicated and faithful to us."

Jeb: I have always said that Tesla was a '70's band that happened to come out in the '80's.

Frank: "Right . . . right . . . I guess so, man. We have a taste of metal integrity because we have a lot metal riffs in there but we also have a lot of blues and heart and soul. It is not just a fly by night kind of thing."

Jeb: I was backstage at The Moondance Jam. I do interviews for the big screen. Loverboy was opening and Tesla was coming up. You rushed to the stage to watch Loverboy and were digging it. Frank, you can play circles around anyone in Loverboy...

Frank: "No way dude, LOVERBOY was huge. They were big influences in the early '80's, man. Fuck, I respect my elders and influences man. Do you like Randy Rhoads?"

Jeb: Of course I do. He was one of the best.

Frank: "I am on a huge Randy Rhoads kick right now. I love Randy Rhoads. I remember the day he died; I might have even cried. We used to play 'Crazy Train' and 'I Don’t Know' when we were kids. My son plays Guitar Hero, and now he is starting to play guitar, and he comes to me and says, 'Dad, Randy Rhoads is my favourite.' It tripped me out because he was my favourite when I was fourteen. I have been rediscovering Randy Rhoads guitar licks again. He was only twenty-four when he died. He created so much and had such musical knowledge. His chord changes on 'Diary Of A Madman' are just timeless to me. Listen to 'Believer' and the way that it started out. Every song he played was beautiful and demonic at the same time."

Jeb: With those two albums, Blizzard of Oz and Diary Of A Madman, he inspired an entire generation of guitar players, one of whom is you.

Frank: "He truly did. I got to meet his mom last month. We played at The Whiskey A Go Go last month and I went and visited Delores Rhoads. I got her autograph on my Les Paul. I played her my 'Love Song' intro and told her how much Randy was an influence to me. She told me that Randy used to jam in a little music school that he went to and that Randy’s favourite song then was 'Chattanooga Choo Choo'. They used to play that over and over again. They had jazz bands that would play in the little room there. You can look up Musonia and you will find the Musonia School of Music; that is where Randy grew up. Meeting his mom was really special."

Read the entire interview here.