- Joined
- Dec 10, 2003
- Posts
- 1,044
- Reaction score
- 6
- Location
- The Lions Den
- AFL Club
- Brisbane Lions
- Other Teams
- fitzroy reds
News: TESLA ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM DETAILS!
TESLA will release their eagerly anticipated new studio album, "Into
the Now", on Sanctuary Records on March 9, 2004. The original lineup
of vocalist Jeff Keith, guitarist Frank Hannon, guitarist Tommy
Skeoch, bass guitarist Brian Wheat and drummer Troy Luccketta spent
more than two years writing and recording "Into the Now". TESLA co-
produced the album with Michael Rosen...
"Into the Now" track listing:
01. Into the Now
02. Look @ Me
03. What a Shame
04. Heaven Nine Eleven
05. Words Can't Explain
06. Caught In a Dream
07. Miles Away
08. Mighty Mouse
09. Got No Glory
10. Come to Me
11. Recognize
12. Only You
According to an official press release, TESLA changed their entire
way of working for "Into the Now" and that included serious personal
and musical reconnections as the foundation for the new album. After
such a long layoff, the band members wondered whether they would be
able to write strong songs and produce an album largely by themselves.
Keith, Hannon, Skeoch, Wheat and Luccketta agreed that they had to be
satisfied with the songs, and that wasn't always the case in the
past. They realized how important this new album was going to be, and
the quality of the songs was the most important consideration. The
band often rewrote full sections or entire songs and sometimes
recorded as many as three different demos for each one. Writer's
block was a problem at times and the members would not settle on
songs they weren't comfortable with. They knew instinctively which
songs were great and which ones were not.
"To try to get away from a TESLA feel just wouldn't be natural, but
we still tried new things. The songwriting process was exciting and
rewarding but was, at times, very hard and aggravating. I was a
little scared. 'Can I still write?' thoughts were poisoning my mind.
But our songs have to have heart. We must believe in them and feel
it," Keith says. "Producing the album largely by ourselves added an
extra element of fun too."
"The trick on the whole is to keep the TESLA style in place and yet
still grow musically and satisfy yourself but not change so much that
your fans are caught offguard," says Wheat. "We wrote about 20 or 30
songs and these were the 12 best."
"The whole songwriting process was different from previous records.
We didn't settle for the first thing we wrote," Hannon says. "A lot
of that had to do with us being better friends and being more
together than ever. It felt totally comfortable. Having the songs
totally ready before recording is like sanding a house before
painting it — the foundation has to be there."
"Looking back at it now, it was all worth it. It was scary producing
it on our own but it turned out great. And we really focused on every
nook and cranny on every song. We couldn't have written and produced
the new album without the newfound communication within the band,"
Skeoch says. "The emphasis had to be on great songs. About half the
material was written before the Rock Never Stops summer tour in 2002
and the other half was written after that. We were really eager to
get a new album out there, but then we realized that the songs had to
be great and that we shouldn't hurry. Why do it if it's not great?"
The give-and-take guitar interplay between Hannon and Skeoch has
always been crucial to TESLA's music, and that natural relationship
was even more important on 'Into the Now'.
"There's always been a magic between us. I can't put my finger on
it," Skeoch says. "We've never fought over solos or who was going to
play what part. It just works out. For example, there were some
guitar solos on this album that we each tried but it just didn't feel
right until the other one did it. 'Words Can't Explain' and 'Got No
Glory' were retracked a couple of times, and 'Heaven Nine Eleven'
and 'Recognize' were rewritten with different chords and verse
structures."
"When we were writing songs, we were able to live with them. We
relied on a voting process to decide which ones we loved and were
going to use. That was something new for us," Hannon says.
"A song took a majority vote — three out of five votes — to get it
approved. It worked. We'd always feel better after making a
decision," Luccketta says. "I knew we'd pull it together. This was
our biggest growth spurt. We're tighter than ever. We've learned a
lot of lessons."
"Each song is a snapshot of an event that took place during the
making of the record. There were a lot of experiences we had to go
through during these last two years. A lot of pain and growth. For
example, several friends of ours died during this time," Hannon
says. "I have really learned a lot making this record. There are so
many benefits to taking your time and making sure songs stand up
months after you've written them and you're still working."
One major luxury TESLA had making "Into the Now" was recording in
Hannon's Sacramento studio. Hannon worked on the preproduction demos
there as well. Using this studio gave them plenty of time and saved a
lot of money. Producing and recording the album themselves offered
unlimited creative flexibility. Rosen helped with engineering and
restructuring the tempos of certain songs. For example, Hannon says
that Rosen's tempo suggestions for "Heaven Nine Eleven" resulted in
a "street beat."
The autobiographical title track "Into the Now" is one of the most
intriguing songs. It addresses the past while also becoming a
statement of purpose about the present and future. Musically
speaking, its relentlessly pounding rhythmic thump explores new
territory.
"A big part of production was the writing and, sometimes more
importantly, the editing. There were several songs where there were
sections that just didn't work, so we'd just cut those out and
tighten things up," Hannon remembers. "And we are more aggressive
with rhythm guitar parts on this album than ever before too. Using
technology is a balancing act, but one of the fun things that it
allowed us to do was manipulate some sounds. There's a part on the
song 'Into the Now' that sounds like it's record scratching but it's
actually a guitar sound that we got."
"There were a lot of things to write about. I wrote most of the
lyrics although Frank was a big help. He wrote all the lyrics himself
for 'Heaven Nine Eleven' which was inspired by September 11 and what
it was like witnessing this terrible tragedy," Keith says.
TESLA enjoyed the creative freedom that modern recording technology
provided but it was important that the songs could be performed live.
"We did use overdubs, but we have to be able to play our songs live.
We don't want to have a keyboard player behind the scenes or anything
like that. If people aren't believing it's you on stage playing the
music then it loses the magic," says Keith.
Luccketta puts it simply: "We are a live band."
TESLA will release their eagerly anticipated new studio album, "Into
the Now", on Sanctuary Records on March 9, 2004. The original lineup
of vocalist Jeff Keith, guitarist Frank Hannon, guitarist Tommy
Skeoch, bass guitarist Brian Wheat and drummer Troy Luccketta spent
more than two years writing and recording "Into the Now". TESLA co-
produced the album with Michael Rosen...
"Into the Now" track listing:
01. Into the Now
02. Look @ Me
03. What a Shame
04. Heaven Nine Eleven
05. Words Can't Explain
06. Caught In a Dream
07. Miles Away
08. Mighty Mouse
09. Got No Glory
10. Come to Me
11. Recognize
12. Only You
According to an official press release, TESLA changed their entire
way of working for "Into the Now" and that included serious personal
and musical reconnections as the foundation for the new album. After
such a long layoff, the band members wondered whether they would be
able to write strong songs and produce an album largely by themselves.
Keith, Hannon, Skeoch, Wheat and Luccketta agreed that they had to be
satisfied with the songs, and that wasn't always the case in the
past. They realized how important this new album was going to be, and
the quality of the songs was the most important consideration. The
band often rewrote full sections or entire songs and sometimes
recorded as many as three different demos for each one. Writer's
block was a problem at times and the members would not settle on
songs they weren't comfortable with. They knew instinctively which
songs were great and which ones were not.
"To try to get away from a TESLA feel just wouldn't be natural, but
we still tried new things. The songwriting process was exciting and
rewarding but was, at times, very hard and aggravating. I was a
little scared. 'Can I still write?' thoughts were poisoning my mind.
But our songs have to have heart. We must believe in them and feel
it," Keith says. "Producing the album largely by ourselves added an
extra element of fun too."
"The trick on the whole is to keep the TESLA style in place and yet
still grow musically and satisfy yourself but not change so much that
your fans are caught offguard," says Wheat. "We wrote about 20 or 30
songs and these were the 12 best."
"The whole songwriting process was different from previous records.
We didn't settle for the first thing we wrote," Hannon says. "A lot
of that had to do with us being better friends and being more
together than ever. It felt totally comfortable. Having the songs
totally ready before recording is like sanding a house before
painting it — the foundation has to be there."
"Looking back at it now, it was all worth it. It was scary producing
it on our own but it turned out great. And we really focused on every
nook and cranny on every song. We couldn't have written and produced
the new album without the newfound communication within the band,"
Skeoch says. "The emphasis had to be on great songs. About half the
material was written before the Rock Never Stops summer tour in 2002
and the other half was written after that. We were really eager to
get a new album out there, but then we realized that the songs had to
be great and that we shouldn't hurry. Why do it if it's not great?"
The give-and-take guitar interplay between Hannon and Skeoch has
always been crucial to TESLA's music, and that natural relationship
was even more important on 'Into the Now'.
"There's always been a magic between us. I can't put my finger on
it," Skeoch says. "We've never fought over solos or who was going to
play what part. It just works out. For example, there were some
guitar solos on this album that we each tried but it just didn't feel
right until the other one did it. 'Words Can't Explain' and 'Got No
Glory' were retracked a couple of times, and 'Heaven Nine Eleven'
and 'Recognize' were rewritten with different chords and verse
structures."
"When we were writing songs, we were able to live with them. We
relied on a voting process to decide which ones we loved and were
going to use. That was something new for us," Hannon says.
"A song took a majority vote — three out of five votes — to get it
approved. It worked. We'd always feel better after making a
decision," Luccketta says. "I knew we'd pull it together. This was
our biggest growth spurt. We're tighter than ever. We've learned a
lot of lessons."
"Each song is a snapshot of an event that took place during the
making of the record. There were a lot of experiences we had to go
through during these last two years. A lot of pain and growth. For
example, several friends of ours died during this time," Hannon
says. "I have really learned a lot making this record. There are so
many benefits to taking your time and making sure songs stand up
months after you've written them and you're still working."
One major luxury TESLA had making "Into the Now" was recording in
Hannon's Sacramento studio. Hannon worked on the preproduction demos
there as well. Using this studio gave them plenty of time and saved a
lot of money. Producing and recording the album themselves offered
unlimited creative flexibility. Rosen helped with engineering and
restructuring the tempos of certain songs. For example, Hannon says
that Rosen's tempo suggestions for "Heaven Nine Eleven" resulted in
a "street beat."
The autobiographical title track "Into the Now" is one of the most
intriguing songs. It addresses the past while also becoming a
statement of purpose about the present and future. Musically
speaking, its relentlessly pounding rhythmic thump explores new
territory.
"A big part of production was the writing and, sometimes more
importantly, the editing. There were several songs where there were
sections that just didn't work, so we'd just cut those out and
tighten things up," Hannon remembers. "And we are more aggressive
with rhythm guitar parts on this album than ever before too. Using
technology is a balancing act, but one of the fun things that it
allowed us to do was manipulate some sounds. There's a part on the
song 'Into the Now' that sounds like it's record scratching but it's
actually a guitar sound that we got."
"There were a lot of things to write about. I wrote most of the
lyrics although Frank was a big help. He wrote all the lyrics himself
for 'Heaven Nine Eleven' which was inspired by September 11 and what
it was like witnessing this terrible tragedy," Keith says.
TESLA enjoyed the creative freedom that modern recording technology
provided but it was important that the songs could be performed live.
"We did use overdubs, but we have to be able to play our songs live.
We don't want to have a keyboard player behind the scenes or anything
like that. If people aren't believing it's you on stage playing the
music then it loses the magic," says Keith.
Luccketta puts it simply: "We are a live band."
