In a new interview with Ernest Skinner of Canada’s Border City Rock Talk, TESLA bassist Brian Wheat discussed his friendship with former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): ”Me and Chris are gonna do a band or a project, whatever you wanna call it, together. And [former TESLA guitarist] Tommy [Skeoch] has agreed to do it as well. So the three of us have talked about putting together a project, band, whatever you wanna call it this day and age, but me and Chris have already started to work on some songs. And I know me and Tommy know how to write songs together ’cause we did a lot in TESLA. So the next step would be to get me and Tommy and Chris together, whether it’s on a Zoom, working together like that or whatever, and write some material, and then find a singer that would be the right singer for that project.
“But, yeah, me and Chris are pretty good buddies,” Brian continued. “We see each other when I’m at my house in Italy. He’s there all the time. He lives in France. And I’m in Florida now for the winter. Tommy‘s in Florida. So we’ve all talked about it. So it’s just when we get around to doing it. And it’s just carving out a time where Chris isn’t busy doing MEAN MAN, I’m not doing TESLA or VIOLET BREED, and Tommy‘s not doing BAD MARRIAGE.
“I’m looking forward to it, because I like Chris and I wanna work with Tommy again,” Wheat added.
In February 2022, Skeoch, who left TESLA in 2006 to receive treatment for substance-abuse issues, reconnected with Wheat for the first time in more than a decade and a half aboard that year’s Monsters Of Rock cruise. The charter cruise featured performances by Skeoch‘s then-band RESIST & BITE while Wheat was onboard showing his art.
In an interview with SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, Skeoch was asked if he exited TESLA of his own accord or if he was asked to leave. Tommy said: “I was fired. I was getting fucked up and I was definitely in the wrong about a lot of stuff, and they put up with it for a long time. But at the same time, none of us were angels, and we put up with a lot of stuff from the other guys for a long time too, and they’re still there. So I felt like a little scapegoated by the thing. And the other thing is they didn’t want people — I guess for the benefit of my family, so it wouldn’t look bad — they said, ‘Tommy‘s just gonna spend time [with his family].’ That’s why nobody knows, and that’s why you’re asking this question. Everyone’s confused on even what happened. Basically, I was fired. I was getting fucked up, and I kept fucking up, and I kept telling ’em I wouldn’t, and I just couldn’t stop.”
Skeoch added that he accepts responsibility for the circumstances that led to his departure from TESLA. “I do, of course,” he said. “But I also believe we put up with a lot of shit for a long time from almost every other guy in the band, and they’re still there. So I don’t know what’s up with that; that’s a little weird to me.”
Skeoch, who was a founding member of TESLA, played on the Sacramento five-piece defining albums, including 1986 debut “Mechanical Resonance” and 1990’s “Five Man Acoustical Jam”.
Tommy, who was fired due to substance abuse issues in 1994, rejoined when TESLA reformed more than two and a half decades ago following a brief hiatus.
Source: blabbermouth.net
