March 17, 2026 • 49 mins
Frank Hannon, co-founder and lead guitarist of Tesla, has released an instrumental album, "Reflections." Frank talks about his new music, inspirations for writing, experiencing Guns N' Roses at Nassau Coliseum, upcoming tour with Mötley Crüe, and much more!
More info:
https://frankhannon.com/
https://www.instagram.com/frankhannonofficial/
https://teslatheband.com/
Our website:
www.afdpod.com
More info:
https://frankhannon.com/
https://www.instagram.com/frankhannonofficial/
https://teslatheband.com/
Our website:
www.afdpod.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everybody, I'm Frank Hannon from Tesla and this is
Appetite for Distortion.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to the podcast Appetite four Distortion, Episode number five
hundred and fifty six. Welcome back to the podcast, mister
Frank Hennon. I don't expect you to remember the last
time we spoke, but welcome. How are you, Sarah.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm doing fantastic on this wonderful day. It's a beautiful
weather happening. Man, springtime is here and I can't complain. Bro,
and I think I do remember being on your show.
Did we talk about guns n' roses?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
How?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I mean you're looking at the background, but yeah, we did. Well,
we won't rehash the same stories. You told a great story.
I actually just made a clip of it and I
shared on social media about the first time you heard
May Michelle And that's.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Right, Yeah that was that was a while ago.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Well, it's been a while since I've been on your show, Brandos,
so thanks for having me back.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I know it's been too long, about like four years
and lots of change. I already warned you about my
three years rolled in the background to May show up,
whose hair is almost as long as yours, almost Oh yeah, Well.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
He's gonna, no doubt, probably gonna be a little rock
and roller. If he's got you for a dad, that's.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
That's the plan, And especially exposing him to music like
Tesla and new Frank Hannon Instrumental, which is kind of
is awesome because he's not into rock and roll like
that yet. He likes his this new song go Go,
Dave Go or something like that on YouTube. It's all
about cats or whatever. But they it'd ease him into
(01:33):
rock and roll with instrumental, and so here this is
my terrible segue into his new country western infused instrumental album, Reflections. Frank,
how's that been? How's it been the reception so far?
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Well, that's that is a uh Western is definitely, it's
definitely has some Western feel to it. Unintentionally, I just
love the sound of ballero guitar, you know, that mood
and that vibe. Maybe because I grew up out here
in the West. But the reception of the music on
(02:10):
this new record had always been from the I started
creating it. I would send it to some friends and go, hey,
what do you think of this? And they were like, wow, man,
that sounds different, and they could feel it, mostly because
I was feeling it at the time when I was
creating it, and it was all just coming to me.
(02:32):
The ideas really just instantly and spontaneously, and I was
capturing them on my cell phone, and I decided, Man,
I want to keep it like this, real spontaneous. And
it was very rewarding to experiment with guitar in a
(02:57):
different way, using guitar as a voice instead of trying
to sing. Because I've done a ton of solo albums
and a ton of singing as backup singer with Tesla
but also as my solo career over the years singing.
But with this one, I wanted to sing with the guitar,
(03:18):
and that would involve really just listening and slowing down
and playing melodies. I wish I could play my guitar
for you right now. I might have to change the
setting and just do it, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Maybe.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, we were doing some troubleshooting before the we got recording,
and we could try it. Just made your voice sound
a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I'll tell you what, I'll go back to the setting,
but maybe while we're recording it will allow me.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
To do it. Okay, So am I still with you?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
You're still with me. It just sounds like you're in
a drive thorough but that's okay, I can hear it.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
I'll set it back.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So on this album, I discovered most guitar players and
including myself, will typically play way up here and we'll
play as fast as we can, you know, and that's
fun and all, and it's been done so much. But
(04:23):
for this Reflections period of my life, I discovered that
there's so much more down here, lower, and I just
(04:46):
got I could feel that, and so I started tapping
into how I was feeling at that point of time
over the holidays, after we had just gone through some
really rough times in our life, and making the guitar
cry like and playing lower and slower. That's my new expression,
play lower and slower so like for example, and use
(05:18):
the guitar to express emotion.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
And that's that was.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
My my feeling of what I wanted to do as
an artist when I created it.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
And here I'll reset the mic. Now, okay, hold on,
all right, how's that is that better?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah? It's cool and it was good just enough because
I thank you for sharing that. That was a nice
little oocase to everything, and you answered.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Keep that all in there.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
You know it's real, right, that's what I do here anyway,
Like if I said, if my son shows off, Hey, Harrison,
do you want to say hi to Frank Hannon?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
All right, Harrison Arson Rex you see Hey, Harrison, Hey,
how you doing? Picture?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
That's a picture of you, daddy, and that's a picture
of me, and you see Frank over there?
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Hi, Harrison, Hi, Frank sit Hi. Ah, he knows what
the microphone is.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
You want to sing for Tesla, Yeah, say Teslay. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Ah. He's such a great talker.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
He's Yeah, he's really turned the corner these last few weeks.
He'll be three on April twenty six, so he's still too.
But these last few weeks, I'm like, whoa, you went
from baby to like little dude. This is crazy.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Oh that is so awesome, Brandon. I'm so happy for you. Man.
Well you look like you're a good dad too, and
that's so important. Man.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I try to be See, I'm just going with the flow,
just like you. So you're the You're the perfect guy
to talk to and I appreciate it. We'll continue wherever
whenever you feel inspired to toggle between uh the guitar
and talking just for the quality is fine when you're
talking when the hors on, it's just not as you know,
your a.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Nice appetite for distortion, right, you want some distortion, so
I can just push the button there and we'll get distorted.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, you get it. You understand, And you kind of
answered some of my questions. And that's why going back
and like I said, I cut up a recent highlight
of our an old highlight of recently of our old interview,
and I was like, Wow, I can't wait to speak
to Frank again because the storyteller that you are, and
I'm already getting it right away of course with now
(07:32):
with the guitar on top of it. So if you
can elaborate a little bit more, because you've answered some
of it. When I talk to a guitarist or any
musician about when they do something that's just orchestral or instrumental,
it's like, where does the mood come from?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Where?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Because it's not like you're finding lyrics, and it's not
lyrics first, it's not the typical band question songwriting question.
So you answer with the mood that you're in and
finding a lower volume. So I don't know, can you
elaborate on the mood and how it speaks through you.
Do you have to go to a certain are you
able to do it in your studio? Do you have
(08:09):
to did you go to the cemetery first? I know
that's a drop to the video that you filmed, Like
where do you find that the inspiration? Where does it
come out well?
Speaker 3 (08:19):
And it's at different points in your life. You know, every.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Musician, I'll tell you that they'll have real creative seasons
in periods in their life where the ideas will just come.
And then there's depending on your mindset of what you're doing.
That's why a lot of artists have trouble writing when
they're on the road, because you're on tour and you're.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Focusing on that.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I find it to creativity to happen at home, sometimes
during the most mundane chores, like if I'm mowing the lawn,
or if I'm stacking some wood, or sometimes when I'm driving,
or a lot of times if I'm just sitting there
on the couch.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
And maybe watching a movie or.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Just having a guitar in your hand, and you know,
going through a struggle in your life. You know, and
you'll stumble on something and that is the key.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Even Tom Petty.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Had a quote where he would develop the skill of
recognizing when an idea would come and then trying to
record it really quick so you don't forget it, you know.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And so with this.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Music, and even with Tesla music, like what you give
the guitar then the music it has such a moody,
melancholy feel. I was in a mood of sadness at
the time. I had just gotten into a big argument
with someone and I was just sitting there contemplating. And
a lot of times when we're contemplating things and we're
(10:03):
feeling things, if we have a guitar, you'll stumble on
a few notes that will relate to each other, that
sound how you're feeling. When you do that, the trick
is to immediately capture it. And back in the old days,
we'd have a ghetto blaster with a cassette tape in it,
and you know, you press record and oh, let me
(10:24):
record this so I don't forget it. Well, nowadays everything
is on the cell phone, and I have my voice memos,
and my cell phones probably got three hundred and seventy two.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Little rough little clips of mood swings. I'll call them
mood Swings.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
That's the name of your next album, mood Swings, yeah,
or low and Slow and Slow that's a lead single.
That's a lead single.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
So I discovered the voice memo recorder on my phone.
But then I discovered this guy. Okay, it's a microphone
and it was put out by a company called Audigo.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
It says Audigo right there.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
It's like a little looks like a little box.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
It's a little box, but it has if you see,
there's microphones on it and it's stereo. And this goes
Wi Fi into the cell phone to an Audigo app.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Okay, and it's very convenient.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
You open the app, you hit record, and the sound
quality of this thing is amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Everything you hear.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
On my new record, which by the way, it went
from that to vinyl twelve inch vinyl all right there
on my cell phone. The sound quality was much better
than what my voice memo was getting. And I was
able to overdub with it and overdub a bass and
(11:53):
acoustic and create this guitar album that's reflections.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
That's it it.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
As we see it, and capture those moods when they
came and the moments, uh literally like I would be
on the couch, or I'd be in the kitchen strumming
on the guitar and my wife was like my radar.
She would hear something I was playing and saying, you
got to go record that. So luckily with the Otdigo
(12:22):
mike and my cell phone, I was able to record
instantly in a matter of minutes and capture the emotion
that I was feeling at the time.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
The technology is just absolutely insane. I think that about
that a lot in regard to who just popped in here, Harrison,
of just what he's growing up with and what we
just couldn't even fathom, Like it was just things we
grew up on with the Jetsons had, you know, with
something as simple as some video conferences and calls, and
that seemed like a crazy idea. And now we hear
(12:56):
we can record an entire album on this little speaker
and able to overdub. It's just incredible. Do you ever
think back about when you recorded, not just some of
your older solo stuff and projects, but even if you
listen back to some of the classic Tesla stuff. It's
like with movies, like do you even dare think about
(13:16):
you know, sometimes like what I could have done with that,
or it's just it was meant to be, that's meant
to be the sound.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah, when I look at old movies, like you know,
old Westerns, and I you know, I watch movies that
were created in the fifties and I think about the
filming that they would have to do, and you know,
developing the film. I mean, nowadays you can see everything
in an instant, whereas back then you probably even remember,
we would take pictures and we'd have to wait for
(13:47):
them to get developed to see.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
If they were even any good.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, you know, and you look at like The Wizard
of Oz or The Virginian or these color you know,
even like Star Trek.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
You know, the way that those.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Those movies and films were created, and for us making
the albums was done with the big two inch reel
to real tape, and you know, you had to wait
in between. Every time you wanted to do a song,
you had to press rewind and wait for it to rewind.
It would take a minute just to rewind the tape
to get to the start of the song again in
(14:23):
between every take. So it was a whole different way
of creating different formats, different tools that we had.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Very limited.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Whereas now there's no limits and it's actually gotten to
the point where there's computer AI stuff that will create
it all for you.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
You know, it's crazy the technology.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
What do you think are your thoughts on on that?
Because it can be used for a tool, you know,
like with anything else, any any sort of technology that
comes out, it could be used as an aid. But
there are those, of course, really fearful of it. And
AI can be used for really just making up stuff
that just has no bearing in reality, like new stories
(15:09):
or certain pictures. So there's like there's like an evil
side of it, but there's also a really good, helpful
side of it, of course, with medicine and anything. So
I mean, do you see a foresee a future with
you and working with AI or is that something you
want to stay away.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
From myself personally?
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Not really, you know, I mean I can spot it
instantly when I hear it.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
But I do have some friends.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
That are writers and the AI stuff helps them a
lot because they don't sing or play, but they write,
so they can create something with what they write and
hear it back easily the AI generated music. So for
(15:51):
them that works out good. For me, it's caused me
to want to actually be less perfect and make more
raw raw the better, you know, because then you can
know that's definitely not AI.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I bet that. I actually, I really I get that,
And I think that's kind of why I am the
way I am, because everything today is so polished, you know,
all these like just to relate it to like what
I do in podcasting your radio. Everything's so clear, a
quick cut, perfect editing. If I make a mistake, if
my son joins in, sometimes I just leave it in.
So yeah, no, that's this is a real person talking
(16:26):
to you, And so I completely understand that.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Yeah, I think people will grow to appreciate the human
element even more now that there's so much saturation with
perfection and stuff. And there's a whole bunch of younger
generations of musicians that are out on social media that
are raw and and you know they're out there, you
just got to find them. And you know, there's a
(16:52):
convenience of technology for independence. You can independently create a
lot easier than back in the eighties, when we would
have to rely on a major label to pay thousands
of dollars for us to make a video, you know, uh,
but or or an album. Now you can do it yourself.
(17:17):
Mentality is a lot more feasible.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
That is very true even for someone like me, who
you know, I'm in the radio industry. But it's helped
me immensely to be able to work from home and
to create this Guns of Roses Them podcast, which really
wouldn't have been possible, you know, fifteen years ago, I
would I couldn't have had a home studio like this
without thousands and thousands of thousands of dollars with everything
(17:43):
with Zoom and the social media. So it's like I
said with Ai, there is a good and a bad.
I think the human behind it all is the one
who decides it, you know, at the end of the day. Yeah,
doing something with that.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
It's it's a choice you make, man, It's the choice
you make.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
It just like if you're gonna cook a meal, you know,
how much butter are you gonna throw in there?
Speaker 3 (18:03):
You know?
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Yeah, it's so it's or how much sugar are you
gonna add to your spaghetti sauce?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
You know, that's a good analogy.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I understand that, you know, yeah, yeah, but it is
convenient and it is great Like Zoom. For example, when
I was doing my podcast, I was recording it analog
with a little handheld recorder and editing it in my
Digital Pro tool session. But I didn't have Zoom at
that time. But now we've got Zoom and it makes
(18:32):
it so convenient and great, you know.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
So that's a good thing.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, like I said, good and bad, I guess, like
we said about many things in life. But let's focus
on more of the of the good and that specifically
the new album and the new singles that you can
people can watch the video for, and that's San Francisco,
which is out there right now, and so is This
is Goodbye. So if you can talk about that, especially
(18:56):
This Is Goodbye with the very cool video in the
cemetery and the history behind that.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Well, thank you for the kudos on those.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yeah, again, those are not AI at all.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
It's filmed in black and white.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
My friend Brandon Gullian is a great cameraman with a
handheld camera. And about a mile up the road from
where I live here in northern California, this is where
the Old West pretty much in eighteen forty nine in California,
the forty nine ers they're named after in San Francisco
(19:39):
and the West and northern California from eighteen forty nine
was the gold Rush, and so this whole area is
rich with that culture of cowboy lore and Coloma and Plasterville,
old hangtown in this area. So I was dry over
(20:00):
to a ranch and I would pass by this cemetery
and I thought, man, that's such a cool cemetery. And
I went and visited it, and they invite you to
visit it because it's a historical landmark of the original settlers.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Here during the gold Rush.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
And there's some grave sites there going back to eighteen
forty eighteen forty nine, you know, two hundred, one hundred
something years old. So well, gosh, no, I'm not doing
the math correctly, but very old, okay, the old West days.
And that song has that feel of that Western feel,
(20:45):
and the emotion I was feeling of that song was
right after my father in law had just passed away
and my wife was leaving to go to a tribute
memorial for him, and she was leaving at five in
the morning and the sun was barely coming up, and
she had left for the airport and I was just
(21:06):
alone in the room, and I recorded that music pretty instantaneously,
spontaneously using the audigo app and my guitar, and it's
one of my favorite tracks on the record. It's it's
all just real, stripped down and uh. About a month later,
(21:26):
I was spotting that cemetery and I was like, man,
that sounds or that looks like that song sounds, And
so I called my friend up. He brought his camera
and we spent about one hour over there just filming.
And and that's my wife in the video because she
loves that song too, and she got the courage up
to do a little acting.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
In the video.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
You mentioned, you know, your late father in law, the
light and great Dicky Betts. Was it difficult? I got
to imagine it was, you said in an hour, but
that had been in pretty was it? Or was it
all business to be in emotional hour? I mean right,
because you're thinking about him and your wife is there
his dad? Or was it just all business? We have
to do it week?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Well, we had a very limited amount of time because
the sun was going down, okay, so we stayed real
super focused on just shooting the video.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Gotcha, I gotcha?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
And it's definitely not Ai, both the music and the video.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Everything is just real creation and very proud of that. One.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
It's one of my favorite songs to do. I do
a lot of solo shows. I'm doing a guitar festival
in Dallas on May one through the third, and I'll
be playing that song on most of my Reflections album
there at that guitar festival. And that song, it's so
(22:45):
Moody's I almost go into a trance when I'm playing
it live. I love that one. But fast forwarding over
the holidays, I released an instrumental Green Sleeves. I did
a remake of the Holiday Melody, and I took the
(23:06):
old melody of Green Sleeves and did that for the
Christmas show that I do. But I wanted to bring
the attention back to my Reflections album and track number
three right there is San Francisco. It's one of my
favorite songs on the record. And I'm friends with Chris Samartich,
(23:29):
who is again not AI.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
He's the real deal man.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
He creates the oil psychedelic oil light show for the
Almond Brothers, and he.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Did it for the Grateful Dead. He goes way back.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
This brotherhood of light show created the authentic oil lamp
shows from the sixties. And I contacted him and I
sent him the music because the music is paying tribute
to the San Franciscos sound, which is very influential to
(24:03):
me as a guitarist and as a musician. Monterey Pop Festival,
Jefferson Airplane, Carlos Santana, Grateful Dead, all that music is
about an hour west of here in San Francisco, and
when I was a kid, we'd go down to the.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
City, and so that is the.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Inspiration for the music, and so visually I wanted to
honor that. And I met Chris on the Almond Betts
tour when I played the film or with those guys
a few years ago, and he was gracious enough to
send me all this imagery of the Psychedelic Light Show
(24:45):
with the visuals of the city of San Francisco, and
so we assembled the video for that.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
It's a really if I can use the word pretty,
it's a pretty looking video and it's a pretty song.
And thank you if you look in the in the comments,
I mean, I'm not the only way who thinks that, like,
it's pretty cool. You never know, is there any sort
of do you ever feel any sort of trepidation to
venture out? You know, because it's some you know, if
you're an artist. Sometimes you're just associated with one style,
(25:15):
this one act. I mean, I know you've been doing
solo stuff for a while, so fans know to expect,
for the most part, from Frank Hannon. But is there
any sort of that little trepidation to be in Like
I don't, I'm not under the blanket of under of
Tesla and the other guys too, like it's just on me.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Well, yeah, Usually when a guy is from a band
and then they venture out on their own doing solo
stuff outside of the band, it's usually there that's their
time to experiment and myself. Even in Tesla, if you
listen to Tesla, the music is pretty diverse, songs like.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
What You Give or love Song or the Way It Is.
You can hear some.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Western tinges, country guitar and their acoustics, little blues, little jazz,
all the influences that I throw into the to the band.
And so I do experiment a lot with different influences
musically to create my own pizza, you know, I throw
some bel peppers and mushrooms, some sausage, this tomatoes and cheese.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
I like to create a lot of different flavors and learn.
I like to learn a lot of different styles of music.
Right now, I'm really listening to a lot of jazz
and going back to West Montgomery and herb Ellis and
Kenny Burrell and old jazz players that really play the
(26:48):
guitar in a different way.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
And you know, someday, I hope.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
That maybe this kind of stuff will get put placed
in some movies or something.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
You know, I have a lot of That's what it
sounded like, dream and delusions.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
You know, I don't know. You're living your dreams. They're
not delusions. So I mean you're you're proof that you
can make things happen.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
And you know, I'm.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Glad you said that because the first thought was like,
this sounds like it belongs to the Tarantino film. I
should have said that at the beginning, because that's that
was a thought. I'm like, this would fit right into
his like his style or you know, and and he's
big on the movie soundtracks, So I don't know, that's
I don't know if you've heard that before, but that's
what it sounded like to to me. So I do
(27:28):
encourage people to watch it.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Yeah, when I did Walk in the Rain, I did
get that comparison and and Uh that comment, and uh,
that's I take that as a compliment. I appreciate the
the uh, the kudos on that. We're gonna send it
to Taylor Sheridan and maybe uh he'll take a listen
to it.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
And but ultimately I'm.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Just doing it to express my own feeling and to learn, uh,
continually learn. You know, I'll be sixty years old this year.
And that's one of the coolest thing about music and
guitars is you can always just keep on learning. And
I'm gonna keep on creating and learning. It's what keeps
me saying in this world.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
That's a great message and I respect it and we
appreciate it because your music helps keep a lot of
us us saying. And I also appreciate all your food analogies.
You're really good at those. I don't want to keep
you here just forever. Hi Harrison, I know as he's
eating his what are you eating right now? Popcorn? Okay?
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Very nice? Ah good.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
I'm a popcorn fanatic too. Recently, I've been been cooking
up the orbal Red and Boxer.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
There you go. We're gonna take him. I use this
as a segue because we took him because I said
he's gonna be three. But when he was like six months,
seven months, with the headphones on, my wife already took
him to see Dave Matthews. We went all together to
see Paul McCartney. Last year.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
He Sawesome.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
He slept you half him. We're gonna see Guns of
Roses this summer, you know, headphones on.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Do you remember your first I mean, I know he's young,
but I don't want. I gu just want we want
to travel with him. If he cries, we'll leave. Whatever
it is what it is. Do you remember what your
first concert was and how old you were?
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Well, I do remember being Harrison's age at two or
three years old, and my mom and this is you know,
in nineteen sixty nine, nineteen seventy. My mom was the
total hippie chick man, and she would carry me on
her back and her shoulders and take me to parties.
(29:37):
And I remember seeing a band and the guy had
the flying V guitar, and I can still remember that.
Being as young as him, the visual and the sound
of that shape of that guitar stuck with me. Fast
forward to when I was ten years old, my mom
(29:58):
took me to see the Monterey Pop Festival movie in
a theater, and that's where the footage of Jimmy Hendricks
playing wild Thing and he likes his guitar on fire.
It's legendary, that movie and that footage and being a
ten year old kid, that really blew me away. And
(30:19):
then my stepdad, my mom's husband, Gabe, he was really
into Johnny Cash and he took me to see Johnny
Cash and the Statler Brothers and the sound of Johnny's voice.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
They're in gold Glove, you know, it was just so rich.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
And I remember being a young guy just going wow,
there's something about this guy, Johnny Cash that really mesmerized
me so and I remember being a young person and
when Johnny Cash walked off the stage at the end
of the show, I just remember this feeling of like sadness,
like oh, it's over now. And that's when I realized,
(31:03):
you know, and I look back at that now.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
That music and the emotions.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
That it triggers and makes you feels like a soundtrack
to your life is so valuable and important in our
lives as people and humans to have that as an escape.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
And you know, music can save the world if we
let it.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Yeah, if we let it. No, I appreciate you sharing
those stories. And yeah, I say, you know, kind of
half facetiously. Maybe his first memory will be of a
G and R concert or something like that, but he'll
be surrounded by music. We take him to a music
class every every week where he just he plays with
different instruments and people sing to him.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
So well, did you say you took him to see
Paul McCartney.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Yeah, yeah, last year.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
Wow. Well, hopefully he'll remember that.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Yes, I just don't think he will. Yeah, I guess
I should say that.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Yeah. See, he's a smart kid. I can tell just
by what I just saw.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Him do there, and he seems very in tune and
very aware of everything.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
And he's got his Beatles shirt on.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
He does You're right, you caught that he had his
Abbey Road shirt on, but he I said, he slept
through half of it, which is just so funny. Like
Paul was, We're wondering, is it going to be too loud?
He has some pyro.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Well, maybe he'll live and let die again at the
Guns and Roses show.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Yeah, I know, I know.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
I'm sure they're gonna play that.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Of course, absolutely, So I guess with that, let's let's pivot.
I mentioned, you know, people could rewind to the episode
that we did four years ago, and I just posted
a clip, you know, the great story about when you
heard Night Train for the first time and when he
met Axel before he was Axel. Any other stories from
that time because you were guys who were label mates,
(32:46):
I know you never toured together, but any other gn
R stories that perhaps we can uncover from you and
that we don't know about.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Well, we also assume people ever got to spend more
time with those guys are open for them or or
or do.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Any shows with them.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Because we were label mates, you know, and in fact
we were signed by the same A and our people
and everything.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
But.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
We were always so busy with def Leppard and doing
our own thing.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
But there was a time where I saw them at
Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, and we took a train
out there, and that was back when Axel was notoriously late,
you know, and everyone was waiting and waiting for the
show to start, and we got to go backstage for
(33:36):
the two hours that we were waiting, and we hung
out with Slash and Duff in the dressing room and
Lenny Kravitz walked in and I think Slash had just
recorded a song with Lenny Kravitz right at that period
in New York or something, and they were hanging out,
and it was just so cool to be there.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
And you know, we were always more of like.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
The shy guys from Sacramento, you know, we weren't really
from la or Hollywood or New York.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
So to be in that environment, we're like.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Wow, man, well there's Slash, there's Lenny Kravitz being like
super fans, you know. And all of a sudden, okay,
Axles here, you got to you gotta clear.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
The dressing room.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
And we got escorted out to the front and we're
at the soundboard and the stadium was packed and they
hit the stage and it was just.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Electric.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
I mean, I'm starting to get goosebumps right now remembering it,
you know, and it was wild. And then I'll never
forget Axel was talking about being in Rolling Stone magazine
and and you know, just really creating a lot of
controversy at the time, and we were just looking at.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Each other like, wow, this is crazy. Man. It was
such a.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Uh crazy environment at that time that now looking back,
just going we were like witnessing history and didn't even
realize it.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
You know, at the time, I wish, you know, even
though my parents are cool, they're mentally ill, but they're
they're cool. I was too young to have gone to
NASA Coliseum. Then I grew up on Long Island, so
I went there for many an Islander game, you know,
wrestling events. Uh, just so just too young. So I
always yeah, I know it was a very controversial time
(35:31):
and the lateness, but I always I missed that time.
It's like, I like, I like hearing that lower we're
talking about cowboy law. I like hearing about the the
wild antics of Axel lore. But that's a really cool experience.
And in case of anyone's wondering too, last time, we
brought up that that silly little clickbait story that happened
(35:51):
with you and Slash about patience, and we said, like
it was a bad joke. On that Metal show, we
spoke about that. So it's cool that you had, like
a good experience. You remember that.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Oh yeah, there was nothing but good experiences with those guys,
you know, so early on.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Some people still still bring that up, because some people
still bring that up. But it's like, no, no, you
that was a joke and misunderstanding that got out.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, you know that was I learned a lesson from
that that, you know, you got to be careful when
you're just trying to be funny and create conversations, you know.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
And uh, yeah, yeah, I just I just want to
acknowledge that. If you want again, if you want to talk,
go back and listen to the first and interview with Frank.
But yeah, this time around, that's a cool story, So
thank you.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
For Yeah, had fun experiences with the be it witnessing
the whole Guns n' Roses phenomenon and at the time,
you know, and uh and seeing them at Gazari's and
in in uh the heyday, right before they even released
Welcome to the Jungle. Speaking of AI, can you imagine,
(36:54):
I mean, Welcome to the Jungle and that whole appetite
record is so real, man, There's no way in hell
that A and I could ever even come close to
producing any.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
Sound like that.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Correct, No, never, never, it would just be a really bad,
bad copy. And actually, speaking of another connection, and we'll
get you out of here in a couple of minutes,
A former guest of the show, a friend of mine,
I think you may remember him from Geffen. There are
days Peter Napoleello.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
He oh yeah, yeah, that name brings a bell. If
I saw him, I'd probably know who he is.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
He did a promo for for Geffen back in the day,
so he saw the rise of gene R and he
saw the rise of Tesla. So off the air when
I told him that you were coming on the show,
he said, how hard he because he did this for
Sweet Child on the mind, and he did this for
Tesla because it was hard to get a real rock
band on the crossover on real radio. So they were
(37:49):
able to do it with Sweet Child, and that obviously
helped Gene R. And history is written. But with love Song,
it was if you can remember the challenges Obviously today
a big hit with your biggest hit arguably, but were
there challenges for that song to break through, especially on
radio at first, because you said then he had he
really had a fight, like this is a rock band,
(38:11):
we don't play that kind of stuff. But it's like, no,
this is well.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
There was different formats, right. There was what was called
CHR was I think stood for current Hit Radio.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
Or contemporary Hits, contemporary.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Hits, and then there was aar which was more FM
rock stuff, and yeah, for a rock band, you know,
there was a formula you put out two rock songs
and then.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
A ballad and.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
You know, but me being the guitar player in the band,
I really don't know too much about how that worked
politically and everything. But I'm just grateful that we made
a really great video for love song live in our hometown,
and MTV embraced it and it went to number eight
(38:59):
on the Billboard chart.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
And it was an unconventional song, you know.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
It had acoustic intro which was like a departure from
where the song ended up, but the last chorus was
like a big rock anthem, you know. So it was
a different song in a different time, and I think
the video helped it a lot because it was in
our hometown and we had a lot of support from
(39:24):
our hometown audience.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
In that it just had a crazy memory of my
first professional radio job, when I would do overnights like
three am to nine am for ironically the same company
when because I worked for Premiere Radio, which is part
of iHeart Radio, but Premiere was owned by somebody else
back then. Anyway, they did a syndicated love show if
you're familiar with Delilah, it was somebody like that if
(39:47):
anyone knows who Glenn Hollis was or is. And I
just remember hearing love song, you know, with you know,
Sarah Brellis and all these other songs. I'm like where
and it would always be the break in my shift
of like I get to get to the and song,
you know, the kind of the rock love song. So
that's kind of how I as a young radio DJ
before I got into rock radio that that those are
(40:08):
my little tastes of rock and roll. And uh, I can't.
I have to ask this though, before you get I'm sorry,
Do you have another interview after this?
Speaker 3 (40:15):
I don't want to keep No, I might take a
lunch break.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Okay, good, good, because I know the guy before me
was ran over.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
So yeah, no, I promise you. I'm I'm happy. I'm Brando.
I'm having a great time.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Cool, cool, I just want to be But I wouldn't
be respectful if there was a person after me. I understand, Yeah,
could spoke about new album reflections, spoke about gn R.
I'd be remiss though. Tesla though, of course, going out
on tour with with Motley Crue and An Extreme just
to talk about the excitements of that and how you know,
(40:48):
far back you go with these bands Motley and an Extreme.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
Oh man, you know, doctor Feel Good Tour, Uh was
one of the tours that Tesla did for months. We
opened for them all across Canada. Uh and in their heyday.
So it's gonna be a great reunion. I had heard through.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
The background that.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
Nicky six had chose us for this tour coming up,
So thank you, Nicky, really appreciate that. And to be
sandwiched in between Extreme and Motley Cruez, Tesla is the
middle band.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
We're really working on our show right now, preparing for that.
It starts July all the way through September this year,
and uh, you know, gosh, you know Bettencourt, John five,
I mean, and little old me is going to be
in the middle there trying to keep up, you know,
(41:46):
and you know, but no, but Tesla is really on
a good role right now. We just did some shows
with Brett Michaels in Florida and we've been working really hard.
We've got a new album called Homage that's coming out
that showcases Tesla's lead singer, Jeff Keith. His singing of
some soul and R and B songs. And there's a
(42:08):
new Tesla song that's gonna come out. It's called Never Alone.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
So some exciting times for Tesla.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
With Motley Crue, and again, we've got a lot of
history with those guys. Like you said, Vince Neil, We've
done shows with him as a solo artist. Tommy Lee,
we used to go jam out at the nightclubs when
we were on tour with them on the Doctor Feel
Good Tour. We would go out after the show and
(42:35):
go find a bar and go take over the stage
and sit in with with local cover bands and you know,
we'd play led Zeppelin and stuff like that, rock and roll,
and so those guys have always been really cool to us.
And I'm really glad that we were picked for the tour.
I don't know if it's true or not, but I
(42:56):
was told Nicky six picked us, and so I'm really
excited and honor that.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
He would do that.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
And three three killer bands, Man, Extreme, Tesla and Motley Crue.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
Yeah, it's gonna be awesome.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
I was I swear, I was telling my wife, I'm like,
if we can, we gotta take Harrison again another show
that he may or may not remember, but those are
three I'll go even enjoy myself.
Speaker 3 (43:19):
I know that.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
I mean hopefully if he has his popcorn and the headphone,
so he's fine, you know, whether or not he remembers it.
But I that's that is a great that's a great
triple bill right there.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yeah, you know anud betan court man with a great guitarist.
I just saw some footage of him, obviously from the
Ozzie Show that he did, and I saw some footage
of him doing a duet with Steven Tyler, and you know,
he's always out playing and he's such a great player.
And John five, So there's gonna be amazing guitar playing
(43:50):
amazing songs. And I'd love to meet Harrison. That's gonna
be cool, man. I hope you do. Please contact me
and I'll make sure you get the VIP treatment.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
I appreciate that though, I certainly will. And to avoid
you could say like, oh, I can't hear you if
you want to avoid clickbait because you just mentioned John
five again and because you go back with the way
back with Motley Crue, is there any sort of I'm
just trying to pick the right word, like I guess
how do you see Motley now? I mean this is
(44:20):
a new version of it, an updated version of it.
I'm sure it's still supporting Mick mars Is there a
certain way you feel about it? Or again, well, I love.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
Mick mars Man.
Speaker 1 (44:29):
He's a great songwriter, great player, great riffmaster. And when
we were out with them on the Doctor Feel Good Tour,
Mick was always very cool to me and would take
me to guitar shops, you know, during the day on
a day off, like let's say we're had a day
off in Indianapolis or something, and I would run into
(44:50):
Mick and the lobby and he would have a limo
that would take him to a guitar store and we'd
go shopping. And Mick bought me a fuzzbox, Maestro big
Istro fuzzbox as a gift and I still have it.
Speaker 3 (45:02):
It's in my shelf over there.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
And so make is great man. But you know, it's
a tough grind out on the road, and you know,
I know there was some health stuff, and you know,
John five is the perfect guy. I couldn't think of
anybody else that could step into that position, and both
visually and talent wise, and technical ability. I mean, John
(45:27):
five is one of the greatest, so you know, I
support all of them. I'm happy for everyone anybody that
can continue doing what we're doing, whether it's a band
or an artist. I give mad props to man because
it's a tough grind being on the road and being
in a rock and roll band.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
I not that I know that for sure, but I
can only imagine that it's a tough grinding, you know what,
if you're still out there championing the music. And I
look at it as personally like I saw the Carnival
of Sins tour twenty years ago. I would love to
see it now with John five and now in Tesla
yeah stream, so.
Speaker 3 (46:03):
It's going to be fantastic.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
And uh, before that that starts in July, and before
the Homage record and before that tour, I personally am
doing some shows with Leda Ford as a solo guy,
just me and my guitar, no band, just me and
a guitar, and I'll be playing reflections music and a
couple acoustic songs, uh in North Carolina and at Hampton
(46:27):
Beach Casino.
Speaker 3 (46:27):
Ballroom with Leeda Ford.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
I'm doing two shows and then I'm also doing the
Dallas International Guitar Festival May first through the third, and
my new video San Francisco is out and you can
find me at Frankhannan dot com.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
That's h A N n oh in, not Hannah but
hand none.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
Oh in yep, like like Shannon minus the s.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
That's right, Frank Hannon and uh. Frank had an official
on Instagram with the blue check mark. Please beware of scammers.
Anything else and direct messages. None of that is real.
It's all scams, so be careful. Don't fall for any scams.
Nobody's ever asking for money or anything like that. Definitely
(47:11):
not me. It's a scam. But yeah, Frank hann An
official with the blue check mark or Tesla the band.
Speaker 2 (47:17):
So then it was then it was you officially who
liked the video that I made of you and our
conversation from four years ago. You liked the Instagram post
that I did. Yeah, yeah, So I was like, all right, nice,
nice Now yeah, man, he's ready to come back on
the show. This was awesome, Frank, I god, you're so busy.
Thanks for making time for me. You know, I don't
(47:38):
know how you keep your your head so level, And
I would be remiss if I didn't say this and
speak for the listeners, because I saw it in the
comment sections of your YouTube. I saw it in my
comment sections when I saw you. You were coming back
on that you and Tesla underrated. That was the word
I kept saying over and over again, What underrated guitar?
(48:00):
What an underrated band? They are incredible. And it's because
again I'm posting one thing for me to post on
a g in our page, and people are gonna like
G and R most of all. My god, the love
that Tesla got and you got on those posts. So
I want you to know that that people were.
Speaker 3 (48:16):
Very grateful for those people. And uh, we've always kind of.
Speaker 1 (48:19):
Been been the underdog, I guess, And so you know,
people are are loyal to us, and we really appreciate
those people, and uh, they root for the underdog, I guess.
Speaker 2 (48:31):
Yeah, right on.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
I don't know, it's better than being overrated.
Speaker 2 (48:34):
I mean I think so, I think yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
Now, I'm I'm very grateful and happy that people like
our music and and when we play these songs live
that it still triggers that feeling, a good feeling.
Speaker 3 (48:48):
And escape, you know. Yeah, so and more, yeah, more
to come is right?
Speaker 2 (48:54):
Awesome, Well, Frankie, thank you so much. I hope it's
not another four years before we speak again. Uh and
so I hope we got to do it again. And
that does it for this episode of Appetite for Distortion.
When will you see the next one? In the words
of Axel Rose, concerning Chinese democracy, I don't know if
soon as the word, but you'll see it.
Speaker 3 (49:18):
Thanks to the lame ass security. I'm going home.
Hey everybody, I'm Frank Hannon from Tesla and this is
Appetite for Distortion.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to the podcast Appetite four Distortion, Episode number five
hundred and fifty six. Welcome back to the podcast, mister
Frank Hennon. I don't expect you to remember the last
time we spoke, but welcome. How are you, Sarah.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm doing fantastic on this wonderful day. It's a beautiful
weather happening. Man, springtime is here and I can't complain. Bro,
and I think I do remember being on your show.
Did we talk about guns n' roses?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
How?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I mean you're looking at the background, but yeah, we did. Well,
we won't rehash the same stories. You told a great story.
I actually just made a clip of it and I
shared on social media about the first time you heard
May Michelle And that's.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Right, Yeah that was that was a while ago.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Well, it's been a while since I've been on your show, Brandos,
so thanks for having me back.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I know it's been too long, about like four years
and lots of change. I already warned you about my
three years rolled in the background to May show up,
whose hair is almost as long as yours, almost Oh yeah, Well.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
He's gonna, no doubt, probably gonna be a little rock
and roller. If he's got you for a dad, that's.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
That's the plan, And especially exposing him to music like
Tesla and new Frank Hannon Instrumental, which is kind of
is awesome because he's not into rock and roll like
that yet. He likes his this new song go Go,
Dave Go or something like that on YouTube. It's all
about cats or whatever. But they it'd ease him into
(01:33):
rock and roll with instrumental, and so here this is
my terrible segue into his new country western infused instrumental album, Reflections. Frank,
how's that been? How's it been the reception so far?
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Well, that's that is a uh Western is definitely, it's
definitely has some Western feel to it. Unintentionally, I just
love the sound of ballero guitar, you know, that mood
and that vibe. Maybe because I grew up out here
in the West. But the reception of the music on
(02:10):
this new record had always been from the I started
creating it. I would send it to some friends and go, hey,
what do you think of this? And they were like, wow, man,
that sounds different, and they could feel it, mostly because
I was feeling it at the time when I was
creating it, and it was all just coming to me.
(02:32):
The ideas really just instantly and spontaneously, and I was
capturing them on my cell phone, and I decided, Man,
I want to keep it like this, real spontaneous. And
it was very rewarding to experiment with guitar in a
(02:57):
different way, using guitar as a voice instead of trying
to sing. Because I've done a ton of solo albums
and a ton of singing as backup singer with Tesla
but also as my solo career over the years singing.
But with this one, I wanted to sing with the guitar,
(03:18):
and that would involve really just listening and slowing down
and playing melodies. I wish I could play my guitar
for you right now. I might have to change the
setting and just do it, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Maybe.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, we were doing some troubleshooting before the we got recording,
and we could try it. Just made your voice sound
a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I'll tell you what, I'll go back to the setting,
but maybe while we're recording it will allow me.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
To do it. Okay, So am I still with you?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
You're still with me. It just sounds like you're in
a drive thorough but that's okay, I can hear it.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
I'll set it back.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So on this album, I discovered most guitar players and
including myself, will typically play way up here and we'll
play as fast as we can, you know, and that's
fun and all, and it's been done so much. But
(04:23):
for this Reflections period of my life, I discovered that
there's so much more down here, lower, and I just
(04:46):
got I could feel that, and so I started tapping
into how I was feeling at that point of time
over the holidays, after we had just gone through some
really rough times in our life, and making the guitar
cry like and playing lower and slower. That's my new expression,
play lower and slower so like for example, and use
(05:18):
the guitar to express emotion.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
And that's that was.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
My my feeling of what I wanted to do as
an artist when I created it.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
And here I'll reset the mic. Now, okay, hold on,
all right, how's that is that better?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah? It's cool and it was good just enough because
I thank you for sharing that. That was a nice
little oocase to everything, and you answered.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Keep that all in there.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
You know it's real, right, that's what I do here anyway,
Like if I said, if my son shows off, Hey, Harrison,
do you want to say hi to Frank Hannon?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
All right, Harrison Arson Rex you see Hey, Harrison, Hey,
how you doing? Picture?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
That's a picture of you, daddy, and that's a picture
of me, and you see Frank over there?
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Hi, Harrison, Hi, Frank sit Hi. Ah, he knows what
the microphone is.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
You want to sing for Tesla, Yeah, say Teslay. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Ah. He's such a great talker.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
He's Yeah, he's really turned the corner these last few weeks.
He'll be three on April twenty six, so he's still too.
But these last few weeks, I'm like, whoa, you went
from baby to like little dude. This is crazy.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Oh that is so awesome, Brandon. I'm so happy for you. Man.
Well you look like you're a good dad too, and
that's so important. Man.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I try to be See, I'm just going with the flow,
just like you. So you're the You're the perfect guy
to talk to and I appreciate it. We'll continue wherever
whenever you feel inspired to toggle between uh the guitar
and talking just for the quality is fine when you're
talking when the hors on, it's just not as you know,
your a.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Nice appetite for distortion, right, you want some distortion, so
I can just push the button there and we'll get distorted.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, you get it. You understand, And you kind of
answered some of my questions. And that's why going back
and like I said, I cut up a recent highlight
of our an old highlight of recently of our old interview,
and I was like, Wow, I can't wait to speak
to Frank again because the storyteller that you are, and
I'm already getting it right away of course with now
(07:32):
with the guitar on top of it. So if you
can elaborate a little bit more, because you've answered some
of it. When I talk to a guitarist or any
musician about when they do something that's just orchestral or instrumental,
it's like, where does the mood come from?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Where?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Because it's not like you're finding lyrics, and it's not
lyrics first, it's not the typical band question songwriting question.
So you answer with the mood that you're in and
finding a lower volume. So I don't know, can you
elaborate on the mood and how it speaks through you.
Do you have to go to a certain are you
able to do it in your studio? Do you have
(08:09):
to did you go to the cemetery first? I know
that's a drop to the video that you filmed, Like
where do you find that the inspiration? Where does it
come out well?
Speaker 3 (08:19):
And it's at different points in your life. You know, every.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Musician, I'll tell you that they'll have real creative seasons
in periods in their life where the ideas will just come.
And then there's depending on your mindset of what you're doing.
That's why a lot of artists have trouble writing when
they're on the road, because you're on tour and you're.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Focusing on that.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I find it to creativity to happen at home, sometimes
during the most mundane chores, like if I'm mowing the lawn,
or if I'm stacking some wood, or sometimes when I'm driving,
or a lot of times if I'm just sitting there
on the couch.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
And maybe watching a movie or.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Just having a guitar in your hand, and you know,
going through a struggle in your life. You know, and
you'll stumble on something and that is the key.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Even Tom Petty.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Had a quote where he would develop the skill of
recognizing when an idea would come and then trying to
record it really quick so you don't forget it, you know.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And so with this.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Music, and even with Tesla music, like what you give
the guitar then the music it has such a moody,
melancholy feel. I was in a mood of sadness at
the time. I had just gotten into a big argument
with someone and I was just sitting there contemplating. And
a lot of times when we're contemplating things and we're
(10:03):
feeling things, if we have a guitar, you'll stumble on
a few notes that will relate to each other, that
sound how you're feeling. When you do that, the trick
is to immediately capture it. And back in the old days,
we'd have a ghetto blaster with a cassette tape in it,
and you know, you press record and oh, let me
(10:24):
record this so I don't forget it. Well, nowadays everything
is on the cell phone, and I have my voice memos,
and my cell phones probably got three hundred and seventy two.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Little rough little clips of mood swings. I'll call them
mood Swings.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
That's the name of your next album, mood Swings, yeah,
or low and Slow and Slow that's a lead single.
That's a lead single.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
So I discovered the voice memo recorder on my phone.
But then I discovered this guy. Okay, it's a microphone
and it was put out by a company called Audigo.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
It says Audigo right there.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
It's like a little looks like a little box.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
It's a little box, but it has if you see,
there's microphones on it and it's stereo. And this goes
Wi Fi into the cell phone to an Audigo app.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Okay, and it's very convenient.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
You open the app, you hit record, and the sound
quality of this thing is amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Everything you hear.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
On my new record, which by the way, it went
from that to vinyl twelve inch vinyl all right there
on my cell phone. The sound quality was much better
than what my voice memo was getting. And I was
able to overdub with it and overdub a bass and
(11:53):
acoustic and create this guitar album that's reflections.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
That's it it.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
As we see it, and capture those moods when they
came and the moments, uh literally like I would be
on the couch, or I'd be in the kitchen strumming
on the guitar and my wife was like my radar.
She would hear something I was playing and saying, you
got to go record that. So luckily with the Otdigo
(12:22):
mike and my cell phone, I was able to record
instantly in a matter of minutes and capture the emotion
that I was feeling at the time.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
The technology is just absolutely insane. I think that about
that a lot in regard to who just popped in here, Harrison,
of just what he's growing up with and what we
just couldn't even fathom, Like it was just things we
grew up on with the Jetsons had, you know, with
something as simple as some video conferences and calls, and
that seemed like a crazy idea. And now we hear
(12:56):
we can record an entire album on this little speaker
and able to overdub. It's just incredible. Do you ever
think back about when you recorded, not just some of
your older solo stuff and projects, but even if you
listen back to some of the classic Tesla stuff. It's
like with movies, like do you even dare think about
(13:16):
you know, sometimes like what I could have done with that,
or it's just it was meant to be, that's meant
to be the sound.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah, when I look at old movies, like you know,
old Westerns, and I you know, I watch movies that
were created in the fifties and I think about the
filming that they would have to do, and you know,
developing the film. I mean, nowadays you can see everything
in an instant, whereas back then you probably even remember,
we would take pictures and we'd have to wait for
(13:47):
them to get developed to see.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
If they were even any good.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, you know, and you look at like The Wizard
of Oz or The Virginian or these color you know,
even like Star Trek.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
You know, the way that those.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Those movies and films were created, and for us making
the albums was done with the big two inch reel
to real tape, and you know, you had to wait
in between. Every time you wanted to do a song,
you had to press rewind and wait for it to rewind.
It would take a minute just to rewind the tape
to get to the start of the song again in
(14:23):
between every take. So it was a whole different way
of creating different formats, different tools that we had.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Very limited.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Whereas now there's no limits and it's actually gotten to
the point where there's computer AI stuff that will create
it all for you.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
You know, it's crazy the technology.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
What do you think are your thoughts on on that?
Because it can be used for a tool, you know,
like with anything else, any any sort of technology that
comes out, it could be used as an aid. But
there are those, of course, really fearful of it. And
AI can be used for really just making up stuff
that just has no bearing in reality, like new stories
(15:09):
or certain pictures. So there's like there's like an evil
side of it, but there's also a really good, helpful
side of it, of course, with medicine and anything. So
I mean, do you see a foresee a future with
you and working with AI or is that something you
want to stay away.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
From myself personally?
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Not really, you know, I mean I can spot it
instantly when I hear it.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
But I do have some friends.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
That are writers and the AI stuff helps them a
lot because they don't sing or play, but they write,
so they can create something with what they write and
hear it back easily the AI generated music. So for
(15:51):
them that works out good. For me, it's caused me
to want to actually be less perfect and make more
raw raw the better, you know, because then you can
know that's definitely not AI.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I bet that. I actually, I really I get that,
And I think that's kind of why I am the
way I am, because everything today is so polished, you know,
all these like just to relate it to like what
I do in podcasting your radio. Everything's so clear, a
quick cut, perfect editing. If I make a mistake, if
my son joins in, sometimes I just leave it in.
So yeah, no, that's this is a real person talking
(16:26):
to you, And so I completely understand that.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Yeah, I think people will grow to appreciate the human
element even more now that there's so much saturation with
perfection and stuff. And there's a whole bunch of younger
generations of musicians that are out on social media that
are raw and and you know they're out there, you
just got to find them. And you know, there's a
(16:52):
convenience of technology for independence. You can independently create a
lot easier than back in the eighties, when we would
have to rely on a major label to pay thousands
of dollars for us to make a video, you know, uh,
but or or an album. Now you can do it yourself.
(17:17):
Mentality is a lot more feasible.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
That is very true even for someone like me, who
you know, I'm in the radio industry. But it's helped
me immensely to be able to work from home and
to create this Guns of Roses Them podcast, which really
wouldn't have been possible, you know, fifteen years ago, I
would I couldn't have had a home studio like this
without thousands and thousands of thousands of dollars with everything
(17:43):
with Zoom and the social media. So it's like I
said with Ai, there is a good and a bad.
I think the human behind it all is the one
who decides it, you know, at the end of the day. Yeah,
doing something with that.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
It's it's a choice you make, man, It's the choice
you make.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
It just like if you're gonna cook a meal, you know,
how much butter are you gonna throw in there?
Speaker 3 (18:03):
You know?
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Yeah, it's so it's or how much sugar are you
gonna add to your spaghetti sauce?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
You know, that's a good analogy.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I understand that, you know, yeah, yeah, but it is
convenient and it is great Like Zoom. For example, when
I was doing my podcast, I was recording it analog
with a little handheld recorder and editing it in my
Digital Pro tool session. But I didn't have Zoom at
that time. But now we've got Zoom and it makes
(18:32):
it so convenient and great, you know.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
So that's a good thing.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, like I said, good and bad, I guess, like
we said about many things in life. But let's focus
on more of the of the good and that specifically
the new album and the new singles that you can
people can watch the video for, and that's San Francisco,
which is out there right now, and so is This
is Goodbye. So if you can talk about that, especially
(18:56):
This Is Goodbye with the very cool video in the
cemetery and the history behind that.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Well, thank you for the kudos on those.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yeah, again, those are not AI at all.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
It's filmed in black and white.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
My friend Brandon Gullian is a great cameraman with a
handheld camera. And about a mile up the road from
where I live here in northern California, this is where
the Old West pretty much in eighteen forty nine in California,
the forty nine ers they're named after in San Francisco
(19:39):
and the West and northern California from eighteen forty nine
was the gold Rush, and so this whole area is
rich with that culture of cowboy lore and Coloma and Plasterville,
old hangtown in this area. So I was dry over
(20:00):
to a ranch and I would pass by this cemetery
and I thought, man, that's such a cool cemetery. And
I went and visited it, and they invite you to
visit it because it's a historical landmark of the original settlers.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Here during the gold Rush.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
And there's some grave sites there going back to eighteen
forty eighteen forty nine, you know, two hundred, one hundred
something years old. So well, gosh, no, I'm not doing
the math correctly, but very old, okay, the old West days.
And that song has that feel of that Western feel,
(20:45):
and the emotion I was feeling of that song was
right after my father in law had just passed away
and my wife was leaving to go to a tribute
memorial for him, and she was leaving at five in
the morning and the sun was barely coming up, and
she had left for the airport and I was just
(21:06):
alone in the room, and I recorded that music pretty instantaneously,
spontaneously using the audigo app and my guitar, and it's
one of my favorite tracks on the record. It's it's
all just real, stripped down and uh. About a month later,
(21:26):
I was spotting that cemetery and I was like, man,
that sounds or that looks like that song sounds, And
so I called my friend up. He brought his camera
and we spent about one hour over there just filming.
And and that's my wife in the video because she
loves that song too, and she got the courage up
to do a little acting.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
In the video.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
You mentioned, you know, your late father in law, the
light and great Dicky Betts. Was it difficult? I got
to imagine it was, you said in an hour, but
that had been in pretty was it? Or was it
all business to be in emotional hour? I mean right,
because you're thinking about him and your wife is there
his dad? Or was it just all business? We have
to do it week?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Well, we had a very limited amount of time because
the sun was going down, okay, so we stayed real
super focused on just shooting the video.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Gotcha, I gotcha?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
And it's definitely not Ai, both the music and the video.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Everything is just real creation and very proud of that. One.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
It's one of my favorite songs to do. I do
a lot of solo shows. I'm doing a guitar festival
in Dallas on May one through the third, and I'll
be playing that song on most of my Reflections album
there at that guitar festival. And that song, it's so
(22:45):
Moody's I almost go into a trance when I'm playing
it live. I love that one. But fast forwarding over
the holidays, I released an instrumental Green Sleeves. I did
a remake of the Holiday Melody, and I took the
(23:06):
old melody of Green Sleeves and did that for the
Christmas show that I do. But I wanted to bring
the attention back to my Reflections album and track number
three right there is San Francisco. It's one of my
favorite songs on the record. And I'm friends with Chris Samartich,
(23:29):
who is again not AI.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
He's the real deal man.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
He creates the oil psychedelic oil light show for the
Almond Brothers, and he.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Did it for the Grateful Dead. He goes way back.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
This brotherhood of light show created the authentic oil lamp
shows from the sixties. And I contacted him and I
sent him the music because the music is paying tribute
to the San Franciscos sound, which is very influential to
(24:03):
me as a guitarist and as a musician. Monterey Pop Festival,
Jefferson Airplane, Carlos Santana, Grateful Dead, all that music is
about an hour west of here in San Francisco, and
when I was a kid, we'd go down to the.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
City, and so that is the.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Inspiration for the music, and so visually I wanted to
honor that. And I met Chris on the Almond Betts
tour when I played the film or with those guys
a few years ago, and he was gracious enough to
send me all this imagery of the Psychedelic Light Show
(24:45):
with the visuals of the city of San Francisco, and
so we assembled the video for that.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
It's a really if I can use the word pretty,
it's a pretty looking video and it's a pretty song.
And thank you if you look in the in the comments,
I mean, I'm not the only way who thinks that, like,
it's pretty cool. You never know, is there any sort
of do you ever feel any sort of trepidation to
venture out? You know, because it's some you know, if
you're an artist. Sometimes you're just associated with one style,
(25:15):
this one act. I mean, I know you've been doing
solo stuff for a while, so fans know to expect,
for the most part, from Frank Hannon. But is there
any sort of that little trepidation to be in Like
I don't, I'm not under the blanket of under of
Tesla and the other guys too, like it's just on me.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Well, yeah, Usually when a guy is from a band
and then they venture out on their own doing solo
stuff outside of the band, it's usually there that's their
time to experiment and myself. Even in Tesla, if you
listen to Tesla, the music is pretty diverse, songs like.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
What You Give or love Song or the Way It Is.
You can hear some.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Western tinges, country guitar and their acoustics, little blues, little jazz,
all the influences that I throw into the to the band.
And so I do experiment a lot with different influences
musically to create my own pizza, you know, I throw
some bel peppers and mushrooms, some sausage, this tomatoes and cheese.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
I like to create a lot of different flavors and learn.
I like to learn a lot of different styles of music.
Right now, I'm really listening to a lot of jazz
and going back to West Montgomery and herb Ellis and
Kenny Burrell and old jazz players that really play the
(26:48):
guitar in a different way.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
And you know, someday, I hope.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
That maybe this kind of stuff will get put placed
in some movies or something.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
You know, I have a lot of That's what it
sounded like, dream and delusions.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
You know, I don't know. You're living your dreams. They're
not delusions. So I mean you're you're proof that you
can make things happen.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
And you know, I'm.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Glad you said that because the first thought was like,
this sounds like it belongs to the Tarantino film. I
should have said that at the beginning, because that's that
was a thought. I'm like, this would fit right into
his like his style or you know, and and he's
big on the movie soundtracks, So I don't know, that's
I don't know if you've heard that before, but that's
what it sounded like to to me. So I do
(27:28):
encourage people to watch it.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Yeah, when I did Walk in the Rain, I did
get that comparison and and Uh that comment, and uh,
that's I take that as a compliment. I appreciate the
the uh, the kudos on that. We're gonna send it
to Taylor Sheridan and maybe uh he'll take a listen
to it.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
And but ultimately I'm.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Just doing it to express my own feeling and to learn, uh,
continually learn. You know, I'll be sixty years old this year.
And that's one of the coolest thing about music and
guitars is you can always just keep on learning. And
I'm gonna keep on creating and learning. It's what keeps
me saying in this world.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
That's a great message and I respect it and we
appreciate it because your music helps keep a lot of
us us saying. And I also appreciate all your food analogies.
You're really good at those. I don't want to keep
you here just forever. Hi Harrison, I know as he's
eating his what are you eating right now? Popcorn? Okay?
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Very nice? Ah good.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
I'm a popcorn fanatic too. Recently, I've been been cooking
up the orbal Red and Boxer.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
There you go. We're gonna take him. I use this
as a segue because we took him because I said
he's gonna be three. But when he was like six months,
seven months, with the headphones on, my wife already took
him to see Dave Matthews. We went all together to
see Paul McCartney. Last year.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
He Sawesome.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
He slept you half him. We're gonna see Guns of
Roses this summer, you know, headphones on.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Do you remember your first I mean, I know he's young,
but I don't want. I gu just want we want
to travel with him. If he cries, we'll leave. Whatever
it is what it is. Do you remember what your
first concert was and how old you were?
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Well, I do remember being Harrison's age at two or
three years old, and my mom and this is you know,
in nineteen sixty nine, nineteen seventy. My mom was the
total hippie chick man, and she would carry me on
her back and her shoulders and take me to parties.
(29:37):
And I remember seeing a band and the guy had
the flying V guitar, and I can still remember that.
Being as young as him, the visual and the sound
of that shape of that guitar stuck with me. Fast
forward to when I was ten years old, my mom
(29:58):
took me to see the Monterey Pop Festival movie in
a theater, and that's where the footage of Jimmy Hendricks
playing wild Thing and he likes his guitar on fire.
It's legendary, that movie and that footage and being a
ten year old kid, that really blew me away. And
(30:19):
then my stepdad, my mom's husband, Gabe, he was really
into Johnny Cash and he took me to see Johnny
Cash and the Statler Brothers and the sound of Johnny's voice.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
They're in gold Glove, you know, it was just so rich.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
And I remember being a young guy just going wow,
there's something about this guy, Johnny Cash that really mesmerized
me so and I remember being a young person and
when Johnny Cash walked off the stage at the end
of the show, I just remember this feeling of like sadness,
like oh, it's over now. And that's when I realized,
(31:03):
you know, and I look back at that now.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
That music and the emotions.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
That it triggers and makes you feels like a soundtrack
to your life is so valuable and important in our
lives as people and humans to have that as an escape.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
And you know, music can save the world if we
let it.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Yeah, if we let it. No, I appreciate you sharing
those stories. And yeah, I say, you know, kind of
half facetiously. Maybe his first memory will be of a
G and R concert or something like that, but he'll
be surrounded by music. We take him to a music
class every every week where he just he plays with
different instruments and people sing to him.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
So well, did you say you took him to see
Paul McCartney.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Yeah, yeah, last year.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
Wow. Well, hopefully he'll remember that.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Yes, I just don't think he will. Yeah, I guess
I should say that.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Yeah. See, he's a smart kid. I can tell just
by what I just saw.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Him do there, and he seems very in tune and
very aware of everything.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
And he's got his Beatles shirt on.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
He does You're right, you caught that he had his
Abbey Road shirt on, but he I said, he slept
through half of it, which is just so funny. Like
Paul was, We're wondering, is it going to be too loud?
He has some pyro.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Well, maybe he'll live and let die again at the
Guns and Roses show.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Yeah, I know, I know.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
I'm sure they're gonna play that.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Of course, absolutely, So I guess with that, let's let's pivot.
I mentioned, you know, people could rewind to the episode
that we did four years ago, and I just posted
a clip, you know, the great story about when you
heard Night Train for the first time and when he
met Axel before he was Axel. Any other stories from
that time because you were guys who were label mates,
(32:46):
I know you never toured together, but any other gn
R stories that perhaps we can uncover from you and
that we don't know about.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Well, we also assume people ever got to spend more
time with those guys are open for them or or
or do.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Any shows with them.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Because we were label mates, you know, and in fact
we were signed by the same A and our people
and everything.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
But.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
We were always so busy with def Leppard and doing
our own thing.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
But there was a time where I saw them at
Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, and we took a train
out there, and that was back when Axel was notoriously late,
you know, and everyone was waiting and waiting for the
show to start, and we got to go backstage for
(33:36):
the two hours that we were waiting, and we hung
out with Slash and Duff in the dressing room and
Lenny Kravitz walked in and I think Slash had just
recorded a song with Lenny Kravitz right at that period
in New York or something, and they were hanging out,
and it was just so cool to be there.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
And you know, we were always more of like.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
The shy guys from Sacramento, you know, we weren't really
from la or Hollywood or New York.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
So to be in that environment, we're like.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Wow, man, well there's Slash, there's Lenny Kravitz being like
super fans, you know. And all of a sudden, okay,
Axles here, you got to you gotta clear.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
The dressing room.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
And we got escorted out to the front and we're
at the soundboard and the stadium was packed and they
hit the stage and it was just.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Electric.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
I mean, I'm starting to get goosebumps right now remembering it,
you know, and it was wild. And then I'll never
forget Axel was talking about being in Rolling Stone magazine
and and you know, just really creating a lot of
controversy at the time, and we were just looking at.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Each other like, wow, this is crazy. Man. It was
such a.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Uh crazy environment at that time that now looking back,
just going we were like witnessing history and didn't even
realize it.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
You know, at the time, I wish, you know, even
though my parents are cool, they're mentally ill, but they're
they're cool. I was too young to have gone to
NASA Coliseum. Then I grew up on Long Island, so
I went there for many an Islander game, you know,
wrestling events. Uh, just so just too young. So I
always yeah, I know it was a very controversial time
(35:31):
and the lateness, but I always I missed that time.
It's like, I like, I like hearing that lower we're
talking about cowboy law. I like hearing about the the
wild antics of Axel lore. But that's a really cool experience.
And in case of anyone's wondering too, last time, we
brought up that that silly little clickbait story that happened
(35:51):
with you and Slash about patience, and we said, like
it was a bad joke. On that Metal show, we
spoke about that. So it's cool that you had, like
a good experience. You remember that.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Oh yeah, there was nothing but good experiences with those guys,
you know, so early on.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Some people still still bring that up, because some people
still bring that up. But it's like, no, no, you
that was a joke and misunderstanding that got out.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, you know that was I learned a lesson from
that that, you know, you got to be careful when
you're just trying to be funny and create conversations, you know.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
And uh, yeah, yeah, I just I just want to
acknowledge that. If you want again, if you want to talk,
go back and listen to the first and interview with Frank.
But yeah, this time around, that's a cool story, So
thank you.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
For Yeah, had fun experiences with the be it witnessing
the whole Guns n' Roses phenomenon and at the time,
you know, and uh and seeing them at Gazari's and
in in uh the heyday, right before they even released
Welcome to the Jungle. Speaking of AI, can you imagine,
(36:54):
I mean, Welcome to the Jungle and that whole appetite
record is so real, man, There's no way in hell
that A and I could ever even come close to
producing any.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
Sound like that.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Correct, No, never, never, it would just be a really bad,
bad copy. And actually, speaking of another connection, and we'll
get you out of here in a couple of minutes,
A former guest of the show, a friend of mine,
I think you may remember him from Geffen. There are
days Peter Napoleello.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
He oh yeah, yeah, that name brings a bell. If
I saw him, I'd probably know who he is.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
He did a promo for for Geffen back in the day,
so he saw the rise of gene R and he
saw the rise of Tesla. So off the air when
I told him that you were coming on the show,
he said, how hard he because he did this for
Sweet Child on the mind, and he did this for
Tesla because it was hard to get a real rock
band on the crossover on real radio. So they were
(37:49):
able to do it with Sweet Child, and that obviously
helped Gene R. And history is written. But with love Song,
it was if you can remember the challenges Obviously today
a big hit with your biggest hit arguably, but were
there challenges for that song to break through, especially on
radio at first, because you said then he had he
really had a fight, like this is a rock band,
(38:11):
we don't play that kind of stuff. But it's like, no,
this is well.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
There was different formats, right. There was what was called
CHR was I think stood for current Hit Radio.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
Or contemporary Hits, contemporary.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Hits, and then there was aar which was more FM
rock stuff, and yeah, for a rock band, you know,
there was a formula you put out two rock songs
and then.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
A ballad and.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
You know, but me being the guitar player in the band,
I really don't know too much about how that worked
politically and everything. But I'm just grateful that we made
a really great video for love song live in our hometown,
and MTV embraced it and it went to number eight
(38:59):
on the Billboard chart.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
And it was an unconventional song, you know.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
It had acoustic intro which was like a departure from
where the song ended up, but the last chorus was
like a big rock anthem, you know. So it was
a different song in a different time, and I think
the video helped it a lot because it was in
our hometown and we had a lot of support from
(39:24):
our hometown audience.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
In that it just had a crazy memory of my
first professional radio job, when I would do overnights like
three am to nine am for ironically the same company
when because I worked for Premiere Radio, which is part
of iHeart Radio, but Premiere was owned by somebody else
back then. Anyway, they did a syndicated love show if
you're familiar with Delilah, it was somebody like that if
(39:47):
anyone knows who Glenn Hollis was or is. And I
just remember hearing love song, you know, with you know,
Sarah Brellis and all these other songs. I'm like where
and it would always be the break in my shift
of like I get to get to the and song,
you know, the kind of the rock love song. So
that's kind of how I as a young radio DJ
before I got into rock radio that that those are
(40:08):
my little tastes of rock and roll. And uh, I can't.
I have to ask this though, before you get I'm sorry,
Do you have another interview after this?
Speaker 3 (40:15):
I don't want to keep No, I might take a
lunch break.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Okay, good, good, because I know the guy before me
was ran over.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
So yeah, no, I promise you. I'm I'm happy. I'm Brando.
I'm having a great time.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Cool, cool, I just want to be But I wouldn't
be respectful if there was a person after me. I understand, Yeah,
could spoke about new album reflections, spoke about gn R.
I'd be remiss though. Tesla though, of course, going out
on tour with with Motley Crue and An Extreme just
to talk about the excitements of that and how you know,
(40:48):
far back you go with these bands Motley and an Extreme.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
Oh man, you know, doctor Feel Good Tour, Uh was
one of the tours that Tesla did for months. We
opened for them all across Canada. Uh and in their heyday.
So it's gonna be a great reunion. I had heard through.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
The background that.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
Nicky six had chose us for this tour coming up,
So thank you, Nicky, really appreciate that. And to be
sandwiched in between Extreme and Motley Cruez, Tesla is the
middle band.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
We're really working on our show right now, preparing for that.
It starts July all the way through September this year,
and uh, you know, gosh, you know Bettencourt, John five,
I mean, and little old me is going to be
in the middle there trying to keep up, you know,
(41:46):
and you know, but no, but Tesla is really on
a good role right now. We just did some shows
with Brett Michaels in Florida and we've been working really hard.
We've got a new album called Homage that's coming out
that showcases Tesla's lead singer, Jeff Keith. His singing of
some soul and R and B songs. And there's a
(42:08):
new Tesla song that's gonna come out. It's called Never Alone.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
So some exciting times for Tesla.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
With Motley Crue, and again, we've got a lot of
history with those guys. Like you said, Vince Neil, We've
done shows with him as a solo artist. Tommy Lee,
we used to go jam out at the nightclubs when
we were on tour with them on the Doctor Feel
Good Tour. We would go out after the show and
(42:35):
go find a bar and go take over the stage
and sit in with with local cover bands and you know,
we'd play led Zeppelin and stuff like that, rock and roll,
and so those guys have always been really cool to us.
And I'm really glad that we were picked for the tour.
I don't know if it's true or not, but I
(42:56):
was told Nicky six picked us, and so I'm really
excited and honor that.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
He would do that.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
And three three killer bands, Man, Extreme, Tesla and Motley Crue.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
Yeah, it's gonna be awesome.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
I was I swear, I was telling my wife, I'm like,
if we can, we gotta take Harrison again another show
that he may or may not remember, but those are
three I'll go even enjoy myself.
Speaker 3 (43:19):
I know that.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
I mean hopefully if he has his popcorn and the headphone,
so he's fine, you know, whether or not he remembers it.
But I that's that is a great that's a great
triple bill right there.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yeah, you know anud betan court man with a great guitarist.
I just saw some footage of him, obviously from the
Ozzie Show that he did, and I saw some footage
of him doing a duet with Steven Tyler, and you know,
he's always out playing and he's such a great player.
And John five, So there's gonna be amazing guitar playing
(43:50):
amazing songs. And I'd love to meet Harrison. That's gonna
be cool, man. I hope you do. Please contact me
and I'll make sure you get the VIP treatment.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
I appreciate that though, I certainly will. And to avoid
you could say like, oh, I can't hear you if
you want to avoid clickbait because you just mentioned John
five again and because you go back with the way
back with Motley Crue, is there any sort of I'm
just trying to pick the right word, like I guess
how do you see Motley now? I mean this is
(44:20):
a new version of it, an updated version of it.
I'm sure it's still supporting Mick mars Is there a
certain way you feel about it? Or again, well, I love.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
Mick mars Man.
Speaker 1 (44:29):
He's a great songwriter, great player, great riffmaster. And when
we were out with them on the Doctor Feel Good Tour,
Mick was always very cool to me and would take
me to guitar shops, you know, during the day on
a day off, like let's say we're had a day
off in Indianapolis or something, and I would run into
(44:50):
Mick and the lobby and he would have a limo
that would take him to a guitar store and we'd
go shopping. And Mick bought me a fuzzbox, Maestro big
Istro fuzzbox as a gift and I still have it.
Speaker 3 (45:02):
It's in my shelf over there.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
And so make is great man. But you know, it's
a tough grind out on the road, and you know,
I know there was some health stuff, and you know,
John five is the perfect guy. I couldn't think of
anybody else that could step into that position, and both
visually and talent wise, and technical ability. I mean, John
(45:27):
five is one of the greatest, so you know, I
support all of them. I'm happy for everyone anybody that
can continue doing what we're doing, whether it's a band
or an artist. I give mad props to man because
it's a tough grind being on the road and being
in a rock and roll band.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
I not that I know that for sure, but I
can only imagine that it's a tough grinding, you know what,
if you're still out there championing the music. And I
look at it as personally like I saw the Carnival
of Sins tour twenty years ago. I would love to
see it now with John five and now in Tesla
yeah stream, so.
Speaker 3 (46:03):
It's going to be fantastic.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
And uh, before that that starts in July, and before
the Homage record and before that tour, I personally am
doing some shows with Leda Ford as a solo guy,
just me and my guitar, no band, just me and
a guitar, and I'll be playing reflections music and a
couple acoustic songs, uh in North Carolina and at Hampton
(46:27):
Beach Casino.
Speaker 3 (46:27):
Ballroom with Leeda Ford.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
I'm doing two shows and then I'm also doing the
Dallas International Guitar Festival May first through the third, and
my new video San Francisco is out and you can
find me at Frankhannan dot com.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
That's h A N n oh in, not Hannah but
hand none.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
Oh in yep, like like Shannon minus the s.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
That's right, Frank Hannon and uh. Frank had an official
on Instagram with the blue check mark. Please beware of scammers.
Anything else and direct messages. None of that is real.
It's all scams, so be careful. Don't fall for any scams.
Nobody's ever asking for money or anything like that. Definitely
(47:11):
not me. It's a scam. But yeah, Frank hann An
official with the blue check mark or Tesla the band.
Speaker 2 (47:17):
So then it was then it was you officially who
liked the video that I made of you and our
conversation from four years ago. You liked the Instagram post
that I did. Yeah, yeah, So I was like, all right, nice,
nice Now yeah, man, he's ready to come back on
the show. This was awesome, Frank, I god, you're so busy.
Thanks for making time for me. You know, I don't
(47:38):
know how you keep your your head so level, And
I would be remiss if I didn't say this and
speak for the listeners, because I saw it in the
comment sections of your YouTube. I saw it in my
comment sections when I saw you. You were coming back
on that you and Tesla underrated. That was the word
I kept saying over and over again, What underrated guitar?
(48:00):
What an underrated band? They are incredible. And it's because
again I'm posting one thing for me to post on
a g in our page, and people are gonna like
G and R most of all. My god, the love
that Tesla got and you got on those posts. So
I want you to know that that people were.
Speaker 3 (48:16):
Very grateful for those people. And uh, we've always kind of.
Speaker 1 (48:19):
Been been the underdog, I guess, And so you know,
people are are loyal to us, and we really appreciate
those people, and uh, they root for the underdog, I guess.
Speaker 2 (48:31):
Yeah, right on.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
I don't know, it's better than being overrated.
Speaker 2 (48:34):
I mean I think so, I think yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
Now, I'm I'm very grateful and happy that people like
our music and and when we play these songs live
that it still triggers that feeling, a good feeling.
Speaker 3 (48:48):
And escape, you know. Yeah, so and more, yeah, more
to come is right?
Speaker 2 (48:54):
Awesome, Well, Frankie, thank you so much. I hope it's
not another four years before we speak again. Uh and
so I hope we got to do it again. And
that does it for this episode of Appetite for Distortion.
When will you see the next one? In the words
of Axel Rose, concerning Chinese democracy, I don't know if
soon as the word, but you'll see it.
Speaker 3 (49:18):
Thanks to the lame ass security. I'm going home.
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