Brian Wheat recently joined an interview with Fox 5 Las Vegas and talked about why having the Tesla name is a disadvantage.
The bassist talked about having the same name with Elon Musk’s car company:
“Well, the funny thing is up until about 20 years ago, I’d call people and say, ‘Hi, this is Brian Wheat from Tesla.’ And they would know it’s the band. And now when I call people and say, ‘It’s Brian Wheat from Tesla, they say, ‘Oh, are you with the car company?’ I say, ‘Yeah, I’m the president.’”
Wheat Thinks The Tesla Name Is Cool
He added:
“But, yeah, we’ve been here since 1986, and Elon’s [Musk, Tesla CEO] been here since 2006. But they’re both cool — the car, the band. The inventor [Nikola Tesla] was really cool. So that’s the name thing. But I think more people that don’t know the band from the music, when you say ‘Tesla,’ they think of the car because it’s so — so vast out there.”
Tesla Doesn’t Have Income From The Car Company
Wheat previously told Metal Edge magazine they haven’t gained anything from sharing the same name as the Tesla car company:
“There has been no cross-branding between us and the Tesla automobile company. We’ve had some roundabout communication with Elon Musk, where he sent us some t-shirts, and we sent him some, but we’ve never met him, and we don’t have Tesla cars. I like what he is doing, but he has nothing to do with us and our music.”
Tesla has been still making music and performing live. Last month, Wheat spoke with Paltrocast With Darren and disclosed when the band might retire:
“When people ask me how much gas is left in the tank for Tesla, the simple answer is I don’t know. It all depends on when Jeff can’t sing to the level he still sings at. When it’s less to a point where people go, ‘Oh, he doesn’t sound good,’ then we’ll stop. And as long as we’re all healthy.”
Tesla’s next show is on April 18 in Tucson, Arizona. Later in May, they will have three more concerts in different cities in North America. The band will keep performing during the summer of 2024.
You can watch the rest of Brian’s chat below.