Brian Wheat

Brian Wheat photographed at J Street Recorders, his state-of-the-art recording studio in Sacramento.

Brian Wheat photographed at J Street Recorders, his state-of-the-art recording studio in Sacramento.

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Brian Wheat is an accomplished musician, who is the founder and original member of the platinum selling hard rock group “Tesla”. Distinguishing himself as one of the finest bass guitarists out there, his music has earned him recognition and respect all over the world.

His story began in South Sacramento, California, where he grew up being the youngest child, among six other siblings. His brothers were the people who influenced his taste in music initially.  While his brothers were listening to the hard rock records, he was listening to The Beatles and was particularly impassioned by Paul McCartney, whose songs were truly significant to him as an aspiring musician.

Wheat started playing bass when he was 14 years old, but this activity filled only half of his day. The other half was all about sports and more specifically, baseball. Having to compete with six older brothers on a regular basis, caused his enormous competitive drive to grow even further.

He played baseball all up to his high school league, but when it looked like baseball wasn’t likely to be his profession decided to veer wholeheartedly into music.

He formed the band City Kidd in 1982, with his friend Frank Hannon. After adding Tommy Skeoch, Jeff Keith and Troy Luccketta to the lineup, the band signed with Geffen Records and changed their name to Tesla.  Skeoch was later replaced by Dave Rude.

Wheat recruited more members later on and changed the name of his rock band to “Tesla”, while the group was recording their first album “Mechanical Resonance” in 1984.

Ever since then, “Tesla” has been producing great music, while touring the world and bringing incredible new tracks to their loyal following. They have a number of chart breaking songs, such as “Signs”, ”Love Song” and “Song and Emotion”.

Wheat is also running his own recording studio, called “J Street Recorders” parallel to his music career. The studio is situated in Sacramento, California, Bands such as Papa Roach, Tesla, Pat Travers, Deftones, and many others have recorded there.

Brian Wheat is not just a magnificent bass guitarist, but he is a man who has managed to become a huge inspiration and influence for other musicians and music enthusiasts from all corners of the world.

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