Supergroup T3RMINAL 'Doesn't Sound Like' TESLA, W.A.S.P. Or SALIVA: 'People Are Gonna Be Really Surprised'

T3RMINAL, the new band featuring TESLA bassist and founding member Brian Wheat, original TESLA guitarist Tommy Skeoch, former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes and original SALIVA singer Josey Scott, is currently in the studio working on its debut full-length album, expected to be released in late 2026 or early 2027. Playing drums for T3RMINAL in the studio is Sal Giancarelli, who entered the world of touring in October of 1999 as the drum tech for STAIND before becoming the drummer for STAIND in 2011.

Asked in a new interview with The Adventures Of Pipeman when fans can expect to hear the first music from T3RMINAL, Brian said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Well, right now we're in the writing process. Josey's just now getting ready to go out and play some dates… I've got some work with TESLA. Obviously I got this TESLA/MÖTLEY CRÜE tour this summer. Chris is taking care of some personal issues in Paris. But we're getting together again in a couple weeks — me, Tommy and Josey. So it's kind of an ongoing process. I would say realistically by the end of the year we should have a single out. I mean, people are calling me — someone called me yesterday, 'Hey, when can T3RMINAL come and play?' And I said, 'Soon.' But right now we've got things we are doing."

Wheat continued: "The beauty of this thing is that all of us have other things that we do, but we connect in the T3RMINAL. And T3RMINAL is me, Josey, Tommy and Chris. We get together and that's where the magic happens."

Regarding the T3RMINAL sound and how it differs from that of the various bands the members have previously been involved with, Josey said: "You'd be surprised how well we have jelled together in the studio. I think the natural TESLA sound that Brian and Tommy have lends itself perfectly to what Chris does with his sexy '80s, go-go dancer-type guitar riffs. And then I just come in and lay down — like Brian says, this is what I do. This is all I know how to do, is come in and sing my heart. Write about whatever's going on around us. I've written some songs about the different characters that I'm in a band with in T3RMINAL, and I've written some things about life and about heartbreak. God knows we've all been through enough heartbreak for 10 albums and 10 lifetimes."

Scott continued: "At the end of the day, you can want to be in a band all you want to and it not jell or not come together. And this has surprisingly just really jelled and come together perfectly in this pot of stew that we're making that's T3RMINAL.

"I think people are gonna be really surprised," Josey added. "I don't wanna give it away. There's more I'd like to say on it, but I would want you to hear it first."

Brian chimed in: "Let me elaborate a little bit on that… I'll tell you what it doesn't sound like. It doesn't sound like TESLA. It doesn't sound like W.A.S.P. And Josey, like any band — like the voice of TESLA is Jeff Keith. The voice of SALIVA is Josey Scott. The voice of W.A.S.P. was Blackie [Lawless]. It doesn't sound like TESLA or W.A.S.P. And it doesn't sound like SALIVA outside of it's Josey singing. I will say it's got a modern rock sound to it. We don't wanna give too much away, like Josey says, but if you're expecting to hear, like, 'Oh, that reminds me of TESLA,' it doesn't have that sound… 'Cause there's already a TESLA. And there's already a W.A.S.P. There's already Josey Scott's SALIVA. But what this is, is all those guys coming together with everything they know and everything they grew up and everything they were inspired by and putting it together. And that's why it's called T3RMINAL. Because what happens in a terminal? At an airport terminal, you got people coming and going from all different places, all over the world, and they all meet at the terminal to go somewhere else on a journey."

After host Pipeman noted that TESLA, SALIVA and W.A.S.P. are all drastically different-sounding bands, Brian concurred. "And even in TESLA, me and Tommy were both from different places," he explained. "Tommy had the real heavy stuff, and I would write the more pop song[-oriented material], like 'Call It What You Want' or 'Paradise' or something like that, where he would write 'Heaven's Trail' or something. So that was a combination. So you take that element of Tom, who, he's into newer heavy music, and I listen to Miley Cyrus. I listen to pop music. So we just take all these influences. And no one's got any egos — there's no bullshit like that to deal with — and we all contribute and we try to make the best song, because Josey will tell you, it's about the songs. But you'll hear this guitar army of Tommy Skeoch and Chris Holmes. That's there, man. And they work so well together. And you wanna hear Josey Scott? You're gonna hear Josey Scott as you wanna hear Josey Scott. And I do what I do, man. I'm that guy that plays that bass thing… I only know four notes, but I play the fuck out of these four notes."

A video of T3RMINAL in the studio can be seen below.

T3RMINAL is:

Josey Scott (ex-SALIVA) - Vocals
Brian Wheat (TESLA) - Bass
Tommy Skeoch (BAD MARRIAGE, ex-TESLA) - Guitar
Chris Holmes (ex-W.A.S.P.) - Guitar
Sal Giancarelli (STAIND) - Drums (studio)

Regarding how T3RMINAL came together, Holmes told Jimmy Kay of Canada's The Metal Voice in a recent interview: "In 2022 I played on the Monsters [Of Rock] cruise, and before we played, I ran into the Brian, and I talked to him. And we were on the boat, and we became pretty close friends. You can tell if you're gonna like somebody in about 10 minutes, 20 minutes of meeting somebody. When you're around 'em, you usually can tell if they're compatible with your personality. So he's got a house in Italy by where I live in France. I live in the south of France and right by Monaco, by Nice, and he has a place down by Florence. And he said, 'Hey, come down here.' And then when I went and visited him, he was, like, 'I've been wanting to put a band together.' He has a few other projects going. He's got one called VIOLET BREED. He's got that, but he talking to me about putting a project together. I go, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.' And I gave him a few ideas of songs and whatever, and we're taking the steps and putting this project together. We've got the people together; it's just we've gotta finish the songs."

Brian added: "So what happened was this: we were on the [Monsters Of Rock] boat in 2022, but I had seen Chris's documentary, the 'Mean Man' documentary, and a friend of mine said, 'You gotta watch this, this dude in W.A.S.P.,' which was Chris. I said, 'Yeah, I met that cat a long time ago.' So I watched it and I really connected to him and his story. So when he was on the boat, when we were on the boat, I said, 'I wanna meet the guy.' So I went up to him and I introduced myself to him. I said, 'Hey, man, I'm Brian from TESLA. Nice to meet you. I saw your documentary.' And we just kind of hit it off. He said, 'Hey, let's have coffee or lunch' or whatever. We were eating at the buffet, and we were talking, and I said to Chris, 'Chris, all those years you were in W.A.S.P. Why didn't you join some other band after you were out of W.A.S.P.?' And he said, 'Well, no one wanted to play you in a band with me.' So I said, 'Well, fuck, I'll play in a band with you, man.' And that's kind of what happened. And then what happened from there was we just started hanging out. And they live in France, and I have a house in Italy, and they came and visited me. And we were talking on the phone and stuff. And on paper, I went, 'Oh, this would be cool.' So I knew me and Chris could get along. So that's that. So me and Chris said [to each other], 'Well, I'll be in a band with you.' And we're just talking. Me and Tommy, before that, had reconnected after all our years in TESLA and all the shit we went through and all the shit that people who interview us say and all kinds of shit, 'cause they like to pit us against each other, and we reconnected. So I thought to myself, I said, 'Man, Chris Holmes…'"

Wheat continued: "Now, when I first heard of Chris Holmes and W.A.S.P., it was from Tom. I was into Paul McCartney and WINGS. I am a pop guy, if you wanna say pop or melodic, whatever. I'm that guy. I'm THE BEATLES guy. So I said to myself, 'Fuck, Tommy and Chris would be great together. That would be a great combination.' So I said to Chris, 'Chris, what do you think about Tommy Skeoch, the original guitar player in TESLA? He would be perfect as a second guitar player, and we'll all work together.' And he said, 'Yeah, that's cool. Would he be into it?' I said, 'Well, I don't know. I'll call him and I'll ask him.' So then I called Tommy and said, 'Hey, would you be into fucking playing with me and Chris Holmes [in the band] we [are] putting together?' He said, 'Oh, I'd love that.' So I said, 'Yeah, Chris, he'd be into that.' So that's kind of how this came together. And then it's, like, 'Well, we've gotta have a singer.' And we talked about a few different singers and stuff. And Josey was the guy that came to my mind. [He is] easy to get along with, [and from] a different generation. 'Cause Chris was before me and Tommy. His generation was pre-TESLA. TESLA and the generation after TESLA was SALIVA. So you've got Josey. So I asked, same thing, [I] called Josey. 'What do you think?' 'Yeah, cool.' I sent him a couple of early little sketch demos that me and Chris did. He went, 'Yeah, I can sing to that.' And that's what's brought us to where we are now."

Asked about T3RMINAL's musical direction, Tommy said: "[We] just kind of come in and see what we all kind of bring to it. And that's kind of what we're doing and what's happening. And it's pretty rocking, but it's got even [more melodic] elements in it and different things."

Brian chimed in: "When you asked Tommy, 'What are you looking for [when it comes to T3RMINAL's sound]?', he's right. We don't know what we're looking for, because whatever the sound is of me, my poppy BEATLES thing, Tom's heavy edge, [Chris's] heavy metal stuff, you put it all together and then what Josey sings, that's gonna be the sound. I can't define what the sound's gonna be."

When Wheat announced T3RMINAL's formation in September 2025, he wrote: "We look forward to presenting you with our new brand of music." He then clarified: "No, I am not leaving TESLA. I'm just starting another new band with my old friend."

In July 2025, Wheat joined BAD MARRIAGE on stage in Webster, New York, marking the first time in nearly 20 years that Wheat and Skeoch — who is also BAD MARRIAGE lead guitarist — had performed live together. Wheat, Skeoch and the rest of BAD MARRIAGE ripped through the TESLA classics "Rock Me To The Top" and "Little Suzi".

Skeoch was a founding member of TESLA and played on the Sacramento five-piece defining albums, including 1986 debut "Mechanical Resonance" and 1990's "Five Man Acoustical Jam".

Tommy, who was fired due to substance abuse issues in 1994, rejoined when TESLA reformed more than two and a half decades ago following a brief hiatus. His latest exit from TESLA came in 2006.