When Tesla the band launched nationally in 1987 on powerhouse label Geffen Records, few thought that Sacramento’s most successful rock export would still be rocking more than 20 years later.

That was even more true when the band broke up in 1995, victims of their own rock star egos and chemical dependencies.

Even after reuniting in 2000, some wags dismissed the band’s return as the mere desire to cash in on a well-known name from the classic rock era, which said naysayers considered completely played out. What a joke, they said.

But Brian Wheat has had the last laugh. Bassist and manager of the band he co-founded with guitarist Frank Hannon in 1982, Wheat has worked for this decade to rebuild the band’s career and restore its good name. Along the way, he’s learned how to manage a band, build a record label, build and manage a recording studio and do it all in a way that not only makes money, but also allows his band mates to live the lives they want.

And they still rock, as will be apparent to anyone who sees them return home for a concert Friday, Jan. 30, at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento.

“This is a great band, and it doesn’t get enough credit,” he says during a break in recording at his studio on J Street in midtown Sacramento. “We have to keep proving ourselves. But that’s good - it keeps us honest.”

Tesla, named for the Yugoslavian inventor of alternating current who was eclipsed by his contemporary, the American Thomas Edison, has always been about honest, straight-forward rock with a hard edge. With the twin lead guitarists, Hannon and Tommy Skeoch (replaced in the new incarnation by Dave Rude), Tesla has had a handful of national hits (“Signs,” “Love Song”) but is best-known for its blazing live shows.

And like their namesake, the band seems to get energy from seeing itself as underdogs. Wheat in particular has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about how the band is perceived locally. They never played Old Ironsides or the True Love Coffeehouse. But he’s very proud of how well his crew has survived shifts in the commercial and aesthetic winds that have destroyed more than a few - if not most - of their late ‘80s contemporaries. He’s still a fan himself.

“I was talking to the bass player in Frank’s band the other day,” says Wheat, “And the guy is going on and on about what a great guitarist Frank is. To me, he’s just my brother, but I also know what a great player he is. I don’t think we take each other for granted.”

Wheat’s work in Tesla goes far beyond playing bass and sharing songwriting credits. A savvy businessman with humble South Sac roots who respects the value of a dollar, Wheat has worked hard to bring the band’s entire operation in house - literally, his own house, a lovingly-restored Victorian just down the street from Harlow’s.

“My company has everything under one roof, and we do partnerships for things we need done,” he says. “We get a much better deal than the major labels are offering. Aside from our distribution with Rykodisc, the rest of it is all on us. We’re in charge of everything, from videos to retail campaigns to radio promotion.

“It’s a whole new world from when we started,” he explains. “Record sales are down tremendously, you need to think outside the box. When we started, there wasn’t the internet, laptop computers, not so many forms of entertainment. Back then, it was TV, radio, records. Now there’s tons of entertainment, you’re competing against a lot more than you used to.”

The band even records in Wheat’s studio (full disclosure: I have myself recorded at Wheat’s studio), which means that they are able to take their time, and not have to travel. Travel, after all, is one of the rock band’s biggest pitfalls; most bands find it exhausting and expensive, even as they romanticize it for their fans.

“We’re older now, and touring takes a physical toll,” says Wheat, who is in his mid-40s. “So at our ripe old ages, we go a month on, a month off. We tour the U.S. September through May (they leave for a southwest tour after their Memorial Auditorium concert), and do summers in Europe and Asia.”

Touring in that manner, the group manages to see the world, play for fans all over (a substantial 120 shows a year) and still get a good deal of time off.

Taking breaks means that the band can stay healthy, stay home (the members live all over Northern California, Wheat and lead singer Jeff Keith being the only two in the Sacramento metro area) and stay friends.

Wheat admits that they are able to do that by budgeting carefully - “We don’t blow $400 a night for rooms at the Ritz-Carlton anymore,” he says - but they also do it by keeping a steady stream of product out there for fans.

“We try to have a piece of product out there every year,” he says, and it’s true: Last year, they released a live DVD, “Comin’ Atcha Live,” and an album of new material, “Forever More.” Before that, they released a pair of albums of cover songs, and before that, their first post-reunion album of original material, Into the Now.

Tomorrow night, Jan. 27th, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. the band will appear at R5 Records at 16th and Broadway. They’ll be signing copies of their latest album, Forever More, which is just now being released on vinyl (it came out on CD last fall). The band is billing the release as Tesla’s first vinyl in two decades.

And then it’s off on the road, but only until the end of February. At that point, Wheat will start work on another album with his side project Soul Motor, and somewhere in there, he’ll continue working on recording the still-unnamed band he’s formed with local rock star guitarist Mike Farrell, singer Lee Boots and his own brother, Mike, on drums.

“I’ve got no idea how that’s going to work out, I’ve never played with these guys, even my brother,” he says. “But it’s fun, and that’s what matters, right?”