This month interview will be very different..
not only was it in person (so the questions
are really answered in length)
but this is the first interview Mike has
done in a really long time..
let alone the first online interview..
so find out
all the newest info here along w/what ever happened to White Lion....
and will there
ever be a White Lion reunion..
its all here..so sit back..light some candles..and enjoy...
I bring you........
the one and only Mike Tramp..
J-Well first off we need to go backwards.. how did you
hook up w/White Lion back in the day?
M-I was born and raised in Copenhagin,Denmark and from the second I started
playing rock n roll..at age 15 and joined my first band there.. Mabel which
right from the start was a professional band, they were also 10 yrs. older
then me.. and already had a record deal..it was like leaving school and jumping
into a business.. that instantly we were living off of ,and at age 15 I
wanted to be a soccer player..but once I started tasting rock n roll…Im saying
rock n roll but it could have been called more pop rock n roll at that time..but
still.. as I started growing older..and started writing my first songs I started
taking over the band..in the writing,..and so on..and in about 1977 ,1978 Van
Halen came out w/there first album..that was the ticket for me..I knew I had
to go to that place..I was living in a place that wasnt excepting what I was doing..
made fun of me..and I felt really uncomfortable..we ended up moving down
to Spain from 79-82..playing rock n roll down there..but I knew I had to be at
the place my heros were..so hell or high water I convinced the band that this
is where we had to go.We met someone who lived in New York and if we came over
we could stay at his house,that was all I needed to know.So we went over in the
summer of 82 and instantly started playing..and its funny..the first place we
played was Lamours which later became White Lions birthplace and home..and Im going
back there this month..everything we did was Lamours..we rehersed there our
manager owned the club..etc.One night we (Mabel) were playing in November w/a
band called Dreamer,which was fronted by Vito..not fronted..he was the guitar
player and I met him in the dressing room..and in guitar playing he was like a
decade ahead of us..and I
instantly knew as a survivor I had to be w/that
guy.
We had gone back to Denmark around Christmas..all broke and broken down..but
I knew I tasted blood I had to come back..and I took out a bank loan that
I didn't pay back for
10yrs. just to get over here.The 2nd night I came
back, I came back to the
club,I met a girl and she said I know who your
looking for...and she gave me
Vitos phone number..the next day we were
together..
J-was it
Vitos band...w/the rest of his guys..?
M-No..no..at that time he brought in the bass player and the drummer..from
his band ,the band had basically broken up.Vito had already heard about me..even
though I had been in new York for such a short time..I made some sort of waves..just
in my approch,and people were saying ahh..that could be the New
York, David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen thing So we got together and started playing
some of my old material..then the 2 other guys left and it was just basically
Vito and I .We started writing and the first song we wrote as him and I was
"Broken Heart".
J-Did everyone in the band get along?
M-Well Im the type of person that came to play I didnt come to party..and thats
always been a bit of a problem, here and there. Ive always been dead
serious
about everything I do..so at the time everyone got along,but I instantly
had all the plans..I wasnt going to be a local New York band..so
I wanted to
be up there playing w/the big ones..so we were friends..but
it wasnt going
the way I wanted it so thats also the reason I didnt
want to continue..
J-How important was the look back then..and do you ever look back at the pictures
and think what the hell was I thinking?
M-Well no I think the look was everything there was so much pressure on the
look..if a drummer showed up and looked like a mechanic he wouldn't be taken..which
is sad..and its almost the opposite right now..the look was
everything.
I remember one night early in our career in 86' we were opening up for Triumph
we had been driving all day,and there was almost no time to get dressed..I
didnt tease my hair that night..and my manager and Vito are
standing there..."What,do
you have a death wish on the band?"...I guess at that time I was
hair..and I must say in reality in the long run I have been uncomfortable w/that..
but obviously I took care of my hair and went as far as I could w/it.. but
I refuse to answer that "I was hair"..cause the songs and the lyrics, the performance..would
have been there regardless of the hair..but w/out a doubt going out
in front of 25,000 people in the right outfit w/the
right hair..was performance,there
is no way Hootie and the Blowfish got the same reaction when they
went out in front of 25,000 people...as we did..and thats what rock n roll was
those days..
J-whats the biggest crowd you ever played for...
M-It was funny actually that we played for 100,000 people as the 2nd show
w/Freak
of Nature,when we played the Dynamo Festival..in front of 100,000
dead head thrash metal fans,but playing w/White Lion we
were
playing out to 50-60,000 when we were out w/AC/DC..but the bigger
the crowd
the more it just blends..playing for 6 people..now thats hard,cause
you
feel like you have a contact w/each individual person...
J-Whats the craziest thing a fan has ever done to meet you?
M-Well…we were playing Ireland,and we were going all the way up to play Belfast.As
we leave Belfast its all military and you have to get through zones..and
its really scary to be in that city, but very important to be there cause there
is people that really wanted to hear the band. So we are about an hour ,hour
and a half out of Belfast and we are having a pow wow in the back of the bus,ya
know the whole band,the crew..and the manager..and everyone is looking at each
other wanting to use the toilet and everyone is counting…everyone is there..but
the bathroom is filled…so we open the bathroom door,and there is 2 girls
in there.. they had just thrown themselves on the bus and hid in there..
J-Hahaha…what did you do w/them?
M-The manager pulled the bus over and opened the door..and kicked them out….