Mike Tramp is featured in a new interview with Sakis Nikas for Rockpages.gr, conducted in the former White Lion singer's hometown, Copenhagen, Denmark. The following is an excerpt from the chat...
The conversation turns to Mike’s first solo album, the excellent Capricorn.
“Sakis, the day Freak of Nature played their last show in Paris in February 1995, I had already started writing the first songs of Capricorn. I can’t for the life of me accept getting up the next day and not having a plan”, Mike tells us emphatically and when we add that in Capricorn his influences from Springsteen, Dylan, Petty, etc. are seen for the first time, Mike agrees as now every lyric and every note represented solely him and not a band.
“Yeah…you’re right,” Mike tells us. “I clearly showed my influences. You know…when Vito and I wrote ‘Broken Heart’, the song started with a ‘Nebraska’ (Bruce Springsteen) style. But we knew we wanted to do a Van Halen kinda band so we were going to do the song differently. That was the difference between us and bands like Motley Crue. Our lyrics were definitely more conscious… to this day most people don’t know what 'Cry For Freedom' or 'Little Fighter' is all about. If you look at the lyrics of 'When The Children Cry', you’ll see that the song could very well have been written in 2023… it’s timeless, really! And to think I wrote it in 1985 during the Reagan administration when America was very, very strong and there was a prosperity in the country. All the bands were writing love songs for MTV and we were releasing as a single a song like 'When The Children Cry' with totally out of place lyrics. I remember telling Atlantic Records that I can’t write songs about asses and tits. We’re not Motley Crue or Poison. We’re a different band. I’m really glad that nowadays people are paying attention to the lyrics and understand now what these songs are all about."
Read the full feature at Rockpages.gr.
Tramp released his album, Songs Of White Lion, back in April. As the title implies, the album sees Tramp re-imagining select cuts from his former band White Lion's catalog.
Order/save Songs Of White Lion here.
Songs Of White Lion tracklisting:
"Lady Of The Valley"
"Little Fighter"
"Broken Heart"
"Love Don't Come Easy"
"Hungry"
"Cry For Freedom"
"Going Home Tonight"
"Wait"
"All The Fallen Men"
"Living On The Edge"
"Tell Me"
"When The Children Cry"
"Little Fighter":
"Cry For Freedom":
Teasers:
Lineup:
Mike Tramp - Vocals
Marcus Nand - Guitars
Claus Langeskov - Bass
Alan Tschicaja - Drums
Sebastian Groset - Keyboard
Christoffer Stjerne - Harmonies
Produced by: Soren Andersen & Mike Tramp
