Interview | Mike Tramp

“The football team of Holland in 1974 and 1978 is like Freak Of Nature to me!”

White Lion was founded in 1983 by Mike Tramp and Vito Bratta, and they acclaimed success with songs like ,,Wait” and ,,When The Children Cry’’, both tracks from their double platinum selling album ‘Pride’. Other successful albums, like ‘Mane Attraction’ and ‘Big Game’ followed, however, White Lion disbanded in 1992. Mike Tramp reformed White Lion with new members in 1999 and again in 2004. In 2023 the Danish singer and songwriter announced bringing his version of White Lion back with the release of ‘Songs Of White Lion’. All tracks re-recorded on three volumes; the last one, ‘Volume Three’, will be released in September. He decided to embark on an extended tour supporting the albums ‘Songs Of White Lion’, volume one and two. And so tonight Mike Tramp’s White Lion will be playing in De Nieuwe Nor, in my hometown. A couple of hours before the show I had the chance to talk to mister White Lion, so here we go…

SONGS OF WHITE LION

Mike, when and why did you decide to record the ‘Songs Of White Lion’ albums?

,,That is of course a good question to start with. First of all, it was just me who had any idea what to do when the band broke up in 1991. I started Freak Of Nature and it was crystal clear right from the start that I could not bring anything from White Lion into the Freak Of Nature sound. When I look back at the past of White Lion I am actually surprised that we really did not get the credits that we deserved as a band. But as my solo career got on the road the White Lion logo and recognition of that band was growing again and the White Lion name came up again and again to promote my shows.”

THE FIRST VERSION

,,So, in 2004 I tried the first version of the new White Lion, which I found that half of my personality was protesting and half of me was going along. Because people wanted it and people were saying that we were going to play bigger shows and festivals. At the end of 2008 I said that I never wanted to do this because the second White Lion did not sound right as it more sounded like UFO or Whitesnake. After sixteen years of solo playing, I knew that if I have to do this, I have to make it sound like I sound today. So, with bringing the songs up to date it became crystal clear that it was good and now we sounded like White Lion again, but with a modern and up to date sound. When I did ‘Volume One’, I did not know that it would evolve into ‘Volume Two’ and three. So, now we have finished ‘Volume Three’ and hopefully it will be out in September; so there you have it.”

So, the main difference between the original White Lion songs and the re-recorded ones is that they sound more up to date…

,,Yeah, the main part is the sound of my voice, because we are staying as honest to the songs as possible, adding a little bit here and there, but that’s normal, right?”

Then you decide to tour with these albums in the pocket, and you have to make up a setlist. How difficult is that, as you have so many songs to choose from?

,,Yeah, I guess the old AC/DC rule comes back, that you play the songs that people know, right, ha ha…’’

THE CROWD PLEASERS

So, the crowd pleasers? But which songs do YOU want to play/sing?

,,Well I mean, seeing the fact that I am older now, I like to play the songs that are more musically. Songs like ,,Lady Of The Valley” or ,,Lights And Thunder”, which are both great musical songs. Now, on ‘Volume Three’ we re-recorded some of the real dark songs from the ’Fight To Survive’ album and they fit into today’s music scene. I feel that I am singing them better now then when I sang them way back in the eighties. When I listen to it now it sounds like a little girl singing…..”

Lyric-wise, do you think that the songs are still relevant?

,,I sometimes make this joke. When my kids discovered their father on YouTube and listened to it, they said that they wanted to change their last name because of all this eighties stuff “nonsense”. When they really listened to it they found that White Lion actually had songs that really deal with something! So, we were not a sexually driven rock and roll band and yes, we dealt with serious issues in our lyrics, and I think that these issues are still out there, even in 2025.”

FREAK OF NATURE

Let’s go back to Freak Of Nature, you once said that Freak Of Nature was the best band you ever played in; do you still think that is true?

,,Yeah, I know, I was going to say it before you mentioned it, ha ha… The high musical level of that band and the camaraderie in that band was really impressive and second to none. I do not know if you like football, but Johan Cruyff is my hero and Holland in 1974 and 1978 is to me like Freak Of Nature. They were playing so fucking good together as a team and that only happens once in a lifetime.”

Will there ever be a chance that you are going to play a setlist of Freak Of Nature songs?

,,Oh, fuck, I would love that and I would already have done it, but there is no way that I can sing those songs today as those are really powerhouse songs. But I would fucking love it, ha ha ha, so who knows. On the next tour maybe? We could do two Freak Of Nature songs as an encore as we can change the key of those songs so I can sing them. I’d love it. In fact, once, we got very close to a full Freak Of Nature reunion…but in the end it did not happen.”

MIKE TRAMP SOLO CAREER

How about your solo career?

,,The thing is, I already have a new solo album finished in my studio, but it will be released on a very small level. It will be for the die-hards who follow my solo career. However, there is a good chance that Mike Tramp’s White Lion will be recording and releasing new songs. We are talking about it right now and the record company wants it. The question is really, how is it going to sound? We will have to see how we are going to write new songs together and we probably know that we are not going to play any of those new songs live. So it is going to be fully musical satisfaction and we are not going to write a single. We want to dig into our own inspirations from our heroes. I know this sounds strange, but we are going into Pink Floyd, we are going into Rainbow, into UFO and Thin Lizzy. The same ingredients that we took for Freak Of Nature, and we are going to see what happens!”

THE AMBITIONS OF MIKE TRAMP

You have been in the music scene for fifty years now, do you still have ambitions?

,,Yeah, I mean, ambitions not necessarily as goals, but I think more just existing in the happiness. When you go on tour it has to feel right. And you must have the ambition to record a new album.”

Last question, if I were Mike Tramp and you were the reporter what would be your last question?

,,…. uh…..are you doing this for the money or are you doing this because you love rock and roll?”

And the answer would be?

,,For rock and roll of course, ha ha…”

Cheers man.

All photos by Raymond Helebrand