Ex-WHITE LION Singer MIKE TRAMP Is All About 'Delivering Some First-Class Rock 'N' Roll'

MetalEpicenter.com recently conducted an interview with former WHITE LION and current TRAMP'S WHITE LION singer Mike Tramp. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

MetalEpicenter.com: What's the deal with the WHITE LION name? Who owns it and are you trying to obtain it?

Mike: Well it's not so much as who owns it. It's more that I am not about to start going to court with Vito [Bratta, guitar], just so I can use the name. We both own it, and there will be a day where I will be using it. At the same time, I do feel pretty good about calling [my new band] TRAMP'S WHITE LION, 'cause it's what it is. A continuation of the band that once was. I am as much WHITE LION as WHITESNAKE is WHITESNAKE. Both bands only have the lead singer. And there are many others. So yes I am fine with that, I am not going to be the next U2 with this. Just delivering some first-class rock 'n' roll, and giving the people the songs they are calling out for.

MetalEpicenter.com: At what point in WHITE LION did you realize, "I've made it! I'm a HUGE star!"

Mike: When "Wait" became the#1 most requested video on MTV, and both AEROSMITH and AC/DC offered us months and months of touring with them. But never once did I say I was huge or we were huge. We were just hot while it lasted.

MetalEpicenter.com: One of our complaints about rock bands in the current state is that few of the new bands seem to be having fun and nobody seems to have much by way of a personality. Do you think the "rock star" is an endangered species?

Mike: I think the mistake we make here is comparing 1985 to 2005. Look at how the world has developed in 20 years. iPods, Internet, "Lord of the Rings" etc, etc. You can't say it hasn't influenced or have had an enormous impact on the mother's milk. The new generation [is] growing at the speed of lighting. My son is 12, and what he has seen and learned and been exposed to is mind buckling. Nothing is the same and it will only go that way. Man, what about the Big Mac. It has nothing to do with what I tasted for the first time in 1978. Still you can put a CD on and it will take you back, you can go see a band and it will take you back, and that is what some of us are giving to the fans who supported us back then.

MetalEpicenter.com: If you could turn back the clock and change one aspect of your career, what would it be?

Mike: I really hate to look back and say I regret doing this. By changing one thing you change another. If I had taken a left turn instead of a right. Not just would I not have had long blond hair, but I might have been a disappointed soccer player who never made it to top.

Read the entire interview at MetalEpicenter.com.