Pheaturing Mike Tramp

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Tuesday. I'm sorry I reminded you it's only Tuesday. Let'd start with a story about Taylor Swift. She has zero time for the gendered double standards present in many interview questions. Her years in the spotlight have firmly given her the status of a veteran interviewee, and it showed in a recent exchange when she fully shut down a question she didn't like. During a recent chat with the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Swift was asked about her upcoming 30th birthday, and whether that will be the "turning point" where she will choose to be a mother. Rather than dive into the topic of motherhood, one completely irrelevant to her current music career, Swift called out the inherent double standard in the question. "I really don't think that men would be asked this question when they turn 30. So I'm not going to answer that now." She then went on to share that she looks forward to her 30s, and the ways she anticipates she'll feel more at home with herself than in her 20s. But still, she plans to take risks and make inevitable mistakes in the next decade. "I hear others say that in your 30s you don't have as much stress and anxiety in your life as in your 20s, and I can add the observation that we in our 20s are on the search, to gain experience, try things out, fail, make mistakes." She said, "And I definitely plan to try and fail things in my 30s as well. But I expect that in our 30s we know a bit better about who we are. The closer I get to it, the more I feel that that's what will happen. I hope it will." Her fans, upon reading the interview, immediately applauded the straight forward way of addressing a question commonly leveraged at female artists, but rarely (if ever) asked of male artists. Regardless of what her 30s holds in store, it seems clear she has found honest ways to navigate the firestorm of media appearances.
Though the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide, each state can enact its own restrictions on it. The more politically conservative the state, the more difficult it usually is to access abortion. Six states have only one abortion clinic left, of which Kentucky is one. NowThisNews.com dispatched video from Kentucky's single abortion clinic of a woman simply entering its doors and it's heartrending to watch. She's assisted by clinic escorts while anti-choice protestors harass her on all sides. Needless to say, once this video began circulating on Twitter, its content disturbed viewers. Responses were rife with anger, disbelief, and gratitude for the escorts. Here's a screen shot of the video...

They're doing the Lord's work, truly. In some states of Australia these assholes have to be 150 meters from any clinic to protest and if they go closer they are arrested. Some people took it court saying they were fighting for unborn lives but the judge threw it out court. Should have a safe zone. I like this "safe zone" idea. Here's to hoping reproductive justice is possible, despite these kinds of odds.
In case you missed it, Rudy Giuliani still has access to the Internet, which means he is busy doing tweets that give the world confoundment, confusion, and joy?! The question mark was purposeful, because many have expressed bewilderment about how to actually feel. Most of us with Twitter, have at one point or another made a typo in a tweet and later erased the fumbled version of our sentiment only to replace it with a shiny, better version. But few among us can claim a tweet glow-up as extreme as Giuliani's most recent tweets about Nancy Pelosi. If you're confused by that sentence: welcome. Here is the first tweet written by Giuliani, full of letters, but possibly no actual English words, "ivesssapology for a video which is allegedly is a caricature of an otherwise halting speech pattern, she should first stop, and apologize for, saying the President needs an 'intervention.'" Here is the tweet he wrote immediately after, which we can only assume is the sentiment he was trying to communicate in the first tweet...

Most people, in Giuliani's shoes, would delete the first gibberish version immediately. But not him, this art remains up on the Internet, where the responses and flooded in. People are concerned and full of questions, all of which are reasonable to ask. There are a lot of questions about Ivessapology, who is she?! What are those words, if they are words?! It would be a grand understatement to say that Giuiliani's original tweet full of gibberish ended up greatly outshining his second tweet, with actual words about Pelosi. Needless to say, this would suggest that Giuliani was beyond ready to party it up this Memorial Day Weekend, which gives him one thing in common with a large portion of America.
Sometimes trying to do the "right" thing can go very, very wrong. That's what happened recently to a man in Richmond, Virginia who tried to rescue a "cat" he found with its head stuck in his fence. But there's one (huge) problem... it was not in fact a "cat"... at least, not the kind of cat you want to bring in to your home. The attempted Good Samaritan posted photos of the "cat" (not a cat) on Craigslist in hopes of finding its owner. pet him. Here is a pic of the "cat" (definitely not a cat!!!!!) ransacking his home, because no good deed goes unpunished!!!

As you have probably figured out on your own, this is a wild bobcat... a species of cat, sure... but a species that lives in the wild and is not domesticated in any sense of the word, as the photos show. Washington Post journalist Christopher Ingraham brought the story to the public's attention, with a tweet about the hilarious mishap which has since gone viral. And since then, the attempted Good Samaritan was apparently made aware of his mistake thanks to the Internet. In a hilarious edit to the original post, he explained that his mistake was due to not being American and not knowing what a bobcat is (fair enough!). He also said that the bobcat has since been released into the wild, where it belongs. So next time you try to rescue an animal, just be 100% sure you know what kind of animal it is before you bring it in to your home. Because otherwise it could come for your Whole Foods groceries and we all know that's a damage none of us can afford.
If you've been on the Internet in the last eight years, and even more so in the past few weeks, then you know without a doubt that "Game of Thrones" is the ship that launched 1000 memes. Whether you're looking to laugh or cry, you're looking specifically for "Game of Thrones" memes about how hot Gendry is or memes about Sansa taking the throne, there is a meme for everyone in this boundless sea of the web. To add to this beautiful garden full of "Game of Thrones" jokes, there is in fact a thread dedicated to drawing cinematic parallels between "Game of Thrones" and Shrek, and it is pure art.

From the way the characters look down to their costume details, the parallels between Shrek and "Game of Thrones" is uncanny. Could it be that Shrek has become so deeply embedded in the cultural psyche that some of this seeped out of the subconscious of all involved?! The more I look at these similarities, the more I can't look away, nor do I want to. It's wild to see just how uncanny the similarities are. Did the costume designer of "Game of Thrones" use Shrek as source material? Because this is truly beautiful and wild. Both Shrek and "Game of Thrones" have dragons with lots of personality, dragons that won't take no for an answers, dragons that love passionately (am I getting too carried away?!). There are wolves roaming about in both of them, doing human things, as mystical wolf types do. At this point it feels surprising that Smashmouth didn't make an appearance in the "Game of Thrones" theme song. Hopefully now, when you go back to rewatch "Game of Thrones,"you'll feel the spirit of Shrek ushering you along in your viewing experience.
Like I said yesterday, the abortion bans threatening women's health and autonomy popping up across the nation have also spawned protests from coast to coast. Groups including Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union organized rallies and from Michigan to Mississippi, people stood up for a woman's right to choose. Here's an abortion ban protest sign from Washington D.C...

If I had a TARDIS I would like to go see Alfred Hitchcock, but knocking my luck he'll be at Cannes in France and would ride away on a bike.

So, I told you about the similarities between "Game of Thrones" and Shrek, right? Well, there is something else when I saw it reminded me of Shrek.

When I saw this I thought I saw it before... and then it hit me...

See? Also when I saw this...

It reminded me of something and then it hit me...

Hahahahahahahahahahaha. I crack myself up sometimes. So, do you know who Smokey the Bear is? Well, I'm not sure what to think about his new campaign poster...

Hmmm. Yesterday I told you about Trump throwing a temper tantrum about impeachment in the Rose Garden and he had props. Well, he did the same thing earlier today...

Hahahaha. Not Burger King! Is your kid is school as smart as this kid?

Hahahahaha. That's great.

If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. So, do you remember the 90s? well, there's this guy who thinks it's still the 90s. Please welcome back to the Phile...

Me: Hey, Ed, how are you doing?

Ed: Hey, dude, I'm bangin'.

Me: Okay, good, so what's up?

Ed: I couldn't sleep last night.

Me: Me neither. Why couldn't you sleep?

Ed: Nothin' like being startled awake by one of these falling on your head in the middle of the night...

Ed: That ever happened to you, dude?

Me: Nope. Can't say it has. Never had those.

Ed: Oh, man, they're dope. Okay, I'm gonna go and rent a movie at Blockbuster. See ya later, dude.

Me: See ya. Ed Enistink, the guy who lives in the 90s.

All your hair belongs to him now. BOW TO THE HAIR KING!

The 99th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Leonard's son Adam will be the guest on the Phile on Monday.

This guy sees a sign in front of a house "Talking Dog for Sale." He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the back yard. The guy goes into the back yard and sees a mutt sitting there. "You talk?" he asks. "Yep," the mutt replies. "So, what's your story?" The mutt looks up and says, "Well, I discovered this gift pretty young and I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA about my gift, and in no time they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leader, cause no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies eight years running. The jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger and I wanted to settle down. So I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security work, mostly wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings there and was awarded a batch of medals. Had a wife, a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired." The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog. The owner says, "Ten dollars." The guy says he'll buy him but asks the owner, "This dog is amazing. Why on earth are you selling him?" The owner replies, "He's such a fucking liar."

Sometime in June I think. I'll let you kids know.

Today's guest is a singer and songwriter who is best known for his work with the hard rock band White Lion. His latest solo CD "Stray from the Flock" is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Mike Tramp.

Me: Hey, Mike, welcome to the Phile, man. How are you?

Mike: I'm doing good.

Me: You're not from the states, right? Where are you from?

Mike: Denmark. That is where I was born and raised, just in case somebody wondered what the hell I'm from.

Me: You were originally the lead singer in the band White Lion, and now doing some acoustic shows with John Corabi. What is that like?

Mike: Well, it's an interesting question because I sometimes feel it's not promoted in the correct way. Because we're caring, both John and I, but let's just stick to me for this interview. I'm carrying this name and this logo with me everywhere I go from 33 years ago called White Lion. We had some major hits and were a very successful band in the early 80s, but it is 33 years ago and even though people don't know it I've done 14 albums and 11 solo albums which are very, very consistent.

Me: What do you mean, Mike? You don't want to talk about White Lion?

Mike: Meaning in the second I've recorded my first solo album in '96 and up until now when I released my 11th solo album I've been on one straight path with no side turns at all.

Me: So, are you still playing White Lion songs?

Mike: Yes, to answer your question I am including songs from the past mixed in with the songs that I play from my solo albums. All of it will tell you that this songwriter and singer on stage has, band aside, been the same all along the way. The haircut, the videos and the image that were portrayed in the 80s but when I was sitting in my basement writing these songs on an acoustic guitar that way that I learned back in the late 60s, early 70s in Copenhagen, Denmark, I am exactly that person today.

Me: Okay. I love your new album "Stray from the Flock," Mike. The songs seem very positive, would you agree?

Mike: Yeah. I have my own little AC/DC world with no disrespect to one of my favorite bands but the things is I want to be something on the spice shelf, that when you reach forward you know exactly what it is. If it's cinnamon, or if it's sugar cane and pepper, you know it's something else. You don't stand there and go "I wonder what this is gonna taste like." So all I ever wanted to be was "Mike Tramp," and I went through the 80s and had a wonderful great time and ran my wild horses to the ground and when I got back up I realized all I wanted to do was just be me. Once I remove the 80s sound, 80s look and just have the songwriter and solo artist left, this is how I sound. When you hear me perform the White Lion songs with just me and an acoustic guitar that's just how the songs were written.

Me: Do you collaborate when you write or do you write by yourself?

Mike: All the songs for White Lion were written together with guitar player Vito Bratta. We used to sit in front of each other, Vito would sit with his Strat and I would sit with an acoustic guitar and it'll just be like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Springsteen meeting Van Halen, Led Zeppelin on the other side. Out of that came White Lion, some great guitar playing with some great melodies.

Me: How would you compare White Lion's music to other bands in your genre back then, Mike? 

Mike: Without putting myself in a box separate from the other ones there is definitely a big difference between Ratt, Cinderella, Poison, Mötley Crüe, and then White Lion. All you need to do is pick up the album and put it on and you will see that. One of the major differences is that I was raised as a kid in Copenhagen, Denmark with his big eyes open to the world but also very much inspired by folk music and that is through background. Ted Nugent and Van Halen, even though they were rock favorites of mine are not my inspiration when it comes to songwriting.

Me: When you were on Atlantic Records back then did you find pressure to be something that you weren't?

Mike: To be fair to both the label and to ourselves and to all the people around us there was both the good and the bad side. We never had any pressure on having to write in any specific way. On the other hand I feel that in many ways the people working close to us on the record company were just as new to what was happening in the 80s as we were in the band, Because I have all the answers now 20/20 hindsight looking back, I have the answers to everything that went right and everything that went wrong and why all these things happened. What I didn't have was the answers in 1987.

Me: What was it like being in the band back then? I vaguely remember White Lion.

Mike: One of the biggest stories was after being on the road for a year and a half selling millions of records we were given absolutely zero time to come up with the follow up albums. The biggest gripe there was what the band needed more than anything a departure away from everything, from the fans, from the magazines, from the video. But instead we ended up going back on the road with a new album seven months after our final show on the "Pride" tour and it was way, way, way too soon. This is the first step of where we slowly started already going the wrong way.

Me: Do you write on a deadline now and have pressure to write or were the songs on the new album written over time?

Mike: Jason, let's get real here... in the 80s I was selling millions of records, now I'll sell 10,000 copies around the world. That's one way that basically means that I am my own manager, I am the only songwriter of all my albums, I am the producer, and the instigator and in many cases I'm also the bank. So I write songs when I write songs and I record an album when I'm ready to record it and I release it when it seems right. All these three things have been coming very, very easy to me. I cannot pick up a guitar without writing a song because it's flowing out of me at the moment and I do feel that my albums stand up to the best of the best. That it doesn't sell millions is just more about how the business is. I have only so much to much to promote, etc, etc, I don't get on the radio the same way any more. But all that aside I am 100% in control of my career and my business and stuff like that. 

Me: Do you find doing everything yourself enjoyable?

Mike: It is very much enjoyable because I'm not told what to do, I only do it because I want to do it. This music is screaming to get out and my lyrics is an extension of my soul, my heart, my feelings, my problems, my happiness, everything. There's not one thing in any of these songs that is not 100% me. Most of all I'm current, I'm 57-years-old, in 2019 I am not going to try and pretend or sing like I'm 27-years-old.

Me: Your music does sound genuine. Do you think other bands act like it's 1989 and this is their follow up to their 1987 album nowadays? Their are guys our ages still singing about getting loaded in bars and shit. Hahaha.

Mike: It's a big issue, man, and I cannot write that way. I don't have the rights to sit and put anybody down in that way but I find it really, really, really wrong. That they are up there in their mid-60s and they're writing lyrics that they're about to release another album in the 80s and go on tour with Ozzy Osborne. It's just goddamn ridiculous. I wonder how the hell they feel when they're asleep. I really do feel that I have some sort of responsibility and I'm not drawing big crowds and I'm okay with that. Most likely and in most situations when I play the U.S., I drive my own rental car, I put up my own guitar and my little microphones and I sell the t-shirts after the show, the people that I meet are the ones that have moved along and grown and are now a family and I really do think that they should be given something more than tits and ass and beer in the lyrics. They can go any moment go back in their album collection or listen to shows like "Where Are They Now?" or "Hair Today and Hair Gone Tomorrow" but when they come to my show I'm going to take them through a therapy session, I'm going to throw some funny stories in there but I'm definitely not going up there and shake my ass and pretend. I'm going to invite them deep into my soul and when I am done they will know what kind of bedding I sleep under.

Me: Alright. So, who is one of your favorite singers of all time?

Mike: I love Steve Perry. Since I heard him the first time and I have been waiting for decades for Steve to get back. Not that he's the only one because he was one of my favorite singers, he still is and I love him to death so I welcome him back with open arms, man.

Me: So, do you think White Lion will ever get back together?

Mike: This is another thing I have to gripe with... everybody in rock and roll has the rights to do whatever they want. I'm not going to sit in my house in Copenhagen, Denmark and point fingers but the fact of the matter is as great as Journey has been able to pull this off with this new young singer from the Philippines, it's almost like one day they decide just to "exchange their wife with a younger woman." I think it's wrong, I say to people when they ask will their be a White Lion reunion. First of all there isn't, and number 2) if the only way I can say you will believe it then I'm going to say it this way... I can not be Mike Tramp 27-years-old in 2019. I can't sing like this, I can't do the show like this and I don't want to do it! It doesn't stop bands like Kiss. It's a joke, man, I wonder how they sleep at night. No matter how much money they make I'll tell you you cannot pay me enough, I will not go on stage and fight my way through a song I cannot sing. What a horrible feeling that would be to do. What happened to rock and roll integrity? Is Joe Namath or Terry Bradshaw out there still playing football?

Me: Ummm... no...

Mike: That rock and roll feel, they got carte blanche and they're never to old to do it. We're not talking about B.B. King sitting on a chair playing the blues but long hair rock and roll has an expiring date.

Me: You spent many years with White Lion and sold many records with them, do you ever wish you had those days again?

Mike: We belong to the days when you walk into a record store and there's all different categories and stuff like that. I believe in the category "Those Who Moved On." I move on with grace and I move on with respect to the past. When I play the White Lion songs on stage and I tell some stories and stuff like that it's because these are my songs I don't go out there and ask the venues to promote me. Why do I always have to be the voice of White Lion? Why can't I just be Mike Tramp? I don't mind being the voice of White Lion, etc, etc, it just the way it is. To all your readers out there, they can choose what side they want to be on in what I say I just need to let everybody know I came from very little and I have both of my feet on the ground and I'm happy with what I do. I couldn't go up there and do what I did anymore, man. Actually in 2005 and 2007 I did some Mike Tramp's White Lion across the U.S.A. and do you know what, there weren't that many people coming out. So don't give me all this thing about White Lion this and White Lion that, you know what, listening to the "Pride" album, that is what White Lion was.

Me: So, have you ever thought about going out as White Lion again?

Mike: Vito Bratta and myself who founded this band on total agreeance that we were not going to do that and I even apologized to Vito for doing this little run and in many ways maybe tainting the name. It was just my weakness for a short period of time when I didn't maybe believe my solo career would be strong enough but all I needed to do was go out there and test the water and find out I didn't want to do it. Also I couldn't do it anymore, it didn't feel right to go up there. It didn't feel right to go up there and stand and pose and say this bullshit that I said in the 80s.

Me: Do you miss those days at all?

Mike: The 80s were great, we had a great time but it's 2019. I fathered three kids.

Me: So, what is it like going on tour with John Corabi? Did you know him before?

Mike: John and I are old friends. To me it's like two cowboys meeting in the middle of the prairie, sitting down around the campfire and shooting the crap. Just reminisce around everything we have done, not being bitter about it. Man, we've been so lucky and I thank every person that comes out to the show, I thank everybody who writes a nice comment on Facebook, everybody person that buys my album, whatever, man, and just understand what it is. We don't want to be anymore than we are. The world's best Mike Tramp, 57-years-old, it's what I do, it's the only thing I know what to do.

Me: Very cool. Mike, take care, and I hope you'll come back on the Phile again soon.

Mike: Thanks, man.

Hahaha. That pretty much does it for this entry of the Phile. I don't know if Mike enjoyed this interview or not, but I say thank you to him. And I really do like this CD. The Phile will be back on Monday with Adam Cohen. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.

I don't want you, cook my bread, I don't want you, make my bed, I don't want your money too, I just want to make love to you. - Willie Dixon