Van Tramp
Van Tramp are the most exciting thing to happen to the British music scene since Oasis and they're ready to fill up our i-pods and pack out our stadiums with an explosive new take on classic rock that's already got the likes of Hugh Grant, Rod Stewart and Ben Elton whipping out their air guitars. Canadian lead singer Tim Howar is no stranger to the lime light with an impressive career on Broadway already behind him. But he tells Female First why he decided to pack up his jazz hands and follow his heart to Britain in search of great music and a decent cup of tea.“I just kept thinking about all these great British bands that I fell in love with like The Kinks, The Stones, The Who, just to name a few,” says Tim as he explains how his passion for British music led him to leave Canada and head to London to join Van Tramp. “And there's also a kind of resurgence of new bands that I really really like, Kaiser Chiefs and Kasabian I think are really fantastic. They're just making great rock and roll....I thought I've just got to see this country I've got to see where all this great music is coming from if you know what I mean.” “There's also that whole Manchester sound that I fell in love with- from the Smiths right up to the Happy Mondays. I think there is kind of a division between the Northern and the Southern bands and being from Canada I didn't know about any of that so I just fell in love with all of them.”Tim's love affair with British rock legends began at an early age when he inherited his older sister's music collection: “ When I was a kid I was spinning Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and T Rex and all that stuff when I was like 8 years old. So coming to the UK was kind of like finding out where all these bands got their ideas from.”Tim's early musical influences definitely seem to have shined through in the sound of Van Tramp which he describes as ' classic rock and roll with a new edge'. Their debut single 'Hope and Pray' is due for release in a few weeks and Tim says it's only a taster of what they have to offer.
“ I think there a lot of songs on the album that would have even bigger chance than Hope and Pray but we're starting with Hope and Pray because I think it's a great sentiment and a great tune,” he said.
“I would say Hope and Pray has got a bit of a gospel vibe to it and a bit of straight forward rock and roll. It's kind of got the spirit of The Faces meets U2. It's a big anthem it's a festival tune. I think the guitars on it are really like Rolling Stones-esque but it's also got a big U2 feel. Our guitarist is a big U2 and Stones fanatic so everything kind of sounds like it's got a kind of Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Bono take on it. But it's got a really great melody to it too,” explains Tim.
The band's self titled album follows in October with the same big stadium rock band sound that was created ironically by recording it in an actual stadium: “We recorded it in a bunch of places. Parts of it were done in America and parts were done in Craven Cottage- Fulham's football ground,” Tim tells us. “Basically when they were going to tear it down and make it into condos we were able to blag our way into one of the VIP boxes and set up all our gear in there and for a couple of months we were able to just record a tonne of our music there. We wanted our album to have this giant stadium feel so we thought sod it we're just gonna go to a real stadium. We set up our whole studio up there and made it our own. We were just overlooking this giant premiership pitch, it was amazing. We had some really good times up there.”
“ It was just great to record our album and we were able to just listen to load of our favourite bands and just think well how were they doing it and how can we redo this and really turn up the amps and turn up the mood. We had a lot of candles and posters and just really made it own. There are not many groups that are able to record their album in a stadium so we just felt we were really privileged to have that. On the odd day we'd go out and watch the sunset or go and play some 3 on 3 on the pitch. It was awesome.”
His love of the UK music scene has made Tim more determined to make it big over here with Van Tramp so he can show the Americans what they are missing. “It would be great to have it blow up over here and have the chance to go back and introduce it to America and say you know Britain has got a thriving music scene. It really does and I don't know why more bands don't make it in America.”
But Tim does have a very believable theory about the lack of success British artists have in the states: “I think it's because they don't make a decent cup of tea,” he says.
“I just can't figure it out. I spent a lot of time in America and I honestly had to get my tea shipped over. They don't know how to brew it. I like a bit of a builders cup and just wave the milk at it.But they don't know what you're talking about if you talk like that.” And as for their Ice Tea equivalent- Tim's not impressed with that either: “It's rubbish. You may as well book an appointment with the dentist straight after. Honestly!”Van Tramp have been gigging around London for a couple of years and have gathered up quite a fan base and even a few celebrity friends along the way. Tim tells of how he missed out on the chance to play for Hugh Grant: “That was before I even joined the group to be honest. The boys were kind of doing this impromptu thing with Hugh Grant and it all went down a storm but there are other things rumbling at the moment that I can't really speak about so we might be playing again.”
Troubled actor Owen Wilson is another Van Tramp fan and Tim had some sound advice for him following his recent highly publicised suicide attempt: “It's terrible. He's one of my favourite actors. You get spurned by one girl. Just the wrong one. He must have had his heart broken by that. People have different illnesses and it's really hard to pinpoint where it comes from when they try and harm themselves. When you feel like that it's you that needs to have a look at what's going on and try to heal yourself rather than hurt yourself.”
Tim and the rest of the band certainly aren't shy about sharing their music and getting it heard and will go to any lengths to spread the Van Tramp word. “I got a CD to Matthew McConaughey actually,” he says proudly.
“I was on a show called The View in America. There was a little girl on who was tragically suffering from cystic fibrosis which is a really terrible disease for a child to have. Her favourite show was Rent which I was in on Broadway. This little girl was in love with it so we got to go on the show and sing for her and Matthew McConaughey was on the show too. So I took a bunch of CDs and I gave one to the little girl and said you know we'll keep in touch and Matt walked past and I was like 'Mate take a CD. Put this in your player.' He took it and said he was gonna play it. I haven't heard back from him though.”
And it doesn't stop there: “It's like whoever we see and whoever we can get this album to we will. We've got it to Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart and we got it to Ben Elton too. He's even been down to see us a couple of times. And Peter Kay got it too...he's a big giant guy and he was like 'woah I love your album mate'. It was a real great thing to have Peter Kay come up and say he likes our album.”
Tim's background of acting and appearing in musicals gives him the skills and the confidence to lead Van Tramp and also the potential to become one of the great rock front man. He agrees that his background has helped him win over the crowds: “It gives me a different edge in that I know how to communicate with an audience and tell a story. I'm not afraid to engage with the audience. I'm not gonna hide behind a mic stand when an audience is saying come on get us up on our feet, get us moving. I'm there for the audience but I'm also there to tell the story behind the tune. I find that being an actor on top of being a musician kind of aids me in getting to the audience. So I find if I'm not getting to the audience one way through the music I can use whatever I can to make sure I'm going to them. It's all about putting on a good show isn't it.”
“I went to go see Ryan Adams, and I'm not trying to talk him down, but he kind of crawled out like a spider from the back and sang his tunes like he was the most miserable person on the planet and then crawled back under his little rock. I know he suffers from depression and that but like mate do what it takes. I want my money's worth. That's why I think bands like the Kaiser Chiefs and Kasabian- they're good bands but they're about that as well. If it's not working they will do everything in the book to get that show going. And I think we are in that same vein.”
“I played a gig with Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart for the Olympics and there was like 90,000 people there and I came out there and I thought this is what I want. I felt really comfortable- scared shitless if I'm honest- but still this is what I want. The crowd went mad and I think if it's a crowd of 200 people or 20,000 people you should do the same thing. You shouldn't hold back.”
Tim is definitely a fan of giving it his all and Van Tramps growing legions of fans must also agree: “The last gig we did was in a little club in London called The Borderline and usually packs about 200 people, we had about 250- 260 people in there,” he explains.
“There must have been about 70 girls at the front just singing along to the tunes. We have people coming back over the past few years and you recognise their faces and you think 'Jesus you've been to every gig.' And it's that kinda feel and we wanna take that audience and make it into a stadium thing.”
But it's not all about the rock and roll lifestyle. Tim is also happily married to his former West End and Broadway co-star Ruthie Henshall who has recently given birth to their second daughter: “Baby Dolly is my second. I've got two little girls Lilly and Dolly and they are awesome,” says proud dad Tim.
“They are the best. The best thing is when I go out of the house to go to London and they're like Daddy have a good gig. They listen to the album and they dance around. They love the Kaiser Chiefs so I put that on and they bounce around to that. Sometimes I even get The Clash going and they are dancing around to Rock The Kazbar.”
Tim admits he was worried about what having a family would do to his rock star life but now he says it's given him a new perspective: “When we were having kids I was worried about whether it was going to damage the band but then I thought well Bono he's got a whole bunch of kids, Bon Jovi has kids and you see the Gallagher brothers walking round with kids- and you think are they allowed to have children.”
“ It's all part of the bigger picture. I think having kids and having a wife and all that it doesn't make you less rock and roll it just makes you more about life. It's good to be able to go out on stage and really have a good time and go wild and rock out but then it's nice to come home and have some reality about it all. It's nice to have a reason to sing for my supper.”
Van Tramp's debut single 'Hope & Pray' is out on 24th September with 'Van Tramp' the album following on 1st October.
Caz Moss- Female First
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