An interview with Tramp lead singer Siânna Lafferty about the band, their debut ep and politics.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Lowered suspension, you rev your engine, you're compensating, you think I'm waiting, for a
00:09manly, manly, manly boy like you. You're the reason I like girls too.
00:15I'm Sharon, and I'm in the band Tramp.
00:18Can you tell me a wee bit about Tramp, and maybe somebody who doesn't know who Tramp
00:22are, or maybe you can pitch it out?
00:24Well, we're not Trump, which is what a lot of people think when they hear us say we're
00:30Tramp. We're... what kind of a way to describe it to somebody who doesn't know us?
00:41What did you tell your mommy when you first asked her?
00:48I told her I was in a band, and she was like, oh, you're doing that shouting thing?
00:52Aye! Aye, pretty much. Aye, there's a bit of shouting, there's a bit of nice, melodic
01:01music as well. It's a bit of everything. It's like, probably like an indie punk band, because
01:07there's a bit of both.
01:08That's what we're calling the band, a bit of punk.
01:10Aye. Aye. Aye, there's probably, there's punk attitude, where there's like, nice soft indie
01:17music as well, so I think it's, yeah, I would say it's probably an indie punk.
01:22Now, can you tell me about the rest of the members, obviously they're not here, they're
01:26just yourself?
01:27Aye, Fun Bar is the lead guitarist, Ellie is the bassist, Steamy is the drummer. All
01:37stunning people, all stunning musicians. Aye, to describe them in like a music way,
01:46or like...
01:47Well, can you tell me how you came together as Forum Trump?
01:50Oh, aye. Fun Bar and I were brought into a band before, like when we were still in school.
01:58We kind of just met through like that, a band that never happened. And then we got added
02:05to another band that did happen, that ended whenever everyone left school. So that's where
02:10we knew each other, that's where our friendship kind of began. And we've just been like friends
02:14since we were like 14, 15. And Ellie, I went to school with Ellie, but didn't know her,
02:21but Fun Bar somehow became really good friends with her. So when we were trying to put together
02:26Trump, he was like, oh Ellie, she's like class, she can play loads of instruments. So she
02:32was our drummer initially, when it was the three of us. And then we just felt like it
02:38wasn't like, it wasn't it. Like, we still had like another person, there was a space
02:44for another person. So we put out the finish for another person. And then we were really
02:49big fans of Foreign Isle.
02:50Who are back now.
02:51Who are back. I know, I know, they've been keeping it under wraps. And we kind of been
02:55hearing things. I know, it's like we would have like our practices in Steamy's house.
03:00And then he said, then he's been like, oh yeah, I've got a Foreign Isle practice now.
03:04And we were like, oh my god, that's class. So we were like massive fans of him then,
03:11and became friends then. And nearly died when he wanted to join Trump. Nearly died. But
03:18yeah, we've been going since like lockdown. Which was obviously very tragic for a lot
03:26of us. But it meant that we had no pressure to like, be good fast. We had X amount of
03:33time because of lockdown to like, just work away ourselves. And then
03:39So you took a positive out of maybe lockdown then?
03:41I would say so, yeah.
03:43Find your own music style?
03:45Yeah, I would say so. Like, there weren't any gigs to be like, going to or inspired
03:52by. So it was like, very, very sad to watch what was happening to the scene. And the
04:01scene that we were like, wanting to go into. But at the end, it was just fun for us. Like
04:06we just wanted to make music for fun. So we didn't see like, we didn't feel like this
04:13industry pressure, you know, during the lockdown. It was just meeting up, writing together.
04:19Well, Sunset has seemed like Trump's been very successful. I mean, you've had multiple
04:23radio plays, and you ended up on a completely nice TV show. I mean, I'm sure they can't
04:27like, incredibly see where you've come from. A lot of times, what we can see where you
04:32are now.
04:33Yeah. It's very, make you very grateful. It makes us very grateful. Like, to see these
04:41little things that are, I suppose, they're seen as achievements. Yeah, I guess they're
04:49achievements.
04:50So, what we're really here talking about today is your first debut EP, Bamboofication. Can
04:59you tell me about that and maybe say the names?
05:03Yeah, I know. I love that it's about the sycophant. Bamboofication. Yeah. The name came from one
05:13of the lyrics that I wrote in the song Junkie, that's going to be on it. And the song Junkie,
05:21the whole EP is about like, different aspects of misogyny. Well, coming from my point of
05:29view is writing the lyrics anyway. That's what the kind of stories are about. So, Junkie
05:34is like, about our dependency on like, things that are like, not just like, substances,
05:46yes, but also in like, the craving love point of view as well. Like how misogyny was created
05:55like, diet culture, you know, greed and misogyny together, creating industries that makes people
06:00dependent on either, you know, dieting or self-loathing and trying to be, you know,
06:07wanting to be better, always feeling like not enough. So, I feel like that's a big part
06:11of like, that connects how we feed these industries that are inherently just harmful to us. They
06:20just are there to take money from us because they play on this feeling of we're not enough.
06:24So, that kind of conditioning. Conditioning is a big thing as well with misogyny and diet
06:31culture. So, the bimbofication is kind of about like, the conditioning and how we view
06:41femininity and how we keep it small. And how diet culture as well just perpetuates that
06:51like, keeping women or the feminine small by making you fight yourself because you're
06:59not going to start a revolution when you're fighting yourself and keeping yourself small.
07:07So, there's a lot, there was a lot, even trying to put it in a sentence is very hard to like,
07:13summarise what was going through my head whenever I wrote the lyrics for Chunky but
07:18it's like a fun way of expressing the absolute anger at how we view ourselves and each other
07:29for the corporate greedy outcomes. So, all the songs are about like, slightly different
07:38things but it's obviously all connected with misogyny but bimbofication seemed like a good
07:45word to describe like, the EP and us and our music tackling that because it's fun, it's
07:55like about just like, throwing gender roles out the window or bringing them to light and
08:01then playing with it, you know. Yeah, I did a wee description about bimbofication, like
08:09kind of silly, like there was about like, unlearning the conditioning of like, what
08:18defines the feminine and like, reclaiming it because it's been like, reduced to you
08:24know, like, less worthy of respect or tacky, you know, or yeah, unworthy of respect I would
08:33say but yeah.
08:35Is it important for yourself and Tramp as a whole to kind of illustrate that point?
08:41Because is it maybe what is driving the band a bit?
08:45I feel like it's definitely one of my big drives writing the lyrics anyway. I kind of
08:52use it, like when I say we make music for fun, we definitely do but it's definitely
08:58almost like a way to process things, like process life. So I feel like it's probably
09:06like, my rage and anger at the world is like, music and lyrics is how I do that, it's
09:13like, not just process it but actually get it out there as well because you would get
09:18arrested if you just stood in the street shouting. Unless you're handing out leaflets
09:22with a wee cross on it but, you would, there is more, there's a slight more platform to
09:32be heard and like, connected to.
09:35Is it like, maybe exposing a different side of yourself? Because I've met you a few times
09:39now and I'm personalised, I know you guys can have like, you know, a sweet, nice, like
09:44but then on stage you can be, you know, someone else you can be.
09:47Like a terrier at all. I, oh my gosh yeah, big time. Everyone, everyone has their dark
09:56side. But no, everyone has that like, I like want to shout into the world or the void,
10:03why are things so like, wrong and why is there so much suffering? And why can't people see
10:12that we are part of that, like we are connected to it through our education, misinformation,
10:18indoctrination. Like, I think I had so much rage when I was like, 15 and there was like,
10:26a wee switch just flipped in my mind in how I saw the world in like, in terms of like,
10:32capitalism and how we, how gaps like this create and how class is created because people
10:37take from other people and people's, a lot of privileges are at the expense of other
10:45people's lives and stuff. So, I had so much anger when I was like, around 15, 16 and when
10:55I finally like, connected the two of like, I can use this, like one of my favourite things
11:00to do, which is singing and also all of the awakenings in, you know, in my head when I
11:10started to piece together things. It just combined into this, which is probably now
11:16a good bit of trap. Like, the need for justice and music is just like, probably the heart
11:26of the band. Yeah.
11:30Your acuity's always giving off, well as it starts to run, and we get the knees from
11:36your knees, there emotes your life.
11:38More towards the music, can you tell me a wee bit about it, maybe about the songs in
11:44the EP or maybe some influences for this certain EP?
11:48Yeah. Again, I can't really, I don't know for sure like, what for other people, so I
11:55don't really want to speak too much about other people's influences, but System of a
11:59Down, weirdly, has been my probably biggest influence in this. And like, finding out more
12:06about like, their singer Serge Takian. Not even finding out about him, just listening
12:13to them, I think, while I was going through all that like, rage at like, 15. Just like
12:19his like, lyrics, like his like, he just threw in sentences that were long and windy
12:27and all the big words, you know, I just loved that like, because it was real, it was so
12:32real. And as much as I love metaphors, I love the metaphors with like, Frankenstein and
12:39Snakes and Rabbits, like, I think this one, there's a couple of songs in there that are
12:43quite just a bit more literal. Like, Junkie is kind of like a, like a stream of conscious
12:51consciousness. But also, like the voices that like, interrupt those thoughts. So there's
12:58like a bit of like, there's like, there's a lot of conditions, there's a lot of different
13:02voices in the songs. It's not all from like, you know, my perspective, it's mostly the
13:10voices that we hear constantly crammed into our brains, in a way to like, show them like,
13:15look how absurd these are, but also look at why they are being told to us or fed to us.
13:22But it's the, as songs, they're a bit, they're a lot heavier than what people would probably
13:30assume that we're like, based on what we have at the minute. Like, even the birds is quite
13:38like, fun, like, in the musical sense. Skeletons is kind of like the odd one out in a way,
13:48but in a way that it fits and it's meant to be there, because it's also about like, trauma
13:55and like, resurfacing trauma and not really understanding it and like, dissociation, which
14:00again, is connected to, this is just what happens whenever you are hurt by things that
14:08we're trying to talk about. So there's like a softness there with skeleton surfacing.
14:18There's a bit of more of like, yeah, heaviness, ruckus, but more punk stuff with the song
14:25Yellow Carno Hip Wax. There's one I'd say is very important to us, would be, it's just
14:35called Free Safe Legal, which if you've been around in Ireland or the North for the past
14:40few years, you would know exactly what it's about. It's about reproductive rights, it's
14:44about healthcare, and what happened when we were trying to fight for healthcare. And
14:55it's probably going to be one that people will either love or hate, because we do name
14:59draft somebody who was involved and who was like, they had power over healthcare in the
15:08North at the time of The North is Next and trying to bring our healthcare into, you know,
15:16accessibility. So people will probably like, not really like that, but it's just the truth,
15:22it's just the facts of who, like, what actually was happening, you know. But it's kind of
15:30heavy to really love the production on it, you know. I'm kind of focusing this a lot
15:36on the lyrics, but the production that Rocky Riley did in Belfast was great. He just kind
15:41of knew exactly what we wanted to, like, make it sound like. Yeah, there's some little,
15:51like, maddening noises. It kind of sounds like, like, what would Ellie say? There's
16:00like a part in Free, Safe, Legal where it kind of sounds like Call of Duty or something.
16:06You know, it's just like, the fun that you can have with noises and like what it makes
16:11you think of, like, yeah, it's just warfare, complete warfare. Yeah.
16:20Overall, with the EP, are you happy with it? Is it a finished product now?
16:29It is, yeah. I'm really happy with it. I feel like as five tracks, they are so individual.
16:38And you could probably put different genres to each song, but they all, I think, are a
16:46good reflection of us. Like, they all sound like Tramp, and I haven't really felt that
16:53with anything we've recorded, because we haven't recorded that much so far. But this just feels
16:58like a solid portfolio of... Perfect for a new EP. Yeah. Yeah. I couldn't be happier,
17:07to be fair. I couldn't be happier, which I'm very grateful for.
17:16I'm running late.
17:17All for the pie.
17:19On your tie.
17:20The things you say would be okay, but if she was a bitch.
17:25Birds of a feather, can't crawl together.
17:29Birds of a feather, can't crawl together.
17:32You're not a player, you're a predator.
17:36Birds of a feather.
17:40To record, how would you describe Tramp Live?
17:45When I think I'm working out, I come to my senses.
17:49Yeah, that's definitely it. I don't feel like, I don't feel anyone could describe us like
18:00an industry plant, do you know? Far from that.
18:04C-A-H-M.
18:05Yeah. We're definitely, we're definitely like, not that we're not entirely put together,
18:11but I feel like we couldn't be more human. You know, when you see us live, like, if there's
18:18something going on with us, you'll tell, like, you know, just as in like, if someone's particularly
18:24angry that day, they'll just show it, you know, but I feel like our connection is something
18:30that I really, really love, like, just as people, like, even whenever I get really carried
18:37away and get into my head about things, like, I get a lot, I get in my head a lot when we
18:45play, but it's, the band is like, grinding, and I like, turn around to LA Riff and Bar
18:52Steaming and realise, like, oh yeah, we're here for fun, and then it's immediately like,
18:57yeah, we're here for fun, and I think that shows a lot. But chaotic is the great word,
19:03I think. Yeah, the energy, I feel like all of our hearts just start, like, going nuts,
19:10and then whatever's going on in the room, it just, like, kind of elevates that. Even
19:18when they're sitting down. A couple of days ago, we played a show to people sitting down.
19:22Still, chaotic. I don't know what that would have been like for somebody sitting down at
19:26a table, watching us in a theatre, but it's just going to happen, it's just going to be
19:31a wee bit mental. Getting away from the music side of things, I know, well, a few bands
19:38chat, every band has their own individual role outside of the band, like, someone's
19:42a driver, someone has to drive all the gear. Could you describe, maybe, some of the band's
19:47roles outside of the music side of things? Yeah, this is great, we've kind of, yeah,
19:52we've definitely probably fallen into these things. Fembaar is a driver. Fembaar...
19:58Does he get to have to paint that during a gig? Sometimes, when he does, it's rewarding.
20:04But he does, he does, like, really like to do the driving, and he feels, like, you know,
20:13grand that he can do the driving and let us do the other things, you know, because I think,
20:17like, yeah, we work to our strengths at the end of the day, or, like, what we're available
20:20to do. So, like, Steamy, Steamy's, like, whole life is, like, music, like, you know, the
20:27physical music, so, like, the internet and admin stuff, I'm so glad that he, like, his
20:33brain just doesn't, like, doesn't really, like, go for that, like, he's just into the
20:38music, so I would end up doing the admin stuff, or, like, the promo stuff for all, like, the
20:45posts and things like that, like, that said, you know, all that silly stuff. But it's,
20:52unfortunately, at the minute, it's got to be done. I would love to see social media
20:56change, but, or, like, move away from it, I think we need to move away from it, because
21:01it's a whole other story, but I think it's, like, that's for the next interview, but I
21:06do believe that social media is, like, part of what's killing, like, the industry, but
21:10anywho, Ellie is also pretty, like, admin head, you know, she's great at answering emails
21:19that I miss or forget, but Ellie also has, like, a law degree, so at the minute, we're
21:25going through, you know, things, like, just, like, a contract with, like, a new person
21:30we're working with for management, so Ellie is just going through, you know, the fine
21:36bit. So I think we all definitely bring completely different aspects to the band, and it kind
21:44of goes the same with the songwriting, too. We'll all have our different, like, I don't
21:50think any of the songs have been written in the same way, you know, it'll kind of start
21:54with, like, someone will write a riff, or I'll write, like, a full song of lyrics with
22:01no melody, and then be like, right, can we all make something, yeah, to just put this
22:06on, and then Steamy just loves, like, mad polyrhythms and jams and stuff, so it'll just,
22:13like, be, like, a big mad puzzle. Yeah.
22:20We are. That's such a good question. It's because a lot of people aren't, or at least
22:30it, like, being in a band just creates so much tension among each other that you kind
22:35of, you don't really be honest with each other because you're like, oh, that's not worth
22:39saying, or, like, you know, the communication kind of doesn't really come from a friendship
22:45place, or, like, a need to, like, keep that. Yeah, it would work, but that's essential,
22:51I feel like, to be in, to be in this kind of a dynamic with people. I mean, we're not,
22:59we're not, like, big in the point where it feels like a marriage, you know, which a lot
23:03of bands will say it feels like when you're, like, your whole life, when you're on the
23:07road together all the time, you're writing together all the time, like, they feel like
23:10it's an actual marriage, like, you need to work on it. It's not, we're not quite there
23:14yet, like, but we definitely have a good relationship with each other, like, when it
23:22comes to, like, just how we're feeling on the day, like, even in a practice, like, if
23:26someone's just going, going through a really tough day and just being like, I can't do
23:31this today, like I know we've said this time, and we'll just end up, you know, just either
23:35not talking about it if that's what they want, or we'll talk about it, or we'll watch The
23:39Simpsons together, or, you know, we'll do, we'll do the friend stuff. I feel like friendship
23:45kind of comes first, like, we're not going to guilt trip each other into feeling like
23:50they need to put this business first, like, that's, that's not really us. We're definitely
23:57friends first, and I love that. I've been in a band before where we just weren't, like,
24:03as close. We didn't really, like, connect the same. We were young, but we also, we just
24:08didn't all know each other. We were just kind of brought together because of someone
24:12knowing someone. It just didn't end up working, and I think that's probably why.
24:38I don't mean it like that. I don't mean, I don't like that. I meant to compliment.
24:45I don't mean it like that. I don't mean, I don't like that. I meant to compliment.
24:53Tell me, what's the future, or what would you like to see in the future for Trump?
24:58Um, hopefully there is an earth in the future of Trump. Hopefully we're all not burning.
25:06Genuinely, like, you know, I hope to see, like, I mean, I hope to see new places, new
25:18people. I think the biggest, the biggest gifts of being on the earth is to see, like, seeing
25:26all the different parts of it, not just staying in the one place. Yeah, play in new places,
25:32meet new people, and just, like, being enlightened as well, being, us being educated. Like, I
25:36hope this is a way that we can go and meet other minds as well, and, like, learn from
25:43other people outside of our bubble, because it's as important as the north of Ireland
25:47is to us, which is so important. So is the rest of the world, so I would love to, I'd
25:54love to just keep going further and further, regardless of, you know, success, or what
26:01people think success is, or, like, big deals and all like that there. Like, I just want
26:05to go and see the world, and just keep on singing, keep on performing, and also see
26:13the world become, like, a safer place for everyone, animals included, trees included.
26:22Just want to, like, keep remembering what's important, you know. The world, and not money.
26:31Yeah.
26:32That cover, if I get the cover, is it anything you want to make up yourself?
26:36Probably just that the EP's coming out on the 25th of October, digitally, so it'll
26:43be available to stream digitally, and we're currently in the works of putting together
26:50the physical release alongside a tour, so this is kind of like the soft launch, this
26:56is like the soft launch of the EP, Vimification, and then we're gonna go a bit harder with
27:03the launch then, when it's, like, physically out there, we can throw it to people, new
27:07crowds, you know.
27:20I think I'm calling you
27:22You're not a player
27:24You're not ready to turn
27:26Words of fear
27:29Cause if you get a call, you're gonna taste my knuckles
27:33If you get a call, you're gonna taste my knuckles
27:36Go tell the guard you're looking for trouble
27:40Cause if you get a call, you're gonna taste my
27:45Knuckles