Mick’s rock revival - the Penkridge singer who is hoping his debut album hits the mark

Now the former member of heavy metal band Samson is preparing to release his debut solo album, Something’s Got To Give.

The first single, Emergency on Planet Earth, has already hit streaming platform Spotify and been regularly receiving airplay around the world since its release.

Classic rock vocalist Mick, who lives in Penkridge, says it is written from the perspective of a father who wants the world to be a better place for his child in the future.

“It’s something very close to my heart. I wrote it from the point of view of a father looking at the world and how hopeless it all looks. It’s a statement about what’s happening with climate change and how we need to wake up because we’re running out of time. A lot of people have said it’s a rallying cry about what’s going on in the world.

“It’s an exciting time – the single has done really well so far, especially in Europe. We’ve had over 7,000 streams on Spotify. The single has been played on radio stations over 400 times worldwide since it’s release and we’ve had 15-16,000 views of the video,” he adds.

The video, which includes scenes filmed in Penkridge, was directed and produced by James Ross Heron, and features Mick’s son Jake.

“James is an absolute genius. We did a lot with green screens, which I’ve never done before so that was a lot of fun. We filmed a lot around Penkridge, by the canal and in the centre of the village. We’ve got my son Jake, who looks very much like I did as a kid, playing a younger version of myself in the video. He did a fantastic job. We’re really pleased with the video and it’s had an amazing reaction from viewers,” explains Mick.

The musician was just a teenager when he was supporting Iron Maiden on their mammoth UK trek for the Somewhere In Time tour during his time in Samson.

Following his departure from the group, he formed First Strike and continued to write, record and tour his way around the UK including stints with the likes of Uriah Heep, Giant and Dare.

The future was looking bright with major record company interest and an impending management deal with a big American company until the grunge movement happened and virtually changed the music landscape overnight.

After First Strike split up, Mick found his talents were very much in demand in the studio and he spent the next five years doing session work across various studios in London. Towards the end of the 90s White started writing again and was offered a deal with US record company Domo records. This became the band Seven Days who went on to release two singles recorded in London and mixed by Kip Winger at his studio in Sante Fe.

As the new millennium began Mick decided his music career was over. “Grunge came in and killed the style of music I liked. Rock music was going in a different direction. I thought I’d had my time and I went on to other things,” he says.

But it seemed the industry had other plans for Mick. In 2019, he was approached by Steelheart Records to finally organise a release for the First Strike album. Just Another Night was greeted enthusiastically by rock radio and fans that October with three pressings of the CD selling out and a digital release early in 2020 also well-received.

Later Mick was a guest on a track called Better Be Strong written by German songwriter Marty Punch. Drummer Carsten Enghardt also played on the song and, on hearing the vocals, knew straight away he was the man his band Endfield were looking for. Phone calls were made and after agreeing to join the band Mick added lyrics and melodies to the tracks over the next few months.

As the global pandemic hit, Mick found time to start working on a number of projects including a collaboration with ex Ya Ya guitarist Ray Callcut and ex Dante Fox keyboard player Pete Lakin called White Skies.

And he also began work on solo album Something’s Got To Give, due to be released early next year, enlisting the talents of guitarist Luke Hatton and Endfield bandmate Carsten.

Mick says he couldn’t be happier about his return to the music industry and is relishing the chance to go on tour next year.

“The music industry is what it is, if you make it, you are very lucky. You just have to manage your expectations. To be back making records again and to have another shot at it is an amazing gift.”

Something’s Got to Give will be released on April 15 2022 via Edel Records. See facebook.com/mickwhitevocalist