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Interview
by SashaS
2-8-2000
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| Travis |
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Bad Case of the Goodies
Exclusive unpublished interview from November 1998
For a band that named themselves after a character in the notorious Taxi Driver film, Travis should be making music on the homicidal side. But the songs on The Man Who... album are as beautiful as the Scottish spring. Several months after the album's release it was recognised as the best British album and won them the Brit Award that created further momentum pushing its sales over 2.1 million (7 platinum discs) domestically. They were also voted the Best British band.
Despite all the accolades the band appear superglued to the soil and not affected at all. Meeting them before the release of the album (almost 60 weeks ago, phew), they are amicable and amusing as ever. Singer and composer Fran Healy and bassist Dougie Payne talk with Scottish accents as thick as the morning mist over a loch.
'I might be okay now,' Healy ponders aloud, 'but when I brought the songs to the band I became a dictator, telling them what not to do, not to play that way... We are not spring chickens at this, we've been together since 1991, Dougie's been with us since 1996, and through all these years we've been learning how do to things. We used to jam and make songs out of it but it never really got us anywhere and this time I said I'd write the songs. They all agreed and that's it for now, until we find some better way of doing things.'
Men working overhead
'We're still learning,' Fran continues, 'and there is a big sign above Travis proclaiming 'Work In Progress - Watch This Space'; I don't feel any pressure because I know that we'll take six or seven albums to get where we are going. Each album is a step away from where we started from and I don't want to be chasing my tail like so many other artists. I feel a lot of artists don't write enough songs and get cornered when the album is due to be recorded; I write a hundred songs and 95 are shite but five are good.
This summer Travis will be playing to many festivals as if they were competing with Embrace but their only reason is to perform for the public. 'We really love playing live,' Payne butts in, 'so much that we'd never stop. There's no feeling to compare to performing in front of the public: the vibe, the reception... I go all gooey just thinking about it!"
Long distance career
In our pop/rock world overrun with beautiful people of questionable talent, the quality of music appears to have taken a backseat; the driving force is eye-candy...
'I used to run,' Healy shares his wisdom, 'and like to compare musical career with long-distance running. When you start a 2000-meter race there are all these people who are overtaking you. You have to pace yourself and run your race because all these faster people retire and you finish the race. That's what we're doing and our secret is doing it our way and sticking to it!'
The world finally caught up with them and all the success and awards are welcomed by the band on a flattering level but, without being arrogant, not really as a validation. Healy told a Picasso story to illustrate his point.
'The French TV interviewer asked Picasso to draw something and he did a little house and signed it. The guy asked how much that would be and Picasso quoted some ridiculous sum. The guy argued that it was unjustified because it took him only seconds but Picasso replied that it took him 60 years of learning to draw it. That's the way I look at it, it is an ongoing thing and I've been doing it for just about 10 years... I've got a long way to go.'
SashaS
2-8-2000
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