Travis - Bugs, October 1997

Bugs

We're in the Cast backstage area at the Academy and people all around us are panicking for the arrival of Mr. Liam Gallagher himself.
Can we bother? No, you see, we've been chasing this cheeky bunch of Glaswegians for a couple of months and our main concern now is "what if we don't get a word of what they tell us?!" Hey, consider music, the universal message, thus language barriers cannot really stop them. Forget your HAS-BEENS (namely the Gallaghers!), it's time to welcome Travis's "Good Feeling" in your hearts.
Can you tell us something about your history?
Fran: We've been together for 6 years. Doug joined the band in March '96. The reason it took him so long is because he was doing this course at art school. We'd been friends and he'd been with the band for ages. We had two other guys in the band but, as ever, bands progress and the line-ups change. We were looking pretty much at a 5-piece originally. Eventually it got too much so we had to get rid of two of the members. And the rest is HISTOIRE.
What about moving to London?
Doug: That was good for us.
Fran: We're great believers in getting an air balloon, put everything in there and it brought us to London. Because we were on the dole, on a housing benefit, everything was very bad. Why don't we put our money where our mouths are and take it down here to see what happens? If nothing happens, we'll just go back to Scotland.
Doug: Nothing ventured nothing gained, as the saying goes.
Fran: But something happened, we got lucky.
Did moving to London influence your music in some way?
Doug: No, and basically we don't miss Glasgow, you usually just miss the people not the place and when it comes down to it, it was just interesting to change the backdrop.
I suppose there's a lot more work to do now you're close to the record company?
Fran: That's the reason why we're here. There's a lot of work being involved in a band, trying to get your music to people. There's a million things to do, got to be at it all the time. That's why London, 'cos it's closer to the industry. There're a million places to go; Australia, Europe, Japan, Canada--it's all out there.
Why did you choose music as opposed to other things? I know you were into art.
Fran: I could finish songs, I couldn't finish paintings, that's pretty much it. You can take a painting off the wall, smash it up and it disappears forever. You can't do that with music.
Andy: Any artist wants to take his art to as many people as possible and visual arts do not have the radio to get to the masses.
You all live together, don't you?
Andy: We did but we moved out.
From nowhere, just a 10-inch, you were on Jools Holland's show, and Jools doesn't pick up bands who have hardly had one single out. Was it nerve-wrecking?
Fran: It wasn't nerve-wrecking at all. It's funny. At the same time, there was this guy on the show called Connor Reeves, a songwriter. He wrote songs for TV shows and gave them to other people. He didn't play. But he was there and he wasn't nervous at all. You wait for this moment. That's where you belong, it's like a vocation. You belong to the stage, you belong to the cameras.
Doug: You have been there in your head. And being our first time, we didn't have any reputation to live up to. It was more like Jim'll Fix it than anything else.
Fran: Do you know what Jim'll Fix It is?
No, I don't think so.
Fran: Jim was this old 60's DJ and he had a TV show called Jim'll Fix It and these kids were writing to him "Dear Jim, will you fix it for me?" That's how it felt for us "Dear Jim, would you please fix for my band to get on to Jools Holland, our favourite music show?"
Is it true that after the show Lionel Richie congratulated you?
Fran: Oh yes, old Lionel.
I thought Tricky after you just disappeared!
Doug: Tricky said a funny thing afterwards, "Am I getting old, or were they really loud?"
Fran: And these guys said, "Yeah, they're from Glasgow."
The two bands namechecked for 1997 were you and Embrace but while everyone seems to agree on Embrace, with you it's building up slowly. They hate you, then after your gigs, they seem to change their minds.
Fran: Definitely they will. All you can do as a songwriter and a performer is do what you do. We read things written about us but you can either take it or leave it.
Andy: It doesn't affect us. The music press is always just one person's opinion. You can just take it as that.
So you don't mind it when they start pigeonholing you as the new Radiohead?
Doug: As long as the reaction comes out. If they hate it, brilliant!! As you said, reviewers are quite confused 'cos they say we're schizophrenic.
Fran: For the record, we are willing to sacrifice all this thing about schizophrenia everyone talks about. Travis are just about good songs. It's annoying when people like Crispian of Kula Shaker lets things like the swastika get in the way of his music. They're a plain example of how the press can take advantage. But Travis are not like that. Travis are about just the songs and having a good time and enjoy that.
What do you make out of this 'new gravers' definition the press gave you?
Fran: I don't care!
Doug: It doesn't matter.
Fran: this is just the first 9 months of our profession. We are going for another 15 years.
Is that what you plan?
Fran: It's a brilliant job. It's about communicating with people, talking, playing, making people smile, cry, whatever it is. At the end of the day, this is the whole shebang of entertainment.
Fran, where do you get the inspiration for the lyrics?
Fran: It's difficult to say. I don't really talk about my songs but the inspiration is usually people--90 percent of the times you write average stuff, 10 percent of the time something special, and that 10 percent is the stuff that goes on the album and it doesn't feel like I've written it. 'Cos it happened so quickly it almost writes itself. You go out and play them to the people and they go berserk.
All your songs, including the b-sides, are top quality. Are you going to put any on the album and when is it going to be released?
Doug: They're all new tracks. The b-sides are recorded purely as b-sides. It will be out in September.
Fran: You see, if you believe so much in what you do, people will eventually catch up.
Do you consider yourself to be more a live or studio band?
Andy: We just sat up in a studio and played away. Playing live, you just play in front of people, there's not much difference. It's nice to see people enjoying it.
What are your plans? Are you happy with fame just in your country or would you like to spread the word everywhere?
Fran: We're setting up tracks everywhere. We've just been in Paris, Japan. It's all over the place. Within a year, it will start working out.
Would you write music especially to break some kind of market?
Doug: As soon as you write music with a purpose, it's going to be shit music anyways.
Fran: We just do what we do. Hopefully people will catch up.
Do you enjoy playing festivals?
Doug: Glasto was very muddy. Quite interesting.
Any useful festival tips?
Doug: Stay away from them 'cos you get all those crusties. Fucking hate them!!!
Fran: Try to mark out what you're going to do and who you are going to see. Don't try and see everything or you'll miss the good bands.
Neil: And you'll end up in a field watching Travis!!!!
I ended up in a field more than a few times last year watching Travis and do I regret it?? No way!!! All they want to do is rock--and the world better listen!!!!
Thanks to Laila for typing this up and sending it in!!
Bugs
October 1997
by Sylvia F

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