Fran Healy, lead singer of Scottish quartet Travis, turns out to be a very nice man. Gracious and geuinely engaged in our conversation, Healy practically begged me to go to Scotland -- especially since it's the homeland of the Nixons: "There's no place like Scotland in the world. It's inspired so many poems and songs through history."
Here's the Travis story that ran in the Union-Tribune's Night&Day section Thursday, Jan. 29:
Travis pulls through to create memories
By Chris Nixon
January 29, 2004
After four years of constant touring behind its 2000 breakthrough album, "The Man Who," and 2001's "The Invisible Band," Scottish quartet Travis desperately needed a break.
The band's popularity had steadily grown since the mid '90s, when Travis joined Oasis as part of an influx of retro Brit-pop bands. But the band felt burned out, suffering from the extreme life of a rock 'n' roll band.
Just when you start to take things for granted, life has a way of playing with your expectations.
During a series of European dates in July 2002, Travis drummer Neil Primrose hit his head while relaxing on vacation. The blow to Primrose's cranium knocked the percussionist out cold, cracking his fifth and sixth vertebrae.
His bandmates (vocalist Fran Healy, guitarist Andy Dunlop and bassist Dougie Payne) actually saved Primrose's life, pulling the unconscious drummer from the water. Most doctors were doubtful about Primrose's chances of walking again. But within six months, he was walking and drumming.
"It's a weird thing, but these things happen for a reason," said a wizened Healy during a recent phone conversation from London. "Millions of people die from things like this every year, and Neal was so, so lucky. It was fortunate he had his friends around and he survived. Just walking would be good enough, but he's playing like nothing ever happened."
During Primrose's recovery, the band retreated to their homeland and recorded. The resulting album, 2003's "12 Memories," emerged from the sessions.
Healy said: "There's no place like Scotland in the world. It's inspired so many poems and song through history."
Trying to sidestep clichés, Healy reflected on the accident's impact on the band and "12 Memories."
"We came back into the music business a completely different band," said the eloquent Healy in his Scottish brogue. "We care about how well things do (in sales and popularity), of course. But it's not as important as it once was. It throws light on everything and prioritizes things in a certain order. The priorities of humans are generally (messed) up until nature comes and punches you in the face. Luckily for us, we pulled through."
Travis more than pulled through in 2003 – it rebounded with possibly its best effort with "12 Memories," a shimmering revelation of beautiful Brit-pop. From the swaying glistening balladry of "How Many Hearts" to the gritty distorted rock guitar of "Happy to Hang Around," the four boys from Glasgow construct a coherent album of reflective, dreamy pop singles.
Travis planned on quirky, top-notch producer Tchad Blake (Soul Coughing, Neil Finn, Latin Playboys, Los Lobos, Pearl Jam), but Primrose's quick rehab found the band recording ahead of schedule – and before Blake arrived.
"We went to Scotland with a really rudimentary setup," said Healy, who along with the rest of Travis produced most of the album on their own. "And eventually, we recorded the whole record before we knew it. So we took the whole record to Tchad, and we recorded three new songs with him: 'Peace ... Out,' 'Somewhere Else' and 'Love Will Come Through.'
"When you listen to those, they really are different. They definitely sound a lot more dynamic than the stuff that we produced. You can't run in competition with someone who has been recording for like 20 or 30 years. What he brought to the rest of the stuff was really beautiful definition and hi-fi."
Given the dramatic events leading up to "12 Memories," one might think Healy would be overflowing with song ideas. But even after three albums packed with poignant tunes, the inspiration for Travis's latest disc didn't come easily.
"To be honest, writing songs is still difficult, because you're making something out of nothing," said Healy, who will take the stage with Travis Saturday at downtown's Spreckels Theatre. "But it's like any creative process, like painting a picture or thinking up a story: It starts with absolutely nothing. It starts with this flash, and you have to catch the flash and turn it into something. But those flashes, they're hard to catch."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
