Driftwood-ing with Travis

SINGAPORE — Scottish quartet Travis’ concert last Friday enthralled fans in the best way possible through their melodic, engaging songs.

Before the band’s almost two-hour set at the Star Theatre though, singer-guitarist Fran Healy and lead guitarist Andy Dunlop were backstage to talk about music making, the secret behind the band’s longevity and keeping it fresh over a 20-year career.

“I think the nice thing about us is that when Andy, Neil (Primrose, drums), Dougie (Payne, bass guitar) and I first played together, it settled into this really nice thing — everyone does their own thing — it’s incredibly relaxed on stage and very welcoming, I think, quite nice to watch,” explained Healy, who with his bushy beard looked more like an old man of the sea than the lead singer of one of Scotland’s top pop bands. “Four people who clearly like one another, who clearly have a chemistry together and who clearly enjoy playing together and playing in front of people and having a laugh.

“There’s something quite hypnotic about it”.

It’s obvious that the genuine synergy among the band’s four members is a major part of their appeal. “When the four of us started playing together, it was something different — it was something special. People call it ‘chemistry’, but it was instantly much bigger than any one of us,” added Dunlop.

“Whether you like our music or don’t like our music, I defy you not to get charmed by it, because I’m charmed by it every night!” quipped Healy. “And what’s not to like about charming?”

This charm was fully borne out on stage where the band captured the hearts of everyone in attendance. The band kept it simple, but there was no denying the sincerity and confidence of the performance from the get-go. Travis kicked off with Mother and Selfish Jean, which brought the crowd to their feet. The passion was evident as the band delivered the music with infectious joy and abandon. Travis’ main weapon has always been the powerful songwriting and we were intrigued to divine the process by which the band created such memorable material.

“It’s about fishing — getting a boat out on the water — however you describe it,” Dunlop opined. “You sit and you write and you write.”

Healy’s thoughts on the issue were self-effacing as usual, describing the thousands of songs he has written in his lifetime as “mostly s***”. “Maybe a fraction of them are good,” he glibly offered. “It’s not that I think they’re great — I don’t think there is any ultra-great song, but they’re either s*** or they’re good. A good song is like something that has already existed and you’ve just discovered it — like an element.”

Nevertheless, Dunlop gave credit to Healy, who is the main songwriter of the band, for being “an amazing filter, a taste barrier that is kept very high”. When you considered the sheer quality of the songs on display such as Driftwood, Closer, Sing and Turn, then certainly Healy’s filter has been a boon. Time and again, the audience would sing along to these tunes and it was difficult not to be swept away by the tide of emotion evoked by the beautiful music.

Speaking to Healy and Dunlop, it was clear that the band and what they do are of vital importance to them and keeping things fresh is fundamental.

“We realised that the thing that we have is quite precious and it’s beyond just touring the band into the ground,” Dunlop explained. “If you want to protect it then you’ve got to look after it — respect it in a certain way.”

“It’s the songs — they are like the fuel in the tank to take you wherever you want to go as a band,” added Healy. “And we just have to sit and write and write until we gather an amount of songs to get this confidence. It’s no mean feat, it’s quite hard.”

By the encore, Travis proved conclusively that this is precisely what they do so well with a performance of three songs — the stripped-down Flowers In The Window; a raucous delivery of All I Want To Do Is Rock (with Dunlop climbing to the top of his amplifier stack to play his solo); and a joyous rendition of Why Does It Always Rain On Me?, which Healy persuaded the audience to jump along wildly.

And that mixture of stirring melodies and sheer genuine likeability is how Travis keeps the fuel in their fans as well.