Travis

Anonymously Famous

BY Rob BoltonPublished Nov 17, 2016

Unlike most of their UK peers, Travis are not big on egos. According to singer Fran Healy, "The only thing that can threaten anything is ego. That's the enemy of the human race." Here's a band who have managed to keep their heads in check after earning platinum UK sales, the top spot on the UK charts, countless "best of" year-end lists, and multiple British Music Award nominations, all for their sophomore release, The Man Who.

"In the UK, people don't really know who we are, they just know the songs — which has always been the point with us. You've got to understand that they're two totally separate things: bands and songs. At the end of the day, a band needs a song — a song doesn't need a band."

The strength of the music on The Man Who has drawn a lot of attention to the four men from Glasgow, Scotland responsible for the songs. When talking to Healy, his genuine zeal for the power of music is hard to miss. "When a song arrives at your lap, you have to stop and ask yourself, ‘Did I actually do this?' Words defy it — it's magic. It's as if someone's giving it to you. It comes through you, not from you. You're just the carrier. Once a song gets into your head, it's yours. It's like a good photograph. You see it once, and you never forget it.

"Music's just energy — it's just this thing that comes through people in whatever way they want it to be. It could be a painting, it could be a song, it could be someone smiling at you in the street." Travis have their own energy, an honest passion for what they do, and the belief that they can make it work. This will take them further than ego ever could.

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