Translation:
(hope it's kind of understandable, corrections most welcome)
Island-sand in the shoe
There, where every-one moves now: Fran Healy, Singer of the band Travis, shows us his Berlin - and gives us an idea of the freedom that let him say: "I am happy here." Seems like that's reflecting into his music.
Francis Healy is a busy man. He - singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist of Travis always was. But now that Fran, Dougie Payne, Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose decided to sail their racy Yacht called Travis under an autonomous flag (so to leave their Label Independiente) Healy is even more busy then before. In other words: "We do it all by ourself now", says Fran, sighs and finally shuts his laptop. Outside the panorama windows of the Universal-Zentrale at the shore of the Spree the clouds are floating over Berlin, and Fran just settled the video shot for the new single via email: "In New York, it's cheaper there."
All the stress seems to mind him surprisingly less, like all the last years past away without leaving traces on his physisque. Sure, the earlier grey temples extended over the whole hair by now like silver flames. But the bald spots strangly did not get bigger and generally the man gives the impression of a relaxed, casual, in his all being resilient person. "I am happy here" says Healy with a view over the Panorama of the city. "People always say Berlin has no skyline. That't not true, it has a wonderful skyline. And playgrounds, lots of playgrounds. I think alone around my flat at Prenzlauer Berg there are 60 or so" he says and shakes his sneakered foot (sounds the same silly in German btw. just means the sneaker on his foot) "I still have sand in my shoe from the playground this morning"
The Man lives along with his german wife, the photographer Nora Kryst in Berlin since two years.
So their son Clay, two years old, can attend the school here one day. "My wifes decision. And you have to obey your Master" says Healy and laughs. Healys little family earlier used to live alternately in New York - where they still have a flat - and London, where they recorded not even one year after The boy with no name big parts of Ode to J. Smith. The sixth Travis album in more then 10 years.
It's kinda strange that "das dicke B oben an der Spree" as Seeed sang it, had moult into a real indie-metropolis in the past years. Matt Tong lives in Friedrichshain, the wonderful jazzy drummer of Bloc Party. The Liars from New York even set up their Headquarters in Berlin. Jared Hasselhoff of the Bloodhound Gang alleged feels fit as a fiddle in Neukölln. Rufus Wainwright not any longer only sings about, but also inside the Tiergarten. The canadian electro-noodle Peaches is actually nationalized as same as Joel Gibb from the Hidden Cameras or the Electronic-pioneer Jason Forrest. Erlend Oye "the whitest boy alive" of the Kings of Convenience is said to be pushed along to Brazil by now but the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's obvioulsy think about a possible complete move like the Liars.
Only the thing about the great playgrounds, that's not to explain. "This City has a marvelous character" says Healy. "Once a journalist quoted me with the line, Berlin would be a sad city. That's Nonsense, i never said that. Far from it! It's the brightest, most optimistic city I know. Just look around you..." and we do, under the Oberbaumbrücke at the Warschauer Straße between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, at our walk up to the Prenzlauer Berg, and he is right. Youth, Youth and youthful aged, wherever you look.
"In London the people look totally uniformed, everyone wears the same brand, it's terrible. Here against it you can wear whatever you want, nobody cares.
He'd only been recognized once by fans here in Berlin by now: "It was a group of Argentinian tourists, who out of the blue and jubilantly lunged at me, so that my son, who I was carrying on my arm got scared and started crying. I told them "Hey, that's really nice but please take it easy"
That's why he enjoys the shopping in the lokal Supermarket - no celebs, no celeb-spotter, just between regular people. In London, he says, that's not possible anymore. The cracking of conventional life-structures by a new, as a rule well-heeled clientele, has scotched every natural, creative development. At that point we have to remember Mr. Healy, that Prenzlauer Berg is a prime exaple for the gentrification of a district. He nods guiltily: "Yeah, and then the rockstars move in one day and the neighbourhood goes down the drain..."
By now we arrived at this wonderful rotten Photobox and Healy wants to make pictures: "Here you can see again that Berlin seems like a mixture of cool corners of New York and Paris in the 19th Century when it still was the capitol of the world."
With the difference that Berlin carried away some scars and to today deep wounds from the attempt to become, on it's part Germania, capitol of the world. "Maybe" says Healy and sidesteps an inline skater. "but I was always interested in the insular. New York is an island offshore the U.S.A, Berlin is an Island inside Germany."
Ode to J.Smith still wasn't recorded in Berlin, but in London. "Within a few weeks. Most of it live so largely without overdubs.
We were in a studio where you could work with those ancient analog machines, that had been used by The Beatles for example, because they were originally from the Abbey Road Studios. So we were standing there playing around when suddenly Paul McCartney popped his head through the door saying "Hello Boys!" In the first moment we nearly keeled over but then we took it as a good sign."
On the Question who this J.Smith actually is we descent to the title song of the same name: "Nobody! Everyone! I just wanted to find an uneventful everyone's-name like David Bowie invented Ziggy Stardust. Maybe I had The Smiths at the back of my mind, but that doesn't really matter actually. Now it goes into the Photobox.
We continue with the virtually inapprehensibly powerful choir singings, which especially surprises the experted Travis-listener. "Wellll" say Fran happily and wags the photo stripe to dry it "that choir is our Joker" This song was supposed to become somthing like our Bohemian Rhapsody, do you know what I mean? With lots of dynamic- and speed changes and a slight classic touch. And then there was this choir, the "Crouch End Festival Chorus, Who I invited. A friend of mine helped with the arrangements but nobody had an idea before of what i wanted and how it would sound like in the end. From the 150 singers of the choir only 70 fitted into the studio" tells Healy with shiny eyes "so we doubled the recording afterwards to make it sound even more powerful and then, while we're at it, we even tripled it."
We're sitting in the Taxi for a while already, up the Danziger Straße to Prenzlauer Berg and Healy is still all crazy about J.Smith - between organizational calls inclusive a charming scottish rolled "Rrrr". He was doubtful about it first place and played the song to some ppl. whose opinoin he sets value on: "Ryan Adams heard it, The Kooks and Keane...and all, all thought it was pretty crazy...but great. Here..." he calls to the taxidriver "over there at the water tower you can let us out."
It's the last Stop of our Photo- and Sightseeing Tour. One of Healys special valued pubs. Unfortunaltely closed, but the closed shutters aren't unfunny either, thinks Healy: "The bar calls like a Prog-Band from the 70's and that fits to our new record" he thinks. And then he thinks it's time to say Goodbye, time for the family, the son mainly. And new sand in the shoes.
wow Trixi ! great job! (although I suspect you gave it to a certain fish to translate !? :-P)
very interesting ! thanks very much Trix :)
no certain fish, a lion...Leo-online-dictionary to be precise ;-P
Heya Sinalein! ;-D read about you're going to Copenhagen to see the guys live again, soo cool! Have fun there!!
Sanne, Jana and I will see them next friday again in Berlin, woohoo. Hope all is still cheesy in Cheeseland! ;-p
Thank you Trixi!!! What a lot of work.... I've tried to tranlate a few spoken words of Fran of this article, and it took me an hour... how long did you work on it?
I've cutted out the pics, I'll post them in our picture thread (so it will be on the first site again!!).
wow Trixi ! great job! (although I suspect you gave it to a certain fish to translate !? :-P)
very interesting ! thanks very much Trix :)
no certain fish, a lion...Leo-online-dictionary to be precise ;-P
Heya Sinalein! ;-D read about you're going to Copenhagen to see the guys live again, soo cool! Have fun there!!
Sanne, Jana and I will see them next friday again in Berlin, woohoo. Hope all is still cheesy in Cheeseland! ;-p
hehe good for the lion ! :D
yep going to Copenhagen! Well I have to, since so far they haven't announced any gigs in Switzerland and the Glasgow one I've missed too. But I'm really looking forward to it, seeing a new city and meeting up with Hanne and Edel at the same time¨. cool
Ohh you're soo lucky!! with Fran living in Berlin now you seem to get much more gigs and stuff now. Waiting for your review !
