Could someone please post the article here? The site's blocked by my ISP for some reason...
Sure, here you go :-)
The Sun wrote:
'Being unsigned is liberating'
TRAVIS are holed up in London’s Rak Studios, in a race against time and mother nature.
Bassist Dougie Payne and his wife are expecting their first child and the band have promised themselves they’ll have finished recording their sixth album before it arrives.
“We’re here until Sunday so we can get it all done and then Dougie can have four months of baby bliss,” singer Fran Healy tells me.
“If we don’t meet our deadline there’s no way we’ll get it finished by this year and that would mean the touring we did all over the world last year would be a waste.
“We spent months making contact with everyone again saying, ‘Look, we’re not dead’.”
It’s also the first time in 11 years Travis have no record deal but that’s not, as rumourmongers would have it because they’ve been dropped.
Fran laughs: “We weren’t dropped, no, no, no.
“We’d come to the end of our deal and decided to go as it was time to start afresh. We need to get back to what we first came to London for all those years ago — and that’s being a proper band.
“When you’re successful and you’re a big band, you get sucked into it and lose sight of the important thing — making music.
“The music industry is a totally different animal now and as a band you have to work at writing gripping and cool music.
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“It was sad to leave Independiente but I think it was time to change the backdrop.
“It was our home for over ten years and we were the flagship band of that label. I think it’s time we went off and they went off to pastures new to search for new bands.”
For album number six, Travis have teamed up with Emery Dobyns rather than long-term producer Nigel Godrich.
“We’ve also decided to record this on a 16-track old tape we borrowed from Abbey Road,” says Fran.
“Instead of recording our parts separately, this record is all about the performance and there’s nothing better than people playing together. It sounds amazing.”
If you caught Travis on their recent five-date club tour you would have heard a preview of new songs including J Smith, Friends and Chinese Blues, played back-to-back without any introductions.
It was a very brave move.
“Yes,” agrees Fran. “And nerve-racking. But there’s no comparison to adrenaline and nerves — it adds something to the performance.”
Fran says they returned to a sound they played on debut album Good Feeling because they’re playing the best they’ve ever done live.
“I’m even hoarse from recording the vocals for the first album track last night and I was really singing,” he adds. “Everyone has commented how good we have been playing.”
So any worries about being without a label for now?
“Worried? Nah, why should we be? This record is good. It’s going to surprise a lot of people.
“For the first time we are an unsigned band with a fanbase and we’re in the studio. We’ll look after the music then our manager will deal with the business side. It’s liberating. We’re all buzzing.”
Also, i wouldn't say this was a return to Good Feeling. It's something new. Which is great.
Well, i remember when Andy told me about new album, will be more rocker than others.
Good Feeling is the more album rocker than other Travis albums.
Does Steave is producing new album, true?
That´s nice, Travis will return "old school sound" xD
Have you heard the new songs? It's definitely their rockiest since Good Feeling but i think it's totally different. Broken Mirror, Friends, Song To Self, J Smith for example would seem out of place. I think its more controlled rock, more musical, whilst still being loud and aggressive. It should be better than Good Feeling too.
Live music is the best and Travis is one of the best (hmm...maybe The Best) live band I've ever seen. I am ecstatic that they are recording this album as a unit and trying to capture that feeling. I am SOOOOOO looking forward to this
Also, i wouldn't say this was a return to Good Feeling. It's something new. Which is great.
Well, i remember when Andy told me about new album, will be more rocker than others.
Good Feeling is the more album rocker than other Travis albums.
Does Steve is producing new album, true?
That´s nice, Travis will return "old school sound" xD
Have you heard the new songs? It's definitely their rockiest since Good Feeling but i think it's totally different. Broken Mirror, Friends, Song To Self, J Smith for example would seem out of place. I think its more controlled rock, more musical, whilst still being loud and aggressive. It should be better than Good Feeling too.
Of course. Definitely Travis experience is overboard.
New Songs has much better lyrics, and as you told: loud and aggresive.
Andy´s guitar (i´m talking about the sound) in Friends is magical, i love his tabs.
Other example: Fran´s new guitar & ampl in Chinese Blues. It Sounds rocker, controlled rock... but quiet different.
