Scottish Brit-pop rock band Travis are back after five years with a new album Where You Stand. Shaping out a successful career over the past few decades, the band are back on the road with new material. Larry Heath sat down with band’s drummer, Neil Primrose, to discuss the album and their hiatus from music.
How long has it been since you’ve been to Australia?
It’s been a long time. Far too long. The band have been discussing this for the last few weeks when we’ve been doing various shows that we need to make a proper trip down. And do some shows and spend some time down there. I think it’s been 10 or 12 years since we’ve done a show in Australia and New Zealand, so we have to make amends.
It’s not only been a long time since you’ve been to Australia, but it’s also been a while between albums as well. Have you been keeping busy?
Well, this is true. I mean people think that five years, you’ve just sort of been chilling out. We’ve spent a lot of time with family and living normal day-to-day life because that’s ultimately part of the process that goes into it. That means you can write songs and play again. You know you need to do it for a living. We’ve all been working on this album, but ironically it doesn’t just appear from nowhere it’s taken two years to get together. You know so we were writing and working together in the studio and getting the songs in shape for almost two years.
Now that you have your own record label and you’re doing things your own way, you have the luxury of that time too.
Yeah, it is OK, but the problem with the world now is that there’s so much technology is that things move so fast. How people acquire music and how they digest it is very different. It’s a different world from even a few years ago. People just don’t buy records anymore. So, the way people get music out now it’s all on digital media. So, we’ve had a lot to learn in the last few years. We’ve had to change our approach for how we do it all, but, ultimately, the one thing counts is being able to play live.
When you released your last album, I don’t think Twitter or even Facebook would have been a part of the conversation for promoting the record.
Exactly, you’re right and now it’s prevalent, it’s everywhere you know. I don’t particularly do that much accessing of it, but that’s what people do. You have to take that on board when you’re doing stuff. Your media and your marketing people are very aware of it, but, as I said, social media and all that stuff on the Internet is great that people get the connection. But the thing that is more powerful than all of that stuff is still playing live.
When it comes to the record, has the evolution of technology over the years changed the way that you make your music?
Well, we’d love to still be able to record on to tapes – you know a magnetic tape. I think people forget that music, when you listen to it, you’re streaming or downloads – you’ve got music as 0’s and 1’s – it’s all code. Whereas, in the old days when we listen to CD’s or put out a vinyl, you have that magnetic post going on – it was a different thing. Technology is great, because you can edit and put things together from some of your demos. With this record, there’s a lot of elements of demos and recordings that we did that we managed to put in to the proper recordings that we’d done later. So, they’re useful with technology now you know.
Awhile ago you recorded ‘Lovely Rita’ on the Sgt Pepper compilation, and you went back and did it on the four-track as well. How was it going back to that sort of technology?
Yeah it was a few years back. That experience for me personally, I still play drums on other people’s records now and again, but there’s nothing better than actually having the limitation of four, eight and sixteen tracks because what it means you have to, as a band, is actually perform all in one go and capture a great take. It’s like playing live – you don’t get to play the same song three or four times until you’re happy with it, you have to get it right the first time. So, there’s an extremely enjoyable thing especially trying to think of the parts that the Beatles played on that particular song and how they played them. It’s a lot more to it, you know – they have a feel and a sort of style and you’ve got to try and incorporate that, but also put a bit of yourself in just to give it something a bit more tangible.
Francis Healey went off and recorded a record with Paul McCartney while you guys were laying low.
Yeah, he did some bits and bobs. Actually, Dougie, Andy and myself – we did some recording together and I went and played a couple of records. But ultimately everyone was thinking about when we were going to get back together. We were going to need songs so, all through this period, we just needed a break I think – you have to have a bit of space to cool again and then when you come back to being on the road and playing – you’re refreshed, and you’re ready for it again.
What did those first shows feel like? You played T in the Park last month.
Yeah, that was phenomenal. T in the Park was a religious experience almost. Scottish audiences are fantastic and we hadn’t played in front of that many people in Scotland for a long time, so the tent was absolutely rank – we had to close it off and they wouldn’t let anybody else in. We went down really well, we played a great set and played a couple of new tunes, so yeah it was good.
Your songs are consistently good. How do you keep up that consistency over such a long time?
Oh it takes time. You’re right it’s got to be consistent and you can’t bring out shit music. We’re continually getting together and jamming and rehearsing and the guys just brought in some ideas. There’s a lot of other stuff as well that didn’t get used – if you get out a full record with 10 or so tracks then you’ll probably have to throw away 20 as well. So, it’s a labour of love, you have to put that effort in – it’s got to be better than the last thing you did otherwise there’s no point in doing it. So, that’s really the answer to the question. It’s always going to be difficult. So, quality control is something I think that Travis have always had I think.
We may have a trademark melody thing, but we’re always trying a lot of ideas, but some of the songs on the record have got different feeling and textures under there with programming of the sounds that we used. And part of that was the producer,Micheal Ilbert, he’s a fantastic man. He got the essence of the band from seeing us live and got us playing like that in the studio, but also gave it more of a produced approach. It’s not just there for the sake of it. So, I think you’re right, the tracks there are very strong and there’s a lot of different layers to the record.
It’s a very classic record in the sense that there’s very much a beginning, middle and end. Was that something you worked in the studio to create?
Yeah, you want a running order that is an evolution – it takes you on a journey. Sometimes, I think, with bands the record company is actually the guilty party with the way they set the record out. But it felt it felt like the way the album is set out feels natural and that’s working with these people – there coming away saying ‘wow. That was cool’ and you don’t look at the clock, you know. But quickly forty minutes passes by and you want to put it on again. But we just hope people enjoy and want to go back to the start and play it again.
You recorded it in some interesting places, Germany and Norway.
Yeah, we wrote and recorded stuff for the album and got the songs in shape and we were in New York a few times and Berlin. So, over an 18-month period we would hop around and spend a week or two doing stuff, but then when we met Micheal we found a studio up in the north of Norway on an island called Ester. And that just seemed to be a perfect place with no distractions and we got on with the job. That was a great period last November and then we had some more material and we decided to go to Micheal’s place were he works in this epic recording studio in Berlin called Cancer. It’s quite a famous places U2 recorded there and that was really great. We had four or five songs that kind of came at the last minute, almost, but we recorded them very quickly and it gave the album a bit of a boost. And you can hear that energy, almost, on a couple of the tracks, so it’s good.
Looking at the album cover, logistically, is that you guys standing there in the distance with the sunset?
Yes it is. That was a sort of view out the window of the studio at sunset and that was quick interesting – always very exciting.
How did you get that shot?
Yeah, I think we had the have the phone on speaker with the photographer and once he’d got the lens focused up, he was like ‘right jump now!’ and we did, so it was good.
And there are some cows in there.
Yeah, I think we’ve got a bit of a Pink Floyd look. We use cows quite heavily because we’re always at the countryside.
You’re a drummer, so I have to ask you the question I ask every drummer, and that is: what’s your favourite percussion instrument?
Well, apart from drums and cymbals and snares. I play all kinds of stuff. Quite recently I played drums for someone and I had to play a Motown tambourine all the way through the track. I think I got it quite quickly. I did two or three takes of it, but at the time I was fighting a massive blister. And I thought ‘I don’t really like playing the tambourine very much.’
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Where You Stand is released next Monday, 19th August 2013, in standard and deluxe editions.
