Name: NEIL MAXWELL PRIMROSE
D.O.B: 20/12/1972
P.O.B: CUMBERNAULD, GLASGOW
Starsign: PISCES
Chinese Horoscope Animal: RAT
Feng Shui Number: 1
Marital Status: WIFE, EASTHER, WITH ONE DAUGHTER, LOLA
Position in band: DRUMMER

A gentle giant with a giant hairstyle to match, the former Scotland C-Class swimmer and Schuh employee is as enthusiastic about drumming as he is with the hairspray. Fran once said, "You could chop his arms off and his head off and he'd still want to go up and play". Neil, the eldest member of the band, became interested in drumming from a friend, Ronnie, who used to drum in an Orange marching band, and from his role model, Levon Helm of The Band. He met fellow band member, Andy, in their band, Running Red, which later metamorphosed into Glass Onion and met Fran through the shoe-selling business. Always game for signing things and being in photos, I once told him that a picture of him on page 95 of the Travis biography "Closer Every Year - The Story of Travis" looked very much like Jez Quigley, the drug dealer who killed Tony Horricks in Coronation Street, which Neil smiled and burst out laughing.

Name: ANDREW THOMAS DUNLOP
D.O.B: 16/03/1972
P.O.B: GLASGOW
Starsign: PISCES
Chinese Horoscope Animal: RAT
Feng Shui Number: 1
Marital Status: WIFE (?), JO
Position in band: LEAD GUITARIST

The former NHS glasses wearer (he told me he wears contacts these days because his glasses kept flying off everytime he play on-stage - if you've seen him play live, you'll know what I mean) grew up in Lenzie, near Glasgow. Before meeting Neil in the band, Running Red, Andy was in a band called The Flumps, a "heads-down thrash band", which was not surprising, seeing that his record collection was made up of metal bands such as ZZ Top and AC/DC, one of Andy's faves. Always coming across as shy when the band are interviewed, Andy, when talking to him one-to-one, is actually very chatty and funny. I went to get most of my Travis memorabilia signed when they were at TFI Friday performing "Coming Around" and I kept going to Andy when the boys went outside in between filming and interview breaks. This bemused Andy a lot, prompting him to say, "Oh no, not you again (!) How much stuff have you got?!" (it was two big promo posters, five magazines, my Travis gig ticket and photos of the boys on a previous meeting).

Name: DOUGLAS WILLIAM PAYNE
D.O.B: 14/11/1972
P.O.B: GLASGOW
Starsign: SCORPIO
Chinese Horoscope Animal: RAT
Feng Shui Number: 1
Marital Status: CURRENTLY DATING KELLY MACDONALD OF TRAINSPOTTING FAME
Position in band: BASS GUITARIST

Like Andy, Dougie is the son of a bank manager (by coincidence, Andy's and Dougie's fathers were old pals who lost touch but were reunited when Travis were doing a gig supporting Beth Orton). His first musical memory was of those 1970s tartan teen sweethearts the Bay City Rollers (apparently, his two older sisters used to make a young wee Dougie perform "Bye Bye Baby" for their entertainment) but one of his sisters used to play him David Bowie, thus creating the musically well-rounded person he is today. Never camera-shy, Dougie is always smiling and ever ready for a chinwag or a photo.

Name: FRANCIS HEALY
D.O.B: 23/07/1973
P.O.B: STAFFORD, STAFFORDSHIRE
Starsign: CANCER
Chinese Horoscope Animal: OX
Feng Shui Number: 9
Marital Status: FIANCEE, NORA
Position in band: SINGER/SONGWRITER

The "baby" of the band, Fran's childhood was less as simple as his fellow band members. "The result of a shite relationship" Fran once mused, his parents broke up a year after he was born and his mother moved herself and baby Fran back to her childhood home of Cathcart, Glasgow, to live with her parents. His mother bought him an Encore acoustic guitar for Christmas when he was 14 and the seeds were sown to create one of the most important songwriters of recent years. Always a pleasure to talk to, I managed to apologise face-to-face for the "lightsabre incident" and give him a Felix the Cat toy as a gesture of how sorry I was (he said, "It's okay, thank you!").

TO TRAVIS INDEX
TO HOME