I came out of a personal storm

Fran Healy has had an emotional few years.

His marriage fell apart, one of his best friends died of cancer, and his band Travis fired their longtime manager who had worked for him for over two decades.

“It was like being in a storm and thinking you might drown,” says the singer.

“Then it clears up, because that’s life, and this record comes out the other end. When I say it’s the most personal record the band has ever made, it’s because it’s steeped in all that stuff.

“It’s like whiskey. I’ve been soaked in all this crazy stuff and I think it shows.”

Healy speaks as he sips tea, nothing stronger, in an upscale Glasgow hotel, back in the city where his band was formed – a group that is currently releasing its tenth album, LA Times.

The singer – currently with hair as orange as Irn Bru – is used to weathering what he describes as “seismic changes” in his life and turning them into material for his songs.

The Glasgow quartet’s groundbreaking second album, The Man Who, was inspired by a series of similar experiences, from the death of his grandfather to what he describes as “being kicked out”.

This album and a legendary, rain-soaked performance of Why Does It Always Rain On Me? at Glastonbury In 1999, the group catapulted itself into the top league of the music world, followed by arena gigs and chart successes.

However, the LA Times arguably goes even deeper than before. The track Alive celebrates the life of her friend Ringan Ledwidge, who directed the videos for the band’s hits Turn and Coming Around. He died of cancer in 2021 at the age of 50.

Both “Home” and “The River” are about watching your own children grow up. Healy’s son Clay is now a teenager who goes to art school in New York and has formed his own band.

Hanging over everything is the end of Healy’s marriage to his wife Nora. The separation actually influenced the writing of the band’s last album, 10 Songs, but only now does the songwriter feel able to talk about the end of the relationship.

“One day we looked at each other and it was as if we both sighed,” he recalls.

“I thought, ‘This just feels…’ and she said, ‘I know.’ When you’re parents, you’re not quite friends and you’re not quite lovers, you’re parents.”

“We both realized that our bond hasn’t changed, it’s exactly the same – we just don’t live together anymore.

“Nora is still my soul sister because I’ve known her forever. It’s just that a different kind of relationship has developed.”

Other relationships also run throughout the album, from Healy’s feelings about Los Angeles (a “tough city to live in”) to the group’s decision to fire their manager after 25 years – a decision made because they felt management no longer “loved” them.

“That was one of the most empowering moments we’ve had in recent memory. It reminded me of how I took control of the band from the beginning and said, ‘This is my fucking band, I’m its leader.'”

This refers to the time when Travis abandoned his previous name Glass Onion and lost the group’s two founding members after Healy decided to replace them with bassist Dougie Payne.

Since then, the band’s line-up has remained unchanged and has experienced both highs – such as chart-topping albums – and lows – such as drummer Neil Primrose’s broken bones.

“You’re not quite friends, you’re more than that, but you’re not quite brothers,” Healy muses.

“Instead, you’re in the middle of it. When we come off the stage, we’re very close, like a football team that’s been together for 30 years. That’s very sweet and very rare. When you’re in a band, it’s like being in formaldehyde because it keeps the vibe in the same place.”

Staying in the same place is not exactly Healy’s thing, having previously lived in London and Berlin.

The singer says he may follow the same path as his son and leave Los Angeles because he “doesn’t feel at home anywhere.”

But living in LA has its perks. Both Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and Killers singer Brandon Flowers live nearby and were persuaded to provide vocals on Raze the Bar, a song about a famous New York bar that has hosted many rock singers over the years.

A quick message to Flowers, a long-time fan of the band, prompted his assistance with the two bands’ joint tour earlier this year.

Healy dryly commented that when comparing their styles, the Killers were “a rocket flying high and we are a submarine beneath the surface”.

When he asked for advice at the LA Times, he called Martin and eventually got his support for the record, although their first meeting in LA was a shock for the Coldplay singer.

Healy said: “Chris is an old friend – we used to come and visit him and Gwyneth when our children were babies and then we lost touch a bit when I moved to Berlin.

“A while ago I dropped Clay off at a gig and I didn’t realize it was Chris’ son’s gig. I pulled out of the parking lot and saw Chris walking across it with Dakota (Fanning).

“So I rolled down the window, put on the biggest Glaswegian accent I could manage and shouted, ‘Hey, you!’ He jumped like a bolt of lightning.”

The good-natured Glasgow spirit is still present in Healy, for anyone who has seen her cheerful secret set at TRNSMT would testify.

And then there was their recent bus tour through the city, where they stopped frequently to perform songs.

It’s a playful joke that the singer will hopefully never lose.

“I identify more as a Glaswegian than a Scot,” he said. “We did the Quay sessions at the BBC the other day and it was like a greenhouse there.”

“So, I’m sweating with the lights on. After about 40 minutes, I went outside to get some fresh air and a little guy walked by with a cigarette.

“He just looks at me and says, ‘Boy, you look like I’ve just pulled you out of the Clyde.’ That’s what you see here.

“I love taking this with me everywhere I go.”