Talking Shop: Fran Healy

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Exclusive performance of the new Travis single

Glasgow indie rock band Travis have returned to release their sixth studio album, Ode to J Smith, and embark on a UK tour.

Since their debut album Good Feeling was released in 1997, the band have headlined Glastonbury and twice received Brit Awards for best album.

Travis front man Fran Healy speaks about being friends with Chris Martin, admiring Katy Perry and recording their new album in two weeks.

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Travis were initially called Running Red, and later, Glass Onion

Who is J Smith?

He's a fictional character, used as a device to write this record. Parts of him are based on my own experiences projected onto a character. We've always come from a Joni Mitchell-style confessional school of song-writing. But this album takes more of a Bob Dylan perspective.

The album's very definitely guitar-led - heavier like your first album Good Feeling. Was this a conscious decision to move back towards an electric sound?

It was accidental. We were coming back from South America and I lost my amplifier. I was sent another amp, which was very loud. My regular guitar didn't work on it so I had to use an old 1956 Jazzmaster. It sounded loud and amazing so I wrote a lot of songs using it.

Songs like Last Words and Song To Self have such a strong melody - a strength of yours as a song-writer. How did you develop this?

I've always been quite good at melodies since I was a little boy. But sometimes you think you've written a classic and you've ended up writing Stairway to Heaven again.

This is your sixth studio album. When you started did you think you would achieve this sort of longevity?

Well, I always wanted to make 12 albums. We're at six o'clock now.

Why 12 albums?

It's a nice round number. Twelve hours in the day, 12 months in the year, 12 Travis albums.

So you are halfway there. Where do you go next?

Travis headlined Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage in 2000

We've never had a map. It's like at the beginning of your career you get dropped off in the Amazon and you have to find your own way home. It's an eye-opening adventure we're in the middle of.

You recorded the album in two weeks. Why did you decide to do this?

Our bass player Dougie was becoming a father and we needed to make the record before that. We didn't want to lose momentum from the last tour.

You recently played a live cover version of Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl. What's the story behind choosing that track?

We hadn't felt the need to do a pop song since we covered Britney Spears. But I like Katy Perry's attitude. She's a sassy girl. I thought it would be a bit more racy if you changed it into a song about a gay man who's having doubts about his sexuality.

Do you plan to record it?

We played it for live and on a radio station so far.

With albums due out by big bands including Oasis, Keane, The Killers and Snow Patrol over the next few months, are you worried about the strong competition?

They're the current crop of big bands and you can't really compete with bands that are on the crest of a wave. When we were on the crest of our wave we were knocking Oasis off the top of the album charts. So I'm not worried about that now but I think we can give them a run for their money in terms of the music.

What was it like being in Travis when you first became really successful, with the album The Man Who reaching number one?

It was amazing but so intense and busy, you can't really take it all in. We were really young. I was only 25. And we were inside the eye of a hurricane.

In 2006, Travis campaigned for the Make Poverty History movement

Are there any new bands that you particularly admire?

I'm really happy for how the Kings of Leon are doing so well. They've done it in a very traditional way. They're on their fourth record now and they're finally having number ones. We've known them since they were young men with beards. Now they're where they should be.

How did you become good friends with Chris Martin?

We know each other from the circuit. We share many passions and we're also young fathers who had our sons around the same time.

What do you admire in him?

I've never heard him say a bad word about anyone. It's very refreshing in this business. He always wishes people well. He's very positive. That has a lot to do with how big they are.

You now live in Berlin. How does it compare to other places you lived?

It's a cool, important city in the history of the world. It's very forward thinking and laid back. It feels a bit like New York might have felt in the early '80s.

When Neil, your drummer, broke his neck, you took time off while he recovered. A lot of bands would have carried on performing with another drummer. Why did you choose to take a break?

When Neil had his daughter, we brought in another drummer for a couple of weeks. He said it was like watching someone else with his wife. So with Neil on death's door when he broke his neck, we decided not to continue. We're like a family. There's a more important story to the Travis story than our commercial success.

Ode to J Smith is released on 29 September. Fran Healy was talking to BBC News entertainment reporter Andy Dangerfield.