photo: Stefan Ruiz

"It's not like it's us, at all. It's so removed that you can almost pretend it's your favorite band you're checking out," beams Travis' front man, Fran. He can't quite get his head round what's happened to the band in the last few months but he's clearly over the moon.

Fran is the singer/songwriter segment of the band, which along with Dougie Payne (bass), Andy Dunlop (guitar) and Neil Primrose (drums), is Travis. Their talent and traditional ensemble of rock instruments has seen them become one of the UK's most successful guitar-based acts since the Stereophonics. Their most recent album The Man Who, its Radiohead-esque instrumentation spiced up with catchy choruses and melodies, has recently passed the 300,000 sales mark and knocked popsters Boyzone from the number one spot. These modest, unaffected guys are incredibly keen to wow Japan.

"I'm really excited - I've been told so much about it by other bands, seen things on TV, and spoken to Japanese fans on the web page - they're really nice," Fran gushes. "It's a totally different culture and I'm right into finding out about other people and the way they think. It's just so different." Travis plays three sets of gigs in September in Osaka, Nagoya, and on the 29th and 30th at Tokyo's Club Quattro. "The album's been very well received and we just thought we might as well do a few shows and say hello in person," he adds.

Fran's been preparing for the trip by practicing karate (!) and learning a few words of "Survival Japanese." He says, "A friend of mine is half Japanese and she's taught me a few phrases like watashi wa Francis desu and genki and a couple other things." A valiant attempt. "I think I could get by for maybe an hour with three things and then I'd start struggling." The band has also been warming up Japanese audiences with a one-off live gig for Fuji TV, which was filmed in London last month.

Travis already has a solid Japanese fan base, although they've never visited before. Fran believes that they owe much of that to that gem of modern technology, the Internet. He and the rest of the band often spend hours chatting to fans on their official website, www.travisonline.com.

"The Internet is fantastic," Fran says. "You can talk to people who buy your records. I think a lot of bands don't, but I just love it. When we go on our website we're like fans, just talking to other fans."

Staying in touch means more to Fran than just chatting on the Internet - he has even been known to personally drop in on Japanese fans who've come to see the band in the UK. Fran explains.

"One Japanese fan, Aiko her name is, came all the way to see us play at Tea in the Park [an annual event in London's Hyde Park] and to see us play in Scotland. When she was in London we went down to her hotel and knocked on her door and she absolutely shat herself. She opened the door, went 'Urgh' and instantly closed it - you could hear her inside going 'Oh no,'" he laughs. Aiko finally emerged, and they took her out in London as well as let her watch the editing of one of their videos. Aiko told the band members all about Japan, showing them the Japanese magazines they'd been in. Always giving the fans a great show also comes top priority on Fran's list of Customer Care Procedures - and that's what fans can expect at the Japan gigs.

"We've got this thing about quality and about people who come to see us paying to do so," Fran explains. "When people are paying money you've got to give them your best show. We always say before we go on, this is the last show we're gonna play - cos it could be, so you've gotta play it like it is. The only thing you can do is give it one hundred per cent and hope that's good enough."

I'm genuinely impressed. He's modest, sincere and utterly down-to-earth. In fact, Fran's so normal that he too gets star struck meeting famous people - forgetting that he's one, too. He says he still feels the need to get a cheesy "me with celeb X" photo to show his mates and fans - on the forthcoming "Fran Meets The Famous" web page!

"I've never been an autograph person but I like photographs," he says. "Anytime we meet famous people and we've got a camera, I've gotta get my photograph taken with them." He's incredibly proud of the album so far, adding, "We've already got Mr Blobby (big pink, spotty UK TV show, erm, blob), Tatiana Ali, the Cartoons, Gay Dad and loads and loads of other famous people and they're all dead nice." (Apparently Mr Blobby smells badly of old damp clothes.)

Fran and his crew are parading round with Mr Blobby and the celebrity A-list (well, almost) and, the best thing is, they don't seem to have noticed. Fran says, with characteristic modesty, "I just fell into the band and here I am now. It makes people happy and it's a nice job to do. We'll see how long it lasts." He adds, "It's worryingly successful at the moment."