By Nathan Cross
Staff Writer

Travis is one of Britain's most popular bands and recently won the Brits2000 Best Band and Best Album awards. Still, the band is virtually unknown in the United States.

Travis recently released "The Man Who," inspired by an Oliver Sacks book title, on Epic Records and will soon be touring with British supergroup Oasis. The band will play this Saturday at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis.

This will be the second major tour for Travis through the United States. Travis toured with Ben Folds Five in the winter of 1997 for seven weeks.

When asked if Travis hoped to conquer the United States, bass player Dougie Payne said, "The idea of conquering America is ridiculous. Music is a beautiful thing. It comes through you. It's not a war; it's not something you can conquer. It's about getting people to sing along."

The most important thing to Travis during a live show is the audience. Payne said, "If the band gives everything and the fan's energy comes back at you, it basically makes it one thing — no distinction between the two lovely feelings of performing and being a fan."

In addition to original songs, Travis has recently started playing the Britney Spears hit, "Baby One More Time."

The idea of playing "Baby One More Time" came about as a joke. Lead singer Fran Healy and Payne were at a British pub one night having some fun drinking and playing songs for a few bar patrons. They jokingly stumbled through "Baby One More Time," and the producer of a concert they were going to play heard it and asked them to play it live at that concert. The next morning was spent learning the tune. Travis managed to pull off the performance and it has been a popular request by concert-goers ever since.

Payne said, "We basically play it to show what an amazing song it is. People forget what a good song it is. (Spears) confused the issue a bit but she did an excellent job of getting the song out to everyone."

Travis is also enjoying the opportunity to tour with Oasis. "Oasis is fantastic. Contrary to popular belief, they are really nice chaps. Noel (Gallagher) is a fantastic storyteller and Liam (Gallagher) is very funny," said Payne.

Travis' respect for Oasis is evident on "The Man Who." The Oasis hit "Wonderwall" is mentioned on two tunes on the album.