Dougie Payne (born Douglas Payne, 14
November 1972,
in Glasgow,
Scotland)
is the bassist
and backing
vocalist of the Scottish
rock
band Travis.
Payne was born in the south side of Glasgow and was a student
at the Glasgow School of Art where he
met the singer
Francis
Healy; at the time, Payne had never played a guitar before.
They teamed up to form Glass Onion (named after a Beatles
song), later
renaming themselves Travis. Originally Payne was not part of Glass
Onion, which featured two other members, but when they left he was
asked to play for the band. When asked, Payne had never
touched a bass guitar in his life; for weeks he refused to do it, until
finally, he agreed.
Although he is better known for his bass
guitar playing, vocals and chirpy grins in his many photo shoots, Payne
has written
songs of his
own. Tracks
such as "The Score", "Know Nothing" and "Good For Nothing" were all
penned by Payne and have featured as b-sides
on the band's more recent singles. Payne also sings lead vocals
on some b-sides, for example "A Little Bit of Soul", the reverse flip
of "Flowers in the Window", and
also "The Distance" from Singles. He has also written
the song "Colder" which features on The
Boy With No Name. Payne also played bass on much of the Divine
Comedy album Victory for the Comic
Muse.
Payne is a supporter of Rangers FC. He has been married to actress Kelly
MacDonald since 2003. He was a member of the 28th Glasgow
(Giffnock) Scout Group in his youth. Payne also attended Woodfarm High
School, Thornliebank.