Interview: Dave Travis talks about being a music promoter

"You hear about these people who say they used to listen to Radio Luxembourg but imagine nobody ever did. But I was one of those people.

"My earliest memory of music is listening to The Beatles on the radio. I'd saved all my pocket money up so that I could buy a transistor. Then I'd disappear under the bedclothes with a torch. I had a little cream earpiece, in one ear. I was six or seven and listening to The Beatles and The Faces and The Move and Procul Harum. No one knew what I was doing."

Those formative experiences led Dave to a career as the region's foremost music promoter. At one stage, he even had a booking with Oasis for £150 – long before they were shipping millions of records. Other gigs followed with Blur, Ocean Colour Scene, The Wonder Stuff, Pop Will Eat Itself and many, many more during a remarkable 30-year career. He was also the man who ran Wolverhampton's Blast Off club for more than 18 years. He made it the second biggest club night in the history of the world, second only to Manumission, in Ibiza, which had more.

Dave was brought up in Cheshire and moved to Birmingham in 1981, after a short stint in Nottingham.

Growing up he developed his love of music listening to the Rolling Stones and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. "I quite liked Gary Glitter, though you can't say that anymore. I liked The Sweet and other glam bands, but I knew they weren't the pinnacle.

"When punk came along, a light went on in my head. I heard New Rose by The Damned. It's a fantastic pop record, you hear the opening drumbeat to that and it's like a train falling down the stairs. After that it was The Sex Pistols and The Vibrators."

Dave started attending gigs in 1976, little realising that he'd never leave. He boarded the rock'n'roll bus as a kid and never got off. He documented those halcyon years on his Pentax camera, eventually earning a stint as a photographer for NME and Sounds.

"I'd been interested in photography since I was five. I used to take my Pentax camera and sell the photos to the NME. I'd buy my ticket then make my money back by selling the photos."

Dave studied art but took a year out in 1981 and moved to Birmingham. "I took a year out from my art course, for a rest: I tell a lie, I wasn't working too hard."

He fell on his feet, earning work from Graduate Records, in Dudley, who'd previously set UB40 on the road to success.

"Bumping into Graduate Records was great. I was taking photos for the music press but I didn't have enough cash so I knocked on Graduate Records' door in Dudley. I had my portfolio and told them I took photos for NME and Sounds. They had a party the next day. That was quite a big job. So I was on my way with them."

Dave started shooting music videos and on one occasion shot a video from the roof of Graduate Records in a single take, before handing over the VHS cassette so that it could be taken to a festival in France. "It's amazing how things have changed. These days, I could do a job 10 times better just using a phone."

He'd already taken an interest in putting on gigs, promoting his first live music in Nottingham. "We'd do gigs to make the money for the videos. You needed a stage, you needed lights and you needed to let people know a gig was on. We'd do it for petrol money and a round of drinks."

He moved into management, working with a Birmingham band called The Man Upstairs. Times were hard and money was tight.

"It was a hard living, really. I bought film, photographic paper and chemicals before I bought food. I had £10 left over to last the week for food. Don't get the violins out, it's worked out okay. I got gigs for bands around the colleges and we'd make sure we'd get a good rider. If we did three shows in a week we'd have enough food and booze to get by."

He started putting on shows at fondly-remembered Birmingham venues like Peacocks and The Triangle.

"I did stuff for Pop Will Eat Itself, The Wonder Stuff, Mighty Lemon Drops, Siouxsie and The Banshees, all sorts.

"I used to take pictures everywhere and I've always been a hoarder, so I kept all the stuff. I'd do twice a week at Burberrys and then put on shows at The Barrel Organ, Irish Centre, Hummingbird, Aston Villa Leisure Centre.

"The bands were people like the Poppies, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, OCS."

It's difficult to imagine a man less likely to make a living as a rock promoter. Dave's father was a PE teacher and his granddad was a road sweeper.

"I've looked into my history and there's nothing. The people before my grandparents were farmers in rural Cheshire. I've looked back to see if anybody was part of the circus but nobody was. Maybe there was a mix-up at the hospital. I don't know what it was. I've just always been fascinated by art and showbusiness."

Dave was the region's foremost player when Britpop struck. He promoted both Blur and Oasis.

"Oasis' agent sent me a demo tape. I stuck it in the tape machine and it was brilliant. I rang Ben Winchester, their agent, saying I loved the band. I said I'd do them anywhere, anytime.

"He rang me to say they were doing a gig with 18 Wheeler at Birmingham University, but the Uni didn't want to do it. I had six days notice. The fee was £50 for Oasis and £150 for 18 Wheeler, plus costs, so it would have been £1,000.

"We knew we wouldn't get more than 40 or 50 but I was up for it. The band decided, sensibly, to wait. So then the next gig was The Jug of Ale with Whiteout, in '93. They were great. OCS came down and we all got talking to Noel and Liam. I gave Oasis an extra case of lager, an old promoter's trick. It oiled the wheels. We did the Wulfrun and Edwards with them. By then, all the promoters were waking up to them. We did shows all the way up to NIA."

Dave now has his own art gallery. He spent 16 months in Harbourne and is embarking on a move to Birmingham. "I'm lucky. I do what I love for a living. If you're creative, you just can't stop. You do it because you love it."

Andy Richardson