Payne was born in the south side of Glasgow, and was educated at
Woodfarm High School. He was also a member of the local
28th Glasgow (Giffnock) Scout Group in his youth. He went on to become a student at the
Glasgow School of Art. In 1994 his friend
Fran Healy asked him to join
Travis, who were called Glass Onion at the time. 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 and backing vocals, 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", from the reverse of "
Flowers in the Window", and on "The Distance" from
Singles. He wrote the song "Colder" which features on
The Boy with No Name and three of the songs from the sixth album
Ode to J. Smith, including single
Something Anything, which is the first Travis single not to be written by Fran Healy. Payne also appeared as a backing vocalist in the song "
Tumble and Fall" on
Feeder's album
Pushing the Senses. == Personal life ==