Mogwai: "We are going to be ok, it’s the younger artists I’m worried about"

It may not have been long since we spoke with Barry Burns about Mogwai’s recent release, "The Bad Fire", but their upcoming concert in Greece was an excellent opportunity to also talk with Stuart Braithwaite. In the midst of their European tour, Stuart spoke to us about the new sounds, the live performances, collaborations and soundtracks, as well as all the issues that concern him regarding the direction of today’s music industry. Just before their appearance on October 9 at Floyd, enjoy the always musically and interpersonally intriguing Mogwai and lose yourselves in their sonic intensities.

We are speaking today here with Stuart from Mogwai with the opportunity of the band coming back to Greece in a live show in October. So how are you, Stuart? I will begin the conversation with you being in Lausanne during the tour.

Yeah, yeah, I'm very well. Yeah, just enjoying still being out on tour. We've got like another three gigs, then we're home for a little bit and then yeah, coming out to play in Athens. So we're looking forward to it.

The response has been really good from people

Right, that's amazing. So we had a few words in the beginning of the year with Barry right after the release of your new album. How is the audience now feeling it through the live shows? What is the response you see? Because you had some good response in the charts and reception.

Yeah, it's good. We're still playing a lot of the songs on tour, which I think is always a good sign that shows that we're certainly still really happy with the record. And yeah, I think the response has been really good from people. So yeah, we're enjoying it.

Nice. So regarding your thought process of the latest album, you had many new ideas going in, and it was pretty interesting and a little bit more straightforward than the-- I thought that the previous record, "As the Love Continues", was more sentimental, as the title suggests, and the "The Bad Fire" is more in your face, what situations guided you to change a little bit the approach.

I don't really know. I mean, it felt like quite a live album to me. We recorded it quite quickly, most of the time with us just in the room, just playing the songs. John Congerton, the producer, was very like, yeah, had a lot of energy and just wanted us to kind of just kind of express ourselves quite quickly. And yeah, so it felt like a very live album to me.

All right so speaking about live albums I think that a very interesting element about the band in general is the fact that you've been playing all of you for a long time together there hasn't been much member changes in the lineup of the band. So how does this actually work for your onstage experience? Because it looks like you are the same person.

Yeah, I mean, no, it is. And even Alex, who plays live with us, he's been playing with us for 10 years now. So it means if we want to play an old song, You don't have to teach someone the song. We just kind of have to try and remember it. So yeah, it's good fun because you get really used to playing with people and spending time with people. And yeah, I'm really happy that we've managed to stay so consistent over the years.

Okay, and regarding your live shows here, you have been in Athens quite a few times the latest years, some live shows in club shows and some others in open air festivals. What do you actually prefer to play, festivals or club shows?

I'm just happy to play anywhere, to be honest. Like, both can be really good. Sometimes both can be not so good. So yeah, I'm just happy playing music. I think maybe push come and shove a headline show because you get a sound check. That's probably the big hit, the biggest difference. Sometimes at a festival, you only get a sound check if you wake up at 7:00 in the morning or something. So yeah, that's probably just tips it.

I just quite like music to feel physical

And another amazing thing that I really like and enjoy about your shows is that, sometimes bands that work in your field of sounds, they like to play pretty mellow, pretty low volumes. But you, on the other hand, are always so loud, so in the face of the audience. Why do you prefer this louder noise?

I just quite like music to feel physical. It's actually a funny subject because you're not allowed to be very noisy in this venue tonight, so it's been quite tough for us. But yeah, I think we just quite like the music to be kind of physically felt. Yeah. And so much of the music we grew up listening to, like Sonic Youth and Michael De Valentine were bands that played really loud and Dinosaur Junior and just always felt really, really important.

It's, it's coming from a strong shoegaze and fuzzy background.

Yeah, absolutely.

So, okay, since we're speaking about that, where is your favorite, your favorite gear using right now?

Yeah, I really like the game changer plasma pedal, which is like a kind of a distortion with like a little kind of, I don't know, a piece of electricity inside it or something. I like that. And I always love my big distortion pedal and I just got a new guitar back. I keep forgetting the name of it. So yeah, I've got a nice new guitar, but yeah. Fairlane, I think. No, that's the bike. I've got a bike that's got the same name as the guitar. I can't remember. So yeah, I got a new guitar. It's really nice.

So it was nice to have a new one. I mean, yeah. Well, let me, what is that? So this time you had the chance to work with John Congleton for your new record. How was that cooperation for you?

I really enjoyed it. Yeah, he's a really funny guy and very passionate music fan and he's from a similar background to us. We know a lot of the same people and yeah, it was it was really easy, actually really easy guy to work with.

When people will try and make music for a specific genre, that's kind of when it tends to go stale

Yeah. Actually, I wanted to jump into the fact that I find it very interesting. I never thought that you were an exclusively post-rock band because this is the term that characterizes bands of your generation. But you were always incorporating something more harsh and more electronic in your music overall. But in general, I think that we experienced with you and many other bands of your sound and generation and net of very, very strong releases for 10 years. Post Rock was like a genre of music that was going very strong for a few years. But then suddenly, something changed. Bands that didn't do something very different, they couldn't keep on going. Where exactly do you see this specific term or terminology if you want of sound going these days? And are there any new artists that you think they're doing something forward?

Well, yeah, I mean, I mean, I don't know about that kind of genre particularly, but there's loads of great new artists and artists making interest in music. I think I think there always is. I actually think when people will try and make music for a specific genre, that's kind of when it tends to go stale. I think it's better when people just try and express themselves and not worry about what type of music it is, that's when things are more exciting.

Okay, do you have any artists that are kind of new in the scene in general and you like them as their sound?

Yeah, I mean, we're on tour with a great artist just now, Kathryn Joseph. Her new record is really, really, really brilliant. I really loved the last Burial record. I thought that that was probably my favorite song of the year so far. And yeah, there's always some good stuff.

It was interesting. I was thinking about Burial when he was taking some notes for the interview today. So it's interesting to mention him. Well, you are a band that has experienced through the years many different eras of enjoying music because, you were here since the 90s, you went through zeros, tens and now today. Do you think that instrumental music is surviving strongly in an era of social media and streaming going wild and people not listening that much to whole albums?

I think so. I mean, we're doing OK. I mean, I don't know. I don't know about other. I don't know about other bands. I think people seem pretty instrumental music, like kind of see like Nils Fram or John Hopkins or these people doing really well. fortet is like playing stadiums or whatever, I think people are pretty into instrumental music. I think that it's maybe a bit of a kind of antidote to do like three minute songs, people kind of want a break from that sometimes.

Yeah, but it sounds to me more like from the examples you're giving that it's more like electronic music that's surviving a little bit more instrumental rock music. Is it as strong as it used to be?

I don't know if it was ever that strong. I mean, I don't know. I'm trying to think who's the... I don't really know. I don't really care. I do. If I'm being honest, like I just, as long as people are making good music, I don't really care. If it's if it's like acapella music, I'm happy or it's... It's just some drum machines. I'm happy as long as it's good.

Yeah, I see that. But I also really like your approach that you generally approach vocals more like another instrument in the music rather than lyrics and just a vocal performance overall. How do you choose when to incorporate vocals?

Usually you can just kind of tell the song will seem pretty traditional and like it would fit a normal vocal. I mean, we use vocoders as well, which is sort of like halfway between an instrument and a normal singing part. So yeah, it's never a hard decision. It always seems to make sense, although it's quite difficult to describe.

OK. But another thing that you work a lot on are actually soundtracks. And you have done very interesting works throughout the years, especially from the pandemic. And after you've done, I think it's four different albums that are soundtracks. So what's your relationship with television and cinema? And how do you choose where Mogwai is the proper artist to write music for that project?

I mean, it's something we enjoy doing, and it's very different from just making our own music, and I'd say... we choose, if we like the idea of the project, because you don't want to be associated with a bad movie or a bad TV show, but also the people, the people involved, because you have to work alongside the people. And I think that's something that we definitely take into consideration if there are people that we would like to collaborate with.

The bombing of Pan Am was a very historic event. And we also remember it

Right. And later this year, you released the music for a project like that about the miniseries, "The Bombing of Pen Am", which is like a very catastrophic event that happened in the past. So what led you to want to write music about something so strong but so important also?

It was a very historic event. And we also remember it. We're old enough to remember it happening. It happened not very far from where we grew up. So yeah. And the director, Michael, was a really nice guy. And yeah, it made a lot of sense. We'd never really done anything very Scottish before. And the show is based in Scotland. So yeah, it made sense for a lot of reasons.

Yeah, it was kind of like a tribute back home. Okay, I see that. So you're also, I noticed that this year you're actually 30 years a band. Yes. Do you have anything special in your books for the tour or for a release, maybe?

Maybe, maybe we're thinking about it just now, but I think we might cheat and... extend the anniversary to next year but yeah I mean yeah next year we'll still be 30 this in the 30th year of the band but yeah yeah I think we're going to do something but right now we're just concentrating on the new album.

Okay so what we should expect on before we speak about the new album what we should expect on your remaining live shows are you going to do are you going to go a lot back because of the 30th anniversary? Are you playing a lot of songs from the past?

It changes every night. I mean, sometimes we play. Yeah, yeah. Tonight we're playing loads of really old songs and then sometimes we'll play mostly quite new ones. It just depends how we feel. So yeah, it depends.

Okay, so you don't really have a structure, the story about where to focus.

Well, we're definitely playing four or five new songs every night. So we're definitely putting quite a lot of the new songs into the set.

I actually really remember our first time we played in Athens because I remember the gig was sponsored by EasyJet and there was a big EasyJet poster behind us

So I remember actually seeing you guys back in... I actually have still in my room the poster from you playing here back in 2011. Do you recall any of those past shows and how do you feel about your evolving as a band?

I remember them a lot. I actually really remember our first time we played in Athens because I remember the gig was sponsored by EasyJet and there was a big EasyJet poster behind us. So it was kind of funny. And yeah, that was when we were first using laptops and I think the laptop kept crashing. But yeah, it's somewhere we've always enjoyed playing. People are very passionate about music in Greece and yeah, somewhere I like to visit as well. It's a great country. So yeah, I love it.

I actually remember it in this live. You were closing the concert with Glasgow Mega Snake. And I always had the question, where were you inspired the title? What is the Glasgow Mega Snake?

Yeah, that was just like a joke, kind of like the Loch Ness monster, but in the River Clyde. So that was just a silly joke.

We are actually planning a collaboration just now, but... I'm not going to give it away

Another thing that I want to ask is that I haven't really seen you do many collaborations throughout the latest years with any artist. Is this something that you are planning to do or something that you...

Yeah, we are actually planning one just now, but... I'm not going to give it away, but we're planning a very exciting one. But yeah, I'll keep it quiet until it's actually completed.

Okay. Can I ask an additional question of whether that would be a song or an album or a bigger project or?

No, just a song. But yeah, that's something we're working on just now.

How do you feel about collaborations? Do you prefer working with musicians or singers?

But it's cool. I mean, we've had some like Griff Reese has sang with us and then we've had other musicians like Colin Stetson, David Paho, Matt Sweeney. We've had some great musicians play with us and yeah, no, I love it. And I've been lucky to play with some other, some of my favorite bands in the last few years, which has been a lot of fun. I played guitar with Pavement and I played guitar with Dinosaur Junior and yeah, it was great fun.

Okay, so Stuart, are you yourself a person that enjoys listening to newer music or do you keep on the classics?

I listen to a lot of old music to be totally honest. Yeah, I was listening to music today and it was like old blues music and like the Kramps and the Stooges. But I like to check out some new stuff too. So probably both, but probably more old than you.

I'm older than I look! But yeah, I would like you, if you want to share like a couple of artists that you appreciate a lot, listening to them this period, disregarding if they are newer or older releases.

I really love the band Belong. I listen to them a lot. Stars of the Leads are one of my favorite bands. I listened to a lot of music from when I grew up, like the Cure and the Jesus and Mary Chain and those kind of bands too. I listened to a lot of Brian Eno records from the 70s as well.

I actually also wanted to ask you about your albums because your album covers I'm sorry because throughout the throughout your whole career there is a jump between actual images of urban pictures and then there is a very colorful artworks or some very cryptic album covers such as some of your earliest works so like who is that person on "Come on Day Young" or the simplistic artwork of Happy Songs for Happy People. And then, yeah, you hit there on landscapes.

That's Dominic, our bass player on "Come On Die Young". Yeah, "Happy Songs for Happy People" was inspired by the paintings on the back of taxi cars in Scotland.

Oh, okay. I didn't know that.

Yeah, the taxi drivers like paint their children's names onto the taxis. So that was the inspiration.

Really? That's very cute, actually. To put it back on track, you sometimes choose, something a little bit more abstract or sometimes you choose your urban landscapes or very, especially in your latest records, very colorful psychedelic even artworks, one could say. Yeah. So this choice, is it related to the music in the album or something that you changed through the years?

It really depends on the artist. Well, we've been using the same artist and designer Dave Thomas for quite a long time. So we'll send Dave the music and he'll come up with some ideas or maybe we'll have an idea like for "Hardcore Will Never Die". We wanted to use one of Anthony's photographs and he worked with Dave. And yeah, it just depends on the record. We just kind of work with artists and see what happens.

I'm not worried about us, I think we're okay, but I worry about newer and Maybe smaller artists 'cause I know it's so expensive like to go and play a concert

OK. So last but not least. How do you feel about the general approach of music from audiences today? I sometimes we're in a very weird era that streaming has taken over everything, but vanilla is selling like never before. And at the same time. Touring is very extensive through the past few years, but tickets have become a lot more expensive and merch has become expensive because stars are all over the place. Are you ever afraid that being a musician is becoming very difficult or do you feel that music survives even though the hardships?

I worry a lot for... I'm not worried about us, I think we're okay, but I worry about newer and Maybe smaller artists 'cause I know it's so expensive like to go and play a concert. People are people are going to so many of these really big concerts and spending hundreds and hundreds of. Hounds or euros and. Going to less small concerts. So yeah, I do worry a little bit. I think people need to support. new artists more than they do.

Okay, so are you actually, inviting more people to play with you, smaller bands to support you?

Yeah, yeah, we always do that. Like Kathryn Joseph's on tour with us. She's like on the bus so she can make money from the tour. But if we didn't have room in the bus, there would be no way that someone could come on tour with us. it's just so hard. So like it's whereas maybe ten years ago they could probably have done it, but everything's gotten more expensive?

Yeah, for sure. And so to not end this on a bad note, let's go for your favorite release of the current year.

Yeah, it's definitely the Burial single. I can't actually remember the name of it, but yeah, that's definitely my favorite record this year.

Okay, Stuart. And well, thank you very much for sitting down and covering our questions. And I'm actually looking forward to see you here. And I will leave this to you to end this on your own note, whatever you want to share, whatever you want to say.

Yeah, just say thanks for the chat and we're looking forward to coming to Athens and playing in a couple of weeks!