Radiohead may have more commercial success and critical accolades; Sigur Ros might write prettier, more easily recognizable tunes. But if you told me Mogwai is the most influential band on the face of the planet, I wouldn’t argue. They’ve been around for 16 years and released seven full-length albums, basically perfecting their brand of epic, effects-drenched post-rock, to the point where "Mogwai" and "post-rock" are virtually synonymous.
So their relevance in today’s indie and alt-rock worlds is as omnipresent as ever. On February 15, Mogwai released Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, quite possibly their most well-rounded, full-blooded album since their acclaimed days in the early 2000s. Glide recently got the chance to speak with Stuart Braithwaite, the band’s guitarist/very occasional vocalist, between rehearsals for the band’s upcoming UK tour. Along the way, we touched on the recording of the band’s new album, chatted about the Mogwai legacy, and got to the bottom of their perplexing new album title.
Hey Stuart, could you talk a little about the genesis of the album and the recording process this time out?
It was probably this time last year that we started writing songs. We’d been touring a lot for the last record. At the same time, we were working on our live film. We don’t all live in Scotland—Barry lives in Germany; John lives in America. So we just started sharing the demos we’d been making in the house, and it just kind of worked out. We wrote a bunch of songs, then in the summer, we got together in the studio, recorded it, then mixed the record. It was pretty straightforward, really.
How does Mogwai write a song in 2011? Specifically, how did you write songs for this new album? Was it a result of jamming or more song-based composing? Are things different now than they were when you were starting out?
I think this record was a bit different because we’d been apart—usually, we do get together and just play the songs through and just kind of work it all out, but with this one, I think was a bit different because of that. With this one, we didn’t jam so much; we demoed the songs before we got together, so it was really a case of getting better at them instead of working on them from scratch.
Speaking of hilarious/intriguing (and I know you get questions about this a lot), but is there any particular method to titling an instrumental song? You do get a lot of attention for your amusing song titles, but the ones on your new album are especially amusing. Are there any funny stories behind a title like "How to be a Werewolf" or "You’re Lionel Richie"?
With the Lionel Richie one, I actually said that to Lionel Richie! I saw him at the airport when I was really hungover, and I was pretty surprised to see him! So I was like, "Oh, you’re Lionel Riche!" Then I told the band, and they were really amused. That was a real life idiotic statement from me. With "Werewolf," when that song was being demoed—well, I always have the BBC page up on the internet, and it must have been Halloween because they had this instructional thing about how to dress up like a werewolf, and it was just called "How to be a Werewolf." I wrote that in as the song title, and it just kind of stuck.
So do you just have a big list of possible song titles and just pick and choose them when the mood arises?
Yeah, especially with our third and fourth albums, we really didn’t have song titles, and I remember that we were really stressed out trying to think of song titles for Happy Songs for Happy People and Rock Action. After that, we felt, "Let’s just write everything down, and we’ll get there." Since then, we’ve been very conscientious to write everything down.
Connected to that a little bit, tell me about the album title. When I first heard it, it almost scared me—"Did Mogwai go in some crazy new direction?"
(laughs) Well, a lot of things come from things we hear people say. And that came from this young guy we came across. A guy in a store wouldn’t sell him alcohol, so he yelled that at him. "Hardcore will never die" is like a saying here, but it’s not to do with hardcore punk—it’s about hardcore techno (or "happy hardcore"), which you probably don’t even have in America. It’s really awful music. But yeah, this guy was just yelling this at this shopkeeper, and we just thought it was quite funny.
You’re obviously a mainly instrumental band, but whenever you do have a song with a lyric or vocal presence, even if it’s a sample, how do you decide when a song needs lyrics? Do you have certain songs that simply need lyrics, or does it depend on whether or not you have anything to say lyrically?
I think we can usually tell from the song. Some of the songs we’ve done, like "Cody" or "Secret Pint," are more like real songs, whereas other ones like "Travel is Dangerous"—that was going to be instrumental, but we just decided to put vocals on it, and it worked out really well, so it just depends. If a song starts out as a "normal song," which is quite rare, or if it just doesn’t sound finished, then we’ll try other options.
"Mexican Grand Prix "uses a lot of vocoder to great effect. Obviously, since you’re mainly an instrumental band, your occasional lyrics (like in "Mexican Grand Prix") are often obscured, functioning texturally—like another instrument. How important are lyrics in music, and do you pay attention to words in other artists’ songs?
Yeah, totally, of course. I mean, the reason we don’t have a lot of singing is because we’re not good singers and we don’t write a lot of words, not because we think music is better without lyrics. Of my favorite records, probably 95% of them have lyrics, and the others are probably classical or electronic records, to be honest. But with "Mexican Grand Prix," that didn’t have lyrics; it just had a computer sample. But our friend Luke (Sutherland) came in, and he wrote lyrics, and it worked out brilliantly. He obviously heard something in the song that we hadn’t heard! But yeah, lyrics are usually important in other people’s music! (laughs)
With the new album, is there a representative track for you or one that you’re especially proud of?
You know, I’m actually really fond of the whole record, but the first song really sums up the whole record quite well for me. It’s very melodic and also kind of optimistic—not that I think it’s a particularly optimistic record, but a lot of our records have been pretty bleak, so by our standards, it’s quite optimistic! So I think the first song kind of embodies what we were doing with this record quite well.
Like you said, there is definitely a bit of brightness behind this album than perhaps some of the other ones. Do you think there’s any reason?
Well, personally, I had a horrendous year last year, so I don’t know. It’s hard to say, but I agree—the tone of the album is a bit lighter than some of the others, but I don’t know why.
What do you think of younger bands like Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Ros that are so clearly influenced by your work? Have you ever recognized your influence in a band’s work and been embarrassed?
(laughs) No, I’ve never been embarrassed or disappointed. I think when you make music, influencing other musicians has to be one of the biggest things to aspire to. All the musicians that I look up to have influenced my music. I’m quite open and honest about it. I’m disappointed by some bands that have clearly been influenced by us but are not open about it. I know Explosions in the Sky are totally cool, and they are really nice about our music. They were open about listening to our records a lot when they were starting, whereas some other bands maybe haven’t been quite so forthcoming in talks of influences! (laughs) But I suppose that’s up to certain people. But no, I think it’s fine. I think Explosions in the Sky are lovely people, and their music has completely become its own entity. I think it’s totally possible to be influenced by bands and use that as just a stage to completely find your own feet.
When we first started, there were bands that we were really just completely in the shadow of, and as much as I still totally love those bands, I don’t think the music we’re making now sounds like anything apart from ours. There are a few songs on the new record that are pretty blatantly influenced by Neu! and Harmonia and that kind of thing, but I think our music generally sounds like Mogwai. But when we first started, we definitely had songs that sounded like God Machine or Joy Division or Slint, but I think most bands find their own feet after awhile. No one has much time for music that has no character or originality!
