Mogwai don't really do lyrics and they don't have a message… but they still have fun making music
after 13 years forging their unique epic sound, guitarist Stuart Braithwaite tells Anna Millar
'OH AYE, very pleased," announces a grinning Stuart Braithwaite, as he ponders the response to Mogwai's latest album. "Someone said it was like the soundtrack to a knight slaying a mythical dragon. I liked that. There should be more fantasy in music journalism."
The Hawk Is Howling, the latest album from the post-rock purveyors of some of the decade's most dramatic instrumentals and textured melodies, has already enjoyed plaudits for its "intense" and "majestic" creations. Those unfamiliar with Mogwai should think of an early, edgy Joy Division fused with a present-day Sigur Ros, inflated with enough drama and emotion to fill a football stadium.
Fresh from a tour of the US and enjoying some time at home with his wife and two dogs, Braithwaite concedes that 13 years on, Mogwai are still trying to stay true to the ethos that first inspired them.
"Looking back, there was this sense of community and a real DIY ethic in Scotland, with bands like Teenage Fan Club, Delgados and Arab Strap on the scene. Folk were starting their own labels to get their music out there, instead of waiting for A&R guys to turn up at their gigs. That independent spirit was really something, you know."
The Mogwai sound was a "relative no-brainer" says the guitarist, who is quick to point out that while the music may appear "serious and laboured" the process is not. "From early on our vocals weren't as good as the bands we liked, or the music we made," Braithwaite says between sips of his coffee at record shop-cum-bar Mono in Glasgow. "So we opted to not use many lyrics. In fact, even though each album takes over a year to make, only six weeks of that is in actually recording; the rest of the time, it's just a group of guys playing some instruments and seeing what happens."
Only days away from the next leg of their touring schedule, which finds them first in the UK and then Asia, Braithwaite is enjoying the quiet life, eating potato scone rolls ("many") and listening ("a lot") to Radio Scotland. But when they tour, it's not with the tartan flag flying. "There are no cultural references in our music, really. We could have come from anywhere. It has a mood of Scottishness rather than a sound of Scottishness."
He admits that, as jobbing musicians, there is a pressure to tour a lot in order to keep Mogwai's name and music fresh in an increasingly competitive market. "I could name 100 bands that I think are amazing that no one ever gave a shit about," he says quietly. "We play a lot. It's quite rudimentary. The number of bands that say: 'Oh, we never sell records in Japan,' and I think: 'But have you actually been there?'"
After half a dozen albums, Mogwai have seen more than their fair share of the world and more than the occasional controversy. First there was the stand-off with Britpop band Blur in the late nineties, when they were pitched stage-to-stage against each other at a music festival. Mogwai had 'Blur: Are Shite' T-shirts made up as part of their merchandise. "They sold well," laughs Braithwaite. Then there's their love of all things Celtic; the track from their latest album, 'Scotland's Shame', a not-so-subtle reference to Rangers supporters. "The song titles are ridiculous and shouldn't be thought about too much, y'know. People assume because the music is quite serious there's something more there, that we have some message. We don't."
In last decade Mogwai tracks have appeared on a variety of television and film soundtracks – Vanilla Sky, Miami Vice, Torchwood and Sex And The City to name a few, but it was conceptual artist Douglas Gordon's art-house documentary Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, about French footballer Zinedine Zidane, that allowed them to create their own film score for the first time. "We were just really happy to be asked. The concept amused us; it was really vague and obtuse, and a few of the band are really into football, so it was perfect," Braithwaite recalls.
It was produced in just two weeks, between gigs, and later reworked to create an album, and Braithwaite admits they had no idea how much success the film would achieve. "I remember thinking that it would be shown for an afternoon in the GFT (Glasgow Film Theatre], so the sheer scale of it came as a bit of a surprise."
If the band are keen to do more film work, they certainly aren't seeking it out. Indeed, Braithwaite admits with a notable degree of nonchalance that the band was sacked from a film last summer, although he doesn't seem to recall much detail of the production. "It was a South American film. It was the guy's first film and I don't think he quite understood the process. I think the film's out and it bombed.
"They never paid us, so I'm glad the film failed."
At the moment, touring has quelled the potential for anything else, he admits. "There have been vague things mentioned. There's a film being made in Scotland, I can't even remember the name, about Vikings (it's called Valhalla Rising, and stars Mads Mikkelsen] and we were in talks about that; it sounded pretty cool but we just aren't here at the right time." In the long term, though, he does admit he would love to work with David Lynch or Lars von Trier.
In the meantime, he can make do with his number one celebrity supporter, Ian Rankin, who loved Mogwai so much he even made Inspector Rebus a fan. "What can I say?" says Braithwaite with a laugh. "My mum was impressed."
Just as Rankin is throwing acclaim at the Mogwai cause, is there anyone Braithwaite would rally support for? "It's funny, you know. We were in the States recently and it's all Palin this, Palin that. The woman is an imbecile, but it was fascinating seeing the reaction to that, and interesting seeing how it works over there, how musicians and film stars have got behind the election. If I was an American musician, I would be too."
So what about throwing his hat into the ring over here? Braithwaite laughs. "Yeah, I do have a strong opinion: I think that Scotland should be an independent country. But I don't think that the Mogwai Independent Scotland concert is going to make any difference whatsoever."
Which is not to say he wouldn't lift his head above the parapet on occasion, particularly in the wake of Glasgow's new status as a Unesco City of Music. "All these things add up," he says after a pause. "From what I can tell, there's a real sense of trying to bring the infrastructure back to Scotland. There's a lot of talent and a lot of bands up here, but the publishing and the master rights for the bands are still largely down in London. It's about bringing the ownership into Scotland. In the meantime, Mogwai will just keep doing what they enjoy most.
"It's an old musician's cliché when you say that you make the music for yourself, but that's what we do," he says as he gets up to leave. "We still love to do it, and as long as we're enjoying it, then long may it last."v
• Mogwai play the Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Tuesday. The Hawk Is Howling is out now
www.myspace.com/mogwai