Interview, Stuart Braithwaite, Mogwai

Artist: Stuart Braithwaite, Mogwai
Source: Brendan Morgan

A dodgy phone line and thick Scottish accent. Normally I wouldn't bother, but this is Stuart Braithwaite, visionary guitarist and key-member of instrumental noise-mongers Mogwai. ''We're in France yeah, I was expecting your call' says the Glasgow man, quickly dispelling any confusion surrounding time zones. 'The tour's going great. We're having a lot of fun. People have been turning up so can't complain.'

Formed in the mid 90s as the anti-thesis to Britpop's increasingly stale format, Mogwai's seminal debut Young Team was an all out assault of the senses; heaving with vitriolic guitars, terrifyingly beautiful soundscapes and rolling basslines. In the past decade Mogwai have continued to perfect the art of noise, consistently transcending the line between tender sublimity and full-blown rock psychosis in such an intense manner it has proved inimitable. Drop-d manages to catch Stuart before the sonic-orchestrators take up residency at The Academy later this month.

Drop-d:The start of The Hawk is Howling tour was cut short when your drummer had a pacemaker problem in America. Was it disappointing to have the tour cut short just after the release of the album?

Stuart:No worries about that really, if Martin couldn't play he couldn't play. To be honest the problem was fixed pretty quickly and we were back out playing 3 weeks later. We rescheduled those shows for April and May, so all is well that ends well.

Drop-d:Why haven't you played Ireland in few years?

S:No reason, its just the way the schedule's worked out. We played there right at the start when the last record came out and i don't think we've played since, we're looking forward to it but..yeah.. no reason for it in particular.

Drop-d:It's being billed as a mini-Mogwai festival? Any other Rock Action bands lined up?

S:Yeah I think we've got Desalvo on and Remember Remember playing too and I think we're going to be Djing somewhere in the building as well. I think there's going to be a dance-off too so they're a few things happening alright!

Drop-d:Desalvo are fairly full on live, should be interesting?

S:Yeah, I think there going to be a lot of ears sore out there with the vooooice (laughs).

Drop-d:You are fairly concerned about noise level restrictions laws being introduced to the UK?

S:Yeah some places are terrible. In Italy its like 95db which in roughly how loud our drum kit alone is. It's quite oppressive and I'd be very upset if it happened. I think it's part of the whole live experience for us to be loud when we want to be.

Clicky clicky for the rest of the interview.