The New Cue #457 January 13: Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite
"Spiders, MAGA people and the creeping dread of corporate fascism."
Good morning,
You join us today for our first Life & Times interview of the year as Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite takes on the TNC questionnaire and guides us through the big issues, the small print, the signature dishes of his life and more.
Ever since they emerged in the mid ‘90s, Mogwai’s music has dramatically swooped between laid-back and frenzied. Stuart was in the former mode when he spoke to me, Niall, on Friday, horizontal during our chat because he had his poorly dog Prince sprawled over his lap. He couldn’t lie there all day, though – at the moment, his band are in rehearsals ahead of a European and UK tour that begins at the end of this month.
The dates are in support of their excellent new record The Bad Fire, which comes out later this month and is the Scottish post-rockers’ 11th album in a career of consistent brilliance. Mogwai don’t make bad records. They make atmospheric records, epic, imposing records, gripping records, soothing records, but never bad ones. The Bad Fire is one of their more up and at ‘em efforts. As the title suggests, something seems to be alight in their bellies.
The album arrives just shy of 30 years since they formed in Glasgow in 1995, but Stuart says they may park any anniversary celebrations for a year – next year will be the 30th birthday of their debut single. “We might kick the can down the road and be a bit loose with the dates,” he explains. “I think the anniversary would be in June, very soon after the record comes out, so it seemed a wee bit weird. I’ve got a slightly complex relationship with nostalgia as well. I’m not crazy about it, I’d rather be doing new stuff. But then again, a band going for 30 years pretty consistently seems something worth having some kind of small party for.”
It was way back in 1997 that Mogwai released their monumental debut Mogwai Young Team but Stuart bats away the idea it’s time to release an album titled Mogwai Old Team. “It seems almost too obvious!” he states. “If we ever make it to 50 years, that would definitely be the moment.”
We’ll hold you to that Stuart. For now, let’s get stuck into the Life & Times questionnaire. And remember, today is a free edition and open for everyone to read, but if you’d like to support The New Cue and become a paying subscriber, then that would be very much welcomed. You can do that here:
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Enjoy the edition,
Ted and Niall
The Life & Times Of… Stuart Braithwaite
What was the first record you loved?
It was a Pet Shop Boys tape, the one that had Suburbia and all those kind of tunes on it [Stuart is referring to their 1986 debut Please]. I really loved it. I also had a disco compilation called Disco 79 that I loved. But I think an actual proper album where the band had entered a studio and recorded 45 minutes of music, it was definitely that Pet Shop Boys tape.
What was the last record you loved?
I really liked the Tristwch Y Fenwod album, which is kind of like Welsh folk goth music.
What’s your earliest memory?
I remember playing in the garden with my sister at my parents’ first house. I must have been about two. There was a really hot summer and I remember that pretty vividly even though I was tiny.
What’s your daily domestic routine?
It’s mostly based around my dog. He’s got three legs, and we live in a house with quite a lot of stairs so there’s a lot of carrying the dog up and down to go outside to the toilet and get his breakfast and stuff. Right now, it’s also go to band practice from 11 till about five, with a lot of gaps for talking nonsense and trying to work out how equipment works and gossiping about other bands.
Who or what is the love of your life?
My wife Elisabeth [Elisabeth is sitting next to him as he does this interview]… OK, my wah-wah pedal. No, I’m only joking!
What's your worst habit?
I’m pretty severely ADHD and I don’t know where anything goes, so putting things in the kitchen in the wrong places probably.
When were you most creatively satisfied?
Right now. I’m really proud of this record and we’ve just done a soundtrack I’m really happy with, so right now, I feel in a pretty good place.
What’s your desert island disc?
Low by Bowie. It’s pretty solidly my favorite album. I’ve oscillated between lots of records over the years but it’s one of those records where I hear something new every time I hear it. I know a lot of it was done off the cuff, which makes it even more special. I love the playing on it, the songs, the weirdness, everything about it.
Has anyone you’ve ever met made you feel starstruck?
I’ve maybe been a little bit shy meeting some people, maybe for a minute, but really no, because everyone’s just a person. I’ve been excited to meet people. The first time I met people whose music I grew up liking, like Robert Smith or Trent Reznor, my inner child was going, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m talking to this person’. But after a few minutes, you realise everyone’s the same and it’s no different than someone you talk to every day except they’ve been involved in some cool stuff you’ve grown up with.
Who or what is the greatest influence on your work?
It would be someone like Iggy Pop, someone who’s a lifer. I’m drawn towards people who aren’t doing it just for the sake of making some money or getting some kind of status or whatever. You can tell the real people and someone like Iggy who invented a genre of music but is still driven to play and make new records at an age when most people would have long since retired. Iggy or Dylan or even Robert Smith, people that are just like ‘This is what I’m doing, and I’m gonna do it till I drop’. I’ve got a lot of time for that.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
I don’t know, I’ve released an autobiography so people probably know more about me than my family members. I was very unfiltered writing it, I puked my guts onto the page. I probably realised that I was a bit more of a mess in my younger years than I ever really thought about, because I’m Scottish and we don’t really dwell on things. I probably did learn a few things about myself. One of the nice things about my book is it ended up being a lot about my dad. That wasn’t a plan, that was just something that happened. It reinforced what a big influence my dad had been on me.
What are you scared of?
Spiders, MAGA people and the creeping dread of corporate fascism.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
I’d go back to the sixties to see the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Anytime I meet someone who saw them, it’s like talking to someone that’s been abducted or something. The music is just so incredible and because it happened before I was born, I almost can’t believe it ever happened. That was Robert Smith’s first ever gig, seeing Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight when he was a wee boy. I think it was Hendrix that first really got me excited about the electric guitar. Funnily, I went for the getting crazy sounds out of it aspect, rather than the becoming perfect at playing it aspect. But that’s what I would do if I had a time machine.
What do you wish the 18-year-old you knew?
How much property prices would increase. That’s a very Tory answer! I don’t really think anything because I think that discovering things is one of the fun parts of life. I’ve not lived a mistake-free life, but I don’t think any of my mistakes have been things that are irreversible. I’d probably just leave me alone to learn from all my mistakes.
What one book would you recommend our readers read?
I really love John Higgs’ KLF book. Since I’m pretty sure your readers are music fans, that’s one that’s probably my favourite music book of the last few decades.
What was the home you grew up in like?
It was a lot of fun. My dad was a telescope maker and a lot of his friends are quite eccentric. We lived in the countryside so that he could get a good view of the stars. There was always lots of cats and dogs. It was chaotic, but a lot of fun. My sister is a big music fan - that’s how I got into music - so there was always lots of interesting records. It was a nice time.
How do you spark creativity?
You just do it. This is something I’ve learned over the years, that there’s no on and off switch, but the on switch is more likely to be productive if you’re actually sitting making music or writing. You just lock out some time and make things and if they’re not good, to try again the next day. Maybe that’s what I would tell myself when I was 18, although when I was 18 that’s all I did so it probably wouldn’t have made any difference.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
My mum told me not to take heroin before I went to my first music festival, which is pretty funny as I was 14, it was an unlikely thing I was gonna do. She also told me not to eat processed meat.
What’s your greatest regret?
I’m always getting shit for bringing this up by my band mates but we once declined an offer to play with Lou Reed. I guess this kind of goes back to earlier when I was talking about doing new things. We had the studio booked to make a record and we would have had to postpone that, and now obviously he’s no longer around and is one of my favorite musicians of all time, it seems like a missed opportunity.
What’s your favourite film and why?
The Exorcist. I love horror films and that film scared the hell out of me. It’s also a really incredible film, the acting in it, the directing. I love it.
Can you cook? What’s your signature dish?
I wouldn’t say I’m a brilliant cook but, yeah, I can cook. I like Indian food and I’m a vegan so I make a pretty good daal.
Which living person do you most despise?
I’m gonna have to go with Elon Musk. I can’t think of a more pathetic individual, he’s so clearly not been invited to parties and he’s taking it out on the world. He’s such an embarrassing, pathetic specimen of a human being.
What talent would you most like to have?
Organisation.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Being in a band that’s made 11 albums!
ND