Since forming in 1995, Mogwai have carved out a niche for themselves in the post-rock scene of Glasgow and beyond. Their songs are often lengthy, mostly instrumental, and characterised by dynamic contrast and ambient soundscapes. Last year, the band released their eleventh studio album, The Bad Fire, a record that features some of their best work to date. Ahead of a tour that will see them stop off at Manchester’s O2 Apollo, frontman and guitarist Stuart Braithwaite discussed the album, as well as the band’s own record label, music festival, and the wider Glasgow music scene.
The Bad Fire takes its name from a Scottish colloquialism for Hell, but the experience of listening to it is far from torturous. “Dave Thomas did the artwork, which is a volcano on fire”, Braithwaite notes. “We didn’t have an album title and that was just a massive coincidence, so clearly there's something evocative about the music that brings about that kind of imagery. The title itself, we just chose it because it was funny, it’s something people used to say to children in Scotland. They’re probably a bit nicer to them now, but it just made us laugh”.
Credit: Dave Thomas / Mogwai
During the process of creating The Bad Fire, Mogwai returned to the place in which the colloquialism originates, making it their first album to be recorded in Scotland since 2014’s Rave Tapes. “It was nice to be able to go home every night”, Braithwaite confessed. “But it's also nice to be away from home too. It was a good experience, me and Barry [Burns, Mogwai multi-instrumentalist] shared a car, being really stupid”.
In addition to the release of The Bad Fire, 2025 also saw Mogwai reach their thirtieth active year. Reflecting on this, Braithwaite admitted “it's quite surreal to be totally honest. It doesn't feel that long ago that we had an event for our twentieth year, and it doesn't feel like ten years since that. I think when you get older seem to pass quicker, but I'm really proud and happy about it”.
Throughout February, Mogwai will indeed be “away from home”, embarking on an extensive tour concluding with a huge show at Manchester’s O2 Apollo. Speaking about the city, Braithwaite cited it as somewhere which has “always been a really important place for us. Manchester music was always very important for us when we started, especially bands like Joy Division and New Order. It has a history to it. I saw New Order in Manchester one time as well, it was amazing”. I'm really looking forward to playing”, he avowed. And, if The Bad Fire is anything to go by, then Manchester should look forward to Mogwai’s arrival too.
Over the years, Mogwai have contributed to various film and TV scores in addition to regularly releasing their own studio albums, notably contributing to Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain and composing the soundtrack for French series Les Revenants. In the process, they have become an in-demand name in the world of soundtracks: quite aptly, given the atmospheric and mostly instrumental nature of their own music. Working on soundtracks, however, is “a bit different, because you're kind of working for someone, so you have less freedom”, Braithwaite reflects. “But we can also try some things that maybe we wouldn't normally do in our own records. I think it's been quite a valuable thing for us to do”.
Shortly after the formation of Mogwai, the band launched Rock Action Records, a label that originally functioned as a launchpad for self-releasing their own material, but has since grown to encompass many other established acts and newer bands too. “It’s good that we get to work with other artists, it’s something I’m really proud of and definitely happy that we did”, Braithwaite states. “It was kind of a leap to go from being on other labels to putting our own records out, but I think the label is in a pretty good place”.
Rock Action Records features an ever-growing roster of some of the best musicians around today, including newest signings Cloth and bdrmm. “I enjoy all of them, but I really love Kathryn Joseph's music, and the new record from The Twilight Sad is great, I'm really excited about that coming out”, Braithwaite says. “And Arab Strap, obviously, they’re one of my favourite bands. Aiden [Moffat, Arab Strap frontman] has been on a few of our songs, we've collaborated loads over the years”.
Both Mogwai and Rock Action have been long-time staples in the Glasgow music scene, helping to shape it while also being shaped by it themselves. “It’s really a community”, Braithwaite affirms. “It’s shaped me as a person. Some of the bands we started with are still friends of ours, like Arab Stap and Belle and Sebastian. It’s exciting too, there’s always new things happening”. New things including Big City Festival, the day festival that Mogwai run alongside Scotland’s longest-running music promoters, Regular Music. “That’s something we're really proud of, and we hope it continues, it's been really good so far”, Braithwaite states.
The line-up for 2025’s Big City Festival included contemporary Irish folk group Lankum, and Gruff Rhys of psych-rock heroes Super Furry Animals, providing an alternative to more mainstream options that exist in Glasgow. “It's a totally different thing”, Braithwaite concurs. “It's weird, though, because when we first started, all festivals were alternative music festivals, and it's just in recent times they’ve become a mainstream thing. And that's cool, there's room for all sorts of different stuff, but it's nice to do something that's a bit more in the tradition of how festivals were when we first started playing them”.
Mogwai themselves have performed at a fair few festivals in their time, recently headlining a night at Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse for BBC Radio 6 Music Festival. Speaking on the support the band continue to receive from BBC Radio 6 Music, Braithwaite says “we're super grateful”, particularly for that headline slot. “I enjoyed that night a lot. We played with a brass band, I thought it was quite a special occasion”. At outdoor festivals, however, “we’ll maybe play a few less quiet songs, since sometimes there's a dance tent or something that can drown you out. Generally, we don't change it too much though. We're just kind of trying to do the same kind of thing”, Braithwaite asserts.
Speaking to Braithwaite just a few days before Burns Night, it was impossible not to ask about his plans to celebrate: “I’ll probably just eat some haggis. Vegetarian haggis, of course”. But looking slightly further into the future, it’s evident that the Mogwai frontman is eager to return to the Manchester stage, stating “we’re really looking forward to playing there”. With an eleventh studio album under their belt, and the ornate furnishings of the O2 Apollo to host them, their show is sure to be one to remember. Which direction the band will take next is anyone's guess, but, with Mogwai, Scottish music is in safe hands.
https://open.spotify.com/album/474vVLzrq9sxOGpQMPHIPq?si=NAljytKgTCqQoadrZIL3oQ
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