00:0011th studio album and is this is this kind of is this 30 years this year?
00:07It will be in the summer yeah yeah.
00:12Congratulations on still being at it. I wonder when you arrived into the studio how much of
00:18this was already fully formed and ready to go or how much kind of emerged in Blantyre?
00:23How much is this a Blantyre record?
00:25I'd say I'd say it's a Glasgow record. I'd say we got we got most of it done before we went in.
00:35There was still kind of some parts and some sounds and everything that we kind of worked
00:40on when they were there but the demos were in pretty decent shape and we'd been rehearsing
00:46so yeah I'd say I'd say it's a it's got a it's got a G postcode not an ML.
00:52And do you do you come in and you've got a clear idea of what the running order is
00:57going to be in terms of like the album or like how does it all work then?
01:02We actually almost always record quite a lot more than we need.
01:08Yeah we've actually got like another half an album that we've probably got to try and
01:13work out what we're going to do I think because it's not like
01:16some of the stuff turned out bad it's just that it didn't maybe fit together or didn't
01:21kind of kind of go with the whole mood of how everything else was sitting so no that's
01:27the running order. I'd say the order of how things get done is running order, artwork,
01:33song titles, mastering. So that's it that's the last kind of sprint at the end of the race.
01:43I'd read that you said that Fanzine made a flesh that that started off when you were
01:49kind of you were in Brooklyn. Do you find that like where you are geographically whether
01:54on tour or where it kind of leaks into the music are you kind of influenced by your surroundings
01:59and what you're doing at the time what you're watching on telly what you're listening to?
02:03I think everything does to an extent though I would imagine probably with that it was
02:07more like oh shit why am I on holiday when I should be writing music?
02:10There's a guitar line about maybe I can maybe I can sort of assuage my guilt by
02:19coming up with something. Is there a thread that runs through this record in terms of the themes
02:25you've been thinking about or what kind of brings it all together where the band is in 2025?
02:33Well I was I with a hard record to make because for a few years I was a
02:38hard record because Barry hadn't really been with the band. Barry had went through a really
02:45terrible time his little girl was really sick she was in hospital for most of a year so just
02:51all of us getting together was a bit of a struggle so I think I can't speak for everyone else but
02:58from my point of view it felt like a kind of I don't know a bit of a release just all being
03:04I don't know a bit of a release just all being together making music so I think it's
03:10kind of to my mind got quite a kind of cathartic energy to it and I think there's definitely
03:18kind of themes themes in the music that tie it together of things I was trying and things that
03:24the others were trying to I think. I mean most bands when they're not on tour or they're not
03:31recording in the studio they don't live in each other's pockets they might see each other a fair
03:35bit but you know like there's that kind of sense that you're you're kind of away and you're doing
03:39your own thing. When you get back to when you get back together is there a moment when you're
03:45kind of in the studio and you really think right that's us back that's us ready to go let's get
03:50recording? I mean there was with this one just because we hadn't been together we went to
03:59Australia without Barry which was the first gig we've done without him since he joined the band
04:06so when we got together it did feel kind of like that. I would say it probably doesn't normally
04:12because we're always doing something yeah we're always doing a soundtrack or on tour or something
04:20so we that I can't really think of a time apart from actually the pandemic when we didn't see
04:28each other on a fairly regular basis. See like with the success of the last album and then you
04:36know like the gigs that you played and the new audiences it brought to both the existing
04:42material and like going back through the back catalogue and things and it's been quite an
04:47exciting four years for the band you know like I mean and you know to reach 30 years and feel
04:52like you're kind of starting out on something rather than just going through the motions and
04:56you're not you're not a legacy band you know like you're out there creating new music and
05:00new things and bringing new people to the band does that feel good? It feels great it feels
05:05really good and quite a few people have asked about if the last record Do So Well brought
05:11pressure but I actually kind of think it released pressure because it kind of made me think well
05:17we've got like a lot of support people are people got really excited about our last album then
05:23it kind of made me not worry so much about how this one would do. As times went on I've started
05:30worrying anyway but I think that's just my my general nature but I think yeah I think definitely
05:40it gave us a bit of a boost. What would you consider the maximum amount of words that should
05:45be in a song title? I lost you for a second there Paul can you can you repeat that sorry? What do
05:54you think is the maximum amount of words that should be in a song title? Oh I don't I don't
06:00think there is a maximum. Just how much you can how many words you can fit on the line? I suppose
06:08you could you could go mental couldn't you? You could have like every single line from James Joyce's
06:14Ulysses as track four but yeah I guess I guess that it would cause some problems printing but
06:22no I think you could have as many as you want I mean they all get abbreviated then even ones with
06:27two words get abbreviated to one so I guess it doesn't matter that much. Is there any of these
06:34tracks that you're particularly looking to unleash live you know like I've talked to you before about
06:39albums and sometimes there's a particular track that you really are looking forward to getting
06:43out there? Yeah I mean we've been rehearsing we're doing all of them so but I think maybe
06:49the louder ones like High Chaos and If You Find This World Bad you should see some of the others
06:56those those those are the loud ones I think will be a lot of fun to play but I think it's
07:00all sounding all right it's all sounding good. 30 years in you're a different band to
07:09the stages you are in your life. Do you find that like the things that you're thinking about in terms
07:17of the emotions and stuff that you're investing in your music and I've talked to Aidan who's a
07:24fellow of yours from Arrowstrap about that he's kind of embraced his grumpy old man era and he's
07:30quite happy to kind of like let that kind of seep into his work but you know like is there different
07:37things that you're thinking about that is there different places that the music's coming from now
07:41that you're you're a bit older in life? You know I don't think so I mean I'd probably be different
07:46for Aidan because his music's always very specifically about his life whereas ours is
07:52more abstract so to be honest I kind of I don't I actually think that it's very similar to how
08:00well it was when we used to practice in Martin's bedroom in Blantyre to be totally I mean yeah we've
08:07just never left Blantyre that's the that's the bottom line. Yeah all around the world and brings
08:14you back to the same places. What about this the kind of the soundtracks elements do you feel
08:25that that's going to still be part of what worldwide does like being open to projects
08:29and things like that? Yeah I mean we've actually done one since we finished the album which I don't
08:36think I'm allowed to say what it is but it's the kind of thing that everyone everyone will probably
08:42get a chance to see so yeah I think it's just great to be able to to keep making music and
08:49kind of apply what we do to a kind of different different medium. Yeah I mean I guess if we keep
08:57doing it depends if we keep getting asked but yeah we've done another one so at least one person
09:04Yeah so that you said that this album and getting together and kind of there was a bit of a release
09:10through the music and it was quite a cathartic experience after a lot of challenges and stuff
09:14like that that's something you know like music helps people, music people would have been walking
09:19around at different stages in their life listening to Mogwai as a soundtrack as a back backdrop to
09:25things through challenging times is that something that you think is a very you know positive aspect
09:31of great music that they can have that effect on people? Absolutely like that's I don't know if
09:36you've seen the documentary that Antony Crook made but that in his Mogwai film the last part
09:41of it is people specifically talking about that about our music kind of helping them you know
09:47get through hard parts of their life in one case extremely hard and it's the I find that quite
09:58emotional to be honest and and it's maybe something that I hadn't thought about too much
10:04but I've kind of maybe because we've we've had a we've had a hard time that's kind of resonated
10:10quite a lot during the period of making this this record definitely. Someone once asked Alistair
10:19Greig you know you could live everywhere you could be you could be creative anywhere why do you live
10:25in Glasgow? Why does the band stay rooted to our place? It's mainly the weather
10:39I don't know I think we just we just feel at home here you know. Yeah that was a good
10:44answer as well. Yeah we're kind of part of the kind of music community you know like
10:51feel kind of uh quite supported but also it's just correct it's quite an inspiring place there's an
10:59awful lot of talented people around here you know and if you're kind of around other talented people
11:03you're kind of in that mindset you know most of my friends are either involved in the arts in some
11:11way or they're creative people who make things and and yeah who's to say that wouldn't be the
11:19case if we lived somewhere else but if we all lived somewhere else it would certainly make
11:23band practice a bit of a pain in the arse. Yeah there was yesterday there was a there's a kind
11:31of list that comes out every year by time out of best cities in the world Glasgow was one of them
11:35and it specifically mentioned the music scene and the fact that that makes us a more you know like
11:41a better place to live and but you know like we want we want you know like young bands to
11:48to want to come here and we want creative people to to feel here and I suppose part of that is like
11:54being a city that's that allows people to go on and get their first stage you know like you can't
12:00just jump from King Tut's to the Hydro you have to move your way up and in your experience is that
12:06like a really important part of what Glasgow is as a city that if you have an idea you can find
12:10a stage and you can get things going. Yeah yeah yeah and I actually think that's it's one of the
12:18things I thought was so sad about the 13th note closing because that's such such an important
12:23place. I've heard rumors it might reopen which I hope it does but that was such an important place
12:29for us to play numerous times to get better at what we were doing and I think that to be honest
12:37Glasgow still has other places too like there is definitely a kind of a really good ecosystem of
12:44that's very successful in all kinds of music not just the kind of stuff we do but like
12:50places for people to get opportunities to to work to work on their work on their their
12:57their music and get better and better and in some cases kind of breakthrough which is really great.
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