Mogwai

Glasgow

Stuart Braithwaite and Dominic Aitchison met in April 1991 and formed Mogwai in 1995 with their schoolfriend Martin Bulloch. The name comes from the creatures in the film Gremlins; Braithwaite has said it has no significant meaning. John Cummings played guitar from the start, Brendan O'Hare, formerly of Teenage Fanclub, played keyboards and guitar in 1997 only, and Barry Burns joined in 1998. Their debut single, "Tuner" with "Lower", came out in February 1996, on Chemikal Underground.

Mogwai Young Team came out on Chemikal Underground on October 21, 1997 (the release table gives October 27 for the UK) and reached number 75 in the United Kingdom. It was recorded in the summer of 1997 at MCM Studios, now Gargleblast, in Hamilton, produced by Paul Savage and Andy Miller, and the band had written only three songs before entering the studio. Come On Die Young (1999) reached 29, and Rock Action (2001), produced by Dave Fridmann, reached 23.

Albums and soundtracks

Later albums include Happy Songs for Happy People (2003), Mr Beast (2006), The Hawk Is Howling (2008, their first with no vocals), Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (2011), Rave Tapes (2014, number 10), Every Country's Sun (2017), As the Love Continues (2021, which reached number one in the United Kingdom, won the Scottish Album of the Year and was Mercury-nominated) and The Bad Fire (January 24, 2025). They left Matador for Sub Pop in 2010 and started their own label, Rock Action, whose first release was the live Special Moves.

They scored Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006), The Fountain (2006, with Clint Mansell and the Kronos Quartet), the French series Les Revenants (2013), Kin (2018), ZeroZeroZero (2020) and Black Bird (2022). John Cummings left in November 2015. A documentary, If the Stars Had a Sound, directed by Antony Crook, premiered at SXSW in March 2024 and reached UK cinemas on November 19, 2024.

On stage

Setlist.fm logs 1,508 setlists. Their 20th anniversary shows in June 2015 included two nights at the Roundhouse in Camden, and on June 2, 2017 they played all of Every Country's Sun as a surprise set at Primavera Sound. Alan McGee called Mr Beast probably the best art rock album he had been involved with since Loveless, and Douglas Wolk compared them to Slint in SPIN in 1999. Their influences include Sonic Youth, Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, Slint and Neu!. Braithwaite's autobiography appeared in 2022.