Mogwai
Mogwai (/ˈmɒɡwaɪ/) are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwai typically compose lengthy guitar-based instrumental pieces that feature dynamic contrast, melodic bass guitar lines, and heavy use of distortion and effects.
This article is about the Scottish post-rock band. For other uses, see Mogwai (disambiguation).
Mogwai
The band were for several years signed to Glasgow label Chemikal Underground, and have been distributed by different labels such as Matador in the US and Play It Again Sam in the UK, but now use their own label Rock Action Records in the UK, and Temporary Residence Ltd. in North America.
Mogwai's tenth album, As the Love Continues, reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart on 26 February 2021.
Soundtracks and other work[edit]
In 2006, the band provided the soundtrack to the film Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, with the soundtrack album released the following year.[43] The band's songs "Auto Rock" and "We're No Here" were used in Michael Mann's 2006 film Miami Vice. The band also collaborated with Clint Mansell and Kronos Quartet on the soundtrack to The Fountain in 2006.[44] Mogwai are also featured in the 2009 post-rock documentary Introspective.[45] The band donated an exclusive track to the PEACE project in April 2010 in support of Amnesty International.[46] In 2012, the band provided the soundtrack for the Canal+ French TV series Les Revenants (broadcast as The Returned in the UK). The album, Les Revenants, was released on 25 February 2013.[47] The track "Kids Will Be Skeletons" was featured as part of the soundtrack of the story based video game Life Is Strange.[48]
In 2015 the band supplied the music for Mark Cousins' documentary Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise.[49] The soundtrack was reworked and released as Atomic on 1 April 2016,[50] through Rock Action Records.[51][52] The band carried out an extensive live tour of Europe and Japan performing the soundtrack against a backdrop of the screening of the film, beginning in Austria on 1 May 2016. They then announced a North American tour of the album for January 2017.[53] The band also co-wrote the score to Fisher Stevens' 2016 documentary film about climate change Before the Flood. The score was performed and written by Mogwai, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Gustavo Santaolalla.
In 2016 Braithwaite took part in a documentary about Glasgow music, and Chemikal Underground Records, called Lost in France. The film was directed by Niall McCann and brought Braithwaite (along with members of The Delgados, Franz Ferdinand and others) to Mauron, Brittany, to recreate a gig they played just after Mogwai had formed. The film features Mogwai live, as well as footage of Braithwaite playing Mogwai tracks solo and interviews with Braithwaite and his old label-mates such as Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand), Emma Pollock (The Delgados) and Stewart Henderson (The Delgados). It premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival to positive reviews and was called "Funny, vital and sobering" by Scotland's arts magazine The Skinny.[54]
In August 2018 Mogwai released the soundtrack for the movie Kin,[55] and in May 2020 the soundtrack for the 2020 Sky Italia & Amazon Prime series ZeroZeroZero.[56] As an extra Mogwai released in 2014 their own whisky brand, a year later they tried out a (limited edition) spirits brand of rum.[57] In July 2022 Mogwai released the soundtrack for the Apple TV+ series Black Bird.[58]