Interview: Mogwai go poppy and proud
Mogwai release ‘KIN: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ this month. The album accompanies the forthcoming sci-fi/crime drama directed by Jonathan and Josh Baker, starring Jack Reynor, Zoë Kravitz, Carrie Coon, James Franco and Dennis Quaid. Cherry Anna Brearley spoke to Barry from the band:
Hello Barry. How are you, what’s inspiring you right now?
HI! I’m well thanks! The band are in Glasgow at the minute, which, climate-wise, makes a nice change from the sweltering heat of a Berlin summer. I live there, but Mogwai are back together again here in Scotland working on a brand new project, for another film, which is really exciting.
Oh woah, so your feet haven’t touched the ground for a break since completing the KIN score and soundtrack! Can you elaborate a little about the new project…?
Hahaha… No, unfortunately not, good try! Of course, it’s all under embargo at the moment…
Can’t blame a girl for trying. Regardless though, starting on another film fresh off the back of finishing your first Mogwai-only movie score, and prior to that, the world tour… sounds like a huge amount of energy’s powering the Mogwai machine right now. I’m supposing you can tell us loads more about KIN, though. How did Mogwai’s involvement in KIN come about?
Hahaha, Yeah course I can answer that one! It was really flattering actually, the two brothers, Jon and Josh, from Melbourne, were working on the film, and originally shouted out to us asking if we’d like to be involved, just because they were huge fans of ours. We started a discussion, took a look at the script, which we all really liked the idea of, and then things just sparked from there, really. That was all earlier this year, whilst we were still touring.
You guys are sounding tight – I was lucky enough to have my eardrums absolutely blown into the middle of last week witnessing one of your live performances in March. How long did writing the score and supportive singles, ‘Donuts’, and ‘We’re not done’ take then?
Let’s see…
It was April to August of this year, yeah.
What! That’s incredible that you managed to write the whole thing in such a short space of time. I would have assumed it would take ages, way longer than a studio album, given that you’d have to work with so many other teams on the film to make sure it was both sonically and, in terms of fitting the cinematography, perfect?
We had a great relationship with John and Josh Baker from the get-go, and really saw eye to eye on a lot of the ideas for the score. They let us have a lot of free reign, creatively speaking. We’d all been reading through the script whilst still on tour, so we came to the studio with a lot of ideas already formed in our heads, which luckily happend to gel well with the ideas the boys had had. It was just really fun. There wasn’t really much we locked horns with any of the teams involved about really, quite lucky considering it was our first go at doing a feature film score all on our own as a band.
I saw the trailer for KIN and listened through a few times to ‘We’re Not Done’, the supporting single that rolls through the end credits. It’s kind of Mogwai-ey, in terms of sound, production, but actually seems a bit more… well… less like a cold stormy Scottish mountain than some of your work….it’s a bit more hopeful sounding…
…You mean it’s a bit more poppy? Yeah, it is a bit more poppy, you’re totally right, really quite different from the usual Mogwai sound. But we’re actually really pleased about that, and proud of it too. The stuff we’re working on right at the minute, for the new film I can’t tell you about yet, is way, way more depressing, so it was cool to work on something a bit lighter, with lyrics and everything!
It IS actually a little more poppy. But I didn’t want to say that and risk being at the mercy your wrath – Mogwai’s usual deep, dark serious sounds scare me a bit, and I thought you might be a bit scary too.
‘HAHAHA!’
I have to say, I’m surprised yet delighted by just how goddamn jolly you’ve been throughout our little chat. I honestly thought you’d be terrifying. Thank you so much for taking the time, Barry.
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Mogwai’s KIN: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be available August 31st via Spunk Records in Australia and is available to pre-order now – https://SpunkRecords.lnk.to/
KIN is in cinemas Thursday 30th August
Interview by Cherry Anna Brearley.
