Independent record label Chemikal Underground will reissue special editions of Mogwai's first two albums, the band's 1997 debut Mogwai Young Team and its follow up, 1999’s Come On Die Young.
Their first record was recorded in Glasgow, in what was soon to become Chemikal Underground’s own Chem19 studios, by label owner and The Delgados’ drummer Paul Savage. The sessions were, by the band’s own admission, “turbulent, disorganised and hastily mixed”.
The band recorded the album in a chaotic whirl of creativity, shaven heads, adopted pseudonyms, gang tattoos and distortion pedals. It became their declaration of intent.
Guitarist and songwriter Stuart Braithwaite says both records have been remastered but the band has resisted too much digital tinkering with the original recordings. "We've joked about doing a George Lucas and altering them but we will leave them as they are. I always think records belong to a certain time and you can't change that. I was surprised how well they've stood up.
"I think we're probably at the point now where a lot of people who know the band were very young or maybe not even born when those records came out. It's nice to think that they will be new to a lot of people as well. The records have not been available on vinyl for a long time, that format is back in a big way so it's nice to go right back to the start."
Mogwai have chosen to reintroduce themselves after their tenth studio album, As the Love Continues, released last year, became their most successful record to date and their first UK number one album: "It's been strange but great, we've had a remarkable couple of years" he says.
Stuart had an opportunity to examine the origins of Mogwai while writing his recent book, Spaceships Over Glasgow, a music biography. "I remember the first album was actually quite stressful to make. We had written a bunch of songs when we started the band, released them as singles and then decided we didn't want any of them on the album.
"It was quite a fraught experience, we had to be quite inventive and come up with a lot of it in the studio. We had learned from our mistakes by the time the second album came around, we went completely in the opposite direction. We rehearsed and rehearsed everything.
"We travelled to upstate New York to record it and that's a really strong memory, making the second album was one of my favourite things we've done as a band."
Working with a Scottish label was important at the beginning. Stuart says: "I think Arab Strap and The Delgados and bands before them had proven it was possible. We're a Scottish band so it made sense to make things happen where you live rather than moving away.
"Look at the music industry in Scotland now and there are labels doing brilliantly, we have our own, Rock Action. It's fantastic to see and it fits with an appetite for physical music outside of the streaming culture."
Mogwai play the Barrowland Ballroom on 22 and 23 December, a place that's wrapped up in Stuart's own relationship with music: "I know a lot of bands from outside of Scotland feel the same way but it means something to me because I've seen some unbelievable gigs there and we've played some of our best shows. It's a special place."
Both albums will be released on 10 February 2023 on coloured vinyl with the remastered Mogwai Young Team album also being released on CD and digital formats. This feature is from Best of Scotland magazine.
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