Photo by Steve Gullick

STEPHEN SAYS: “It’s all right that. It’s my favourite of the lot. I’d want to listen to the whole thing without interruption. At the moment my favourite Scottish bands are Travis and Runrig but I really like this as well.”

Never knowingly understated, Mogwai’s manager Alan McGee is running around town saying things like: “Honestly mate, no word of a fucking lie, the new Mogwai record is going to have the same impact as Loveless did.”

Wow. Pretty bold statement. Does that mean when Mr Beast comes out, McGee’s going to go bankrupt, become addicted to cocaine and then collapse on a flight to New York? Is Stuart Braithwaite going to become a reclusive breeder of Chinchillas and then join Primal Scream? Stranger things have happened right?

Vice: Sorry if I sound like somebody who writes for one of those worthy indie rock magazines that always has Mark Lanegan on the cover, but your new album is so amazing it makes me cry and wet the bed. This is good because the old albums were gay compared to the live shows. What gives?
Stuart Braithwaite: The fundamental point of the band was to make noise. I think we just felt like doing it in the studio for a change. We had some new distortion pedals we wanted to try out.

Okay, well nice one. Have you ever been to Barra? We’re doing a whole issue about Barra.
I have family in Lewis and have spent a lot of time there. It’s a great place, very dark. They’re the first local authority to ban gay marriage. You’re also shunned if you do anything on a Sunday. The Stornoway Way by Kevin MacNeil is an amazing book set there.

What about the Highlands?
I love them. It would be nicer if all the people were still there.

Yeah, it seems like they’re trying to force people out of living in the most beautiful places in Scotland so they can build nuclear waste dumps off the coast. Err, are you still friends with Glasgow scenesters like Franz Ferdinand, or do you hate them now?
We’re still friends though they’re never around. I don’t see them too much. I’m really proud of them, they’re some of the nicest guys you could meet. I didn’t get to see their last Glasgow show as the promoter took my wife’s name off the guest list. Pricks.

Do you keep abreast of local scene developments in Glasgow still? How are you treated by the new kids?
I still see a lot of bands, the scene is really healthy right now. I like Errors (obviously), Park Attack, Fox Face, 1990s, Trout and Scatter. All the new kids are nice to us I think. Certainly to my face.

BEN DOON (WITH PHIL MCCAVITY)
Mogwai’s new album Mr Beast is out on March 6 on PIAS / Rock Action.