Take Me Somewhere Nice – behind the scenes of the newest tribute compilation to post rock mentors MOGWAI

In the twenty-five years since the release of their debut album, Mogwai Young Team, Scottish instrumental rock band MOGWAI haven’t just continued to enthrall critics and fans all over the world – they’ve also been a source of endless inspiration to two generations of musical artists. Now thirteen of those artists have come together to honour their legacy with a collection of brand new covers entitled Take Me Somewhere Nice: A Tribute to Mogwai. We’re thrilled to give you a proper teaser of this amazing release, through a special, in-depth interview with almost all of the artists involved, who sat down with us to discuss their take on MOGWAI’s craft, their contribution to this release, but also their own projects and loads of other inspirations to get your creative juices flowing.

The tribute compilation project started out as a simple “what if?” discussion among fans online, but – thanks to the power of social media – quickly snowballed as artists from around the world seized the opportunity to record their own interpretations of classics from every Mogwai era, from 1996 single Summer (The Glass Pavilion, UK) to 2021’s To The Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth (Non Somnia feat. AtonalitA, Spain/Iran) and Ritchie Sacramento (Million Moons feat. Mikey Chapman, UK).

Contributing artists range from established names like Red Light Skyscraper (Italy) and Grizzly Cogs (France) to brand-new projects like The Wolf of Wyndham (Australia) and Heirloom (Canada); and from heavy rock artists like Herd of Elk (Canada) and Uppergaff (Ireland) to electronic and experimental projects like Our Sense of Time is Failing (UK), Dan McKeown (UK) and Smile Tribe (US). 

12 out of 13 artists featured on the compilation sat down with us to share their thoughts on MOGWAI, this compilation, and give us quick updates on their projects, as well talk about their local music scenes and some other bands worth a check. Scroll down to see the full interview.

Taken as a whole, the album is not just a testament to the depth and breadth of Mogwai’s influence on music over the past quarter of a century; it’s also a snapshot of a global community of artists whose talent and creativity thrive outside the musical mainstream.

A companion album of original tracks by the contributing artists will also be available free on the official Mogwai Tribute Bandcamp page.

Mogwai themselves have been incredibly supportive of this project, for which all the contributors sincerely thank them. All proceeds from sales and streaming of the album will go to their nominated charity, The Wildlife Trusts, in support of its mission to restore a third of the UK’s land and seas for nature by 2030.

Live stream of the full compilation will go live on Saturday, April 2nd at 7pm Glasgow time will be at this location. A Tribute to Mogwai will be released on Friday April 1 on Bandcamp (HERE and companion tracks HERE), and around a week later on Spotify.

Catch MOGWAI live in North America and Europe this Spring and Summer! GO HERE to see the dates.

We’re pleased to give you our multi-artist interview with Grizzly Cogs, Uppergaff, Herd of Elk, The Wolf of Wyndham, The Glass Pavilion, Red Light Skyscraper, Smile Tribe, Our Sense of Time is Failing, Million Moons, Daniel McKeown, AtonalitA, and Non Somnia:

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Please tell us about your experience with MOGWAI. How did you discover the band and what’s your take on their craft and legacy?

Boris Warembourgo of Grizzly Cogs: I discovered Mogwai when they were touring in Europe for their album “Hardcore will never die, but you will”. I found the title hilarious and decided to give it a try. I was mind blowed by this album. First, because it was the first time I heard a band with (almost) no singing, and also because it resonated a lot with me : ambient and peaceful moments with some big explosions and wall of guitars. And on this record especially, songs are not too complex, really accessible and full of memorable bangers.

𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑀𝑜𝑔𝑤𝑎𝑖, 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑦.

Soon after, I dive into their discography, and share it to friends. The “Hawk is Howling” is one of my favorite record, we used to listen to it very often with my best friend after parties or while smoking weed.

Uppergaff: Mogwai is without any doubt one of the most influential experimental/atmospheric rock bands out there. Even if you haven’t listened to their music, there is an 89% chance you know their name.

I probably first listened to Helicon-1 a few years ago and, as with any instrumental masterpiece, the music talked to me without needing lyrics. Their sound was soothing yet rough, their songs are audible paintings and this is what makes them one of the greatest out there.

Alex from Herd of Elk: I first heard Mogwai back in the late 90s while watching a Levis commercial with buffalo stampeding through downtown streets. It took me forever to track the song and artist down (this was well before YouTube), but I’m glad I did because here we are today, on a tribute album to one of my favourite bands. Growing up grunge and alternative, hearing something like Mogwai felt like a step in a natural direction for me.

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑠, ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡) 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑠.

And once I saw them live, well that was it – I was hooked. Loudest shows I’ve ever been to, and it’s a pleasure every time.

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Paul of The Wolf of Wyndham: It’s a funny story actually, I went into a record store in the early 2000’s and was looking for something similar to Nirvana, so I asked the customer service rep and he recommended a new album called CODY from a cool band named Mogwai. I just went ahead and bought the CD and was pretty pumped to listen to it, so I threw it on in the car and I looked at my girlfriend and was like “WTF, this is nothing like Nirvana!”.

I kept the album and came back to it intermittently, but it never clicked with me until years later. In the meantime Happy Songs for Happy People had been released and there was a lot of buzz around the album particularly on the old Radiohead message boards. That was the first Mogwai album I really clicked with and they’ve been a mainstay in my music collection ever since.

Ashley Owens of The Glass Pavilion: I remember making a VHS recording of the NME Brat Awards TV coverage in 1998 and watching the Mogwai performance over and over again; then buying Young Team and Ten Rapid, then seeing them live. If you’d said “instrumental rock” to me before that time, I’d probably have pictured something maybe prog-sounding, or jazz-influenced or something, but here they were making these very direct, mostly concise pieces that had an impact the way a great song has an impact.

Red Light Skyscraper: We first listened to Mogwai about fifteen years ago, when YouTube was the main channel for new music discovery. 

𝑀𝑜𝑔𝑤𝑎𝑖 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒.

They don’t fit into a specific genre and continue making an outstanding job with soundtracks and cinematic music.

Jacob from Smile Tribe: The first time I listened to MOGWAI with a friend, JB, we formed a small band and he told me that ,”this guys are playing just like you, it sounds like you are long lost relatives “, to paraphrase. He gifted me a CD of ‘The Hawk is Howling’, and I enjoyed the similarity in MOGWAI to my own tastes and playing styles, dipping from dark and depressing music in to poppy-upbeat music that takes you for a journey through multiple layers of motion.

a.d. of Our Sense of Time is Failing: Mogwai have pretty much always been a presence in my life, even before I knew what Post-Rock was, somehow a copy of Young Team turned up in my CD rack when I was a teenager, either from a present or I grabbed it cheap on sale not knowing what it was, I can’t remember now but I remember being blown away by the sounds that were coming out of my CD player, especially when compared to the Nu-Metal that I was listening to at the time.

As I’ve gone through life and discovered more music and my tastes changed and expanded Mogwai always kept cropping up in influences of bands I was discovering and being name dropped in interviews, even though I wasn’t actively listening to them at the time they were always there, Mogwai… Mogwai…. Mogwai…

Eventually my tastes began to move more in a Post-Rock and Experimental direction and I came back to them and had the joy of discovering the scale of their back catalogue and how much more there was than just Young Team. I don’t think there’s many bands that can pull off heavier songs like Glasgow Mega-Snake or Like Herod and also have material like Take Me Somewhere Nice and Ritchie Sacramento and on top of that do soundtracks but still keep a strong sense of identity running throughout all of it, that’s what really sets them apart to me.

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Million Moons: One of the most appealing aspects of Mogwai is the incredible breadth and transcendence of multiple genres, refusing to be defined by one musical landscape. Mogwai are masters of taking experimentation and making it audibly appealing. Exploring Mogwai’s back catalogue gives us simultaneous aspiration and inspiration, a powerful driving force in our own musical journey.

Daniel McKeown: I’ve never given much thought to why I enjoy Mogwai – I think you just *do*. If I had to pick out something about them, the way they use technology without their music sounding artificial. Also, even (mostly) without lyrics or voice, they have such a distinctive sound. You can immediately recognise a Mogwai track, although you probably wouldn’t recognise the band if they came up to you in the street and asked you for bus fare. They’ve also always had quite a cordial relationship with electronic music (Kicking a Dead Pig, A Wrenched Virile Lore), so using a drum machine on my cover didn’t feel too much like sacrilege.

AtonalitA: ‘I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead’ was the first music I heard from Mogwai. The use of unique pads to create a great atmosphere is one of the elements of Mogwai’s music and an important part of post-rock music. I think that was how I felt connected with this great group in the beginning. Professional use of rhythms and unique sound engineering are among the factors that helped me to grow interest in this band. On the other hand, my interest in string instruments and the artistic use of these instruments in works such as ‘Hungary Face’ and ‘Portugal’ has helped me to recognize similarities between my interests and their music.

Carlos of Non Somnia: Do you know the bands that you used to record directly from the radio to cassette, back in 99 and you didn’t know the name? Well that happened to me with Mogwai, I remember I had them on a cassette tape, I listened to them all the time, but I didn’t know the name until years later, that was my first contact, from then on I’ve followed the trajectory until nowadays. It has rained a lot since then.

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Tell us a bit about your contribution to this amazing project. How did you pick this particular track?

Boris Warembourgo of Grizzly Cogs: So yeah, on this record, the “Hawk is howling”, there is this track called “Danphe and the brain” which is one my favorite. I love it how the melodies are quite simple yet very powerful and really emotional. It made me understand that you don’t have to be a music genius to make music that can affect people. I owe a lot to Mogwai, because maybe I wouldn’t have make music at all if I didn’t realize that.

Uppergaff: When the opportunity to take part in this tribute came up I thought San Pedro would be the best song I could get and adapt to my style. I didn’t want to replicate their songs exactly the way they play them, I wanted to add my sound. So I made a heavier version of one of their heaviest songs.

Alex from Herd of Elk: I’m a fan of Mogwai’s heavier tracks, and Batcat has an intensity like no other. It just radiates atmosphere – you can feel the tension in those notes. It’s menacing in a way that drives you forward, anticipating that build towards the end of the song. It’s always satisfying to listen to, and I wanted our band to try and re-create that feeling, paying tribute to a song that’s excited me throughout the years.

Paul of The Wolf of Wyndham: Kids Will Be Skeletons is hauntingly beautiful. It’s equal parts catharsis and contemplation, and it captures that quintessential combination of what makes Mogwai so special. It’s pretty rare that you could call one of Mogwai’s tracks a “happy” song, but if there ever was one, this would be it.

Ashley Owens of The Glass Pavilion: “Summer” is probably the first Mogwai track I heard – it’s the one I remember seeing them perform on that NME Awards show – and although obviously it’s a great example of that quiet-loud-quiet-loud-louder use of dynamics that’s been so influential in post-rock, more important (to me) is that it doesn’t ultimately *need* those bursts of noise to generate drama or interest because it has such an effective structure and such a great melody. Recording my version was a chance to (hopefully!) demonstrate that.

Red Light Skyscraper: Helicon 1 is a track we carry with us since the very beginning of the project (2015). At that time we approached post rock music playing many tracks of bands we liked. Helicon 1 is the only track we still play at our concerts: we are really fond of this piece of music. We even used it for our “lockdown home covers”, a series of YouTube videos – check it out!

Jacob from Smile Tribe: ‘Every Country’s Sun’, I chose this song mainly from the title, and upon listening to it, I could imagine the meaning of the title over top of the music, and it made sense to me.

a.d. of Our Sense of Time is Failing: I still remember sitting in my childhood bedroom, putting on Young Team and being wholly unprepared for what was in store when Like Herod came around, how can you be? I think I made the classic mistake of turning it up loud during the quiet parts and nearly jumped out of my skin when it kicked in! Ever since then its been a on and off presence on mixes and playlists I’ve made. When I found out that when they play it live it ends up descending into walls of noise and feedback it just made me love the song even more. I’ve never seen the guys live but I hope to see them play it when I see them at Alexandra Palace in London. Some might say that taking on such a long sprawling fan favourite for a project like this is a bad idea, and to those people I would say …you are 100% correct! But equally I’m really proud of the result and I like to think I’ve managed to strike a good balance between the original and blending in my own sample heavy sound.

Million Moons: We wanted to take a track that was a little less typically post-rock and see where we could run with a cover. Mikey Chapman had agreed to help us with vocals, so we wanted something with a vocal line that was relatively short – Ritchie Sacramento fitted that bill nicely.

Daniel McKeown: I’ve contributed a version of ‘Ex-cowboy’ to this, which is the first Mogwai song I heard (live version on the NME Clean Sweep CD, 1998). I’ve been lucky enough to hear it live in the flesh a few times since, twice in Manchester and once at a gig in Coventry Cathedral.

AtonalitA: In the album of ‘Take Me Somewhere Nice: A Tribute To Mogwai’ I have collaborated with great artists in producing two tracks. My first collaboration with my artist friend Milad Karimi (Rusted Fact) resulted in production of ‘Visit Me’. He did sound engineering on my first album, which was released in 2021 in the post-rock fusion genre and I always wanted to do a joint work with him. Also mini series of ‘Zero Zero Zero’ and its great music attracted my attention and led to my first collaboration with him.

In the second track, I collaborated with my artist friend Carlos Hererra (Non Somnia). Our first collaboration took place in a piece called ‘My Own Storm’. This track is very special for me for several reasons. First, it was my first international collaboration in the post-rock style and usually the first ones are hard to forget! Also, many of the parts I recorded for this work were completely improvised. That’s why ‘My Own Storm’ is so precious to me. The interest in repeating the collaboration with this great artist on the one hand and my interest in ‘To The Bin My Friend, Tonight, We Vacate Earth’ on the other hand, led to the second collaboration track of the Tribute album.

Carlos of Non Somnia: Actually I didn’t know anything about the tribute, my mate Atonalita signed us both up. He chose the track To the Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth. To this day I don’t know why, but I don’t dislike it, any of them were good.

Apart from MOGWAI, what other impactful and essential post rock acts would you consider worth looking into? Can you share your recommendations and top post rock picks our readers should check out?

Boris Warembourgo of Grizzly Cogs: After discovering Mogwai, I dive into a lot of post rock, math rock and electronica bands. Some of my favorite are And So I Watch From Afar, an Irish math-rock band with a lot crazy and uptempo melodic patterns, Totorro, a band from France who makes really lightweigh, cute and groovy math / post rock, and of course 65daysofstatic, which felt more like a crafting of drone guitars, synth, and drum machines. Some more names would be Francky goes to Point-à-Pitre, Fall of Messiah, Lost in the riot…

Uppergaff: This is a tough one, but there are two great European post-rock bands that are always on repeat on my playlists. Tides from Nebula and Long Distance Calling. And of course, what to me is the greatest post-metal band right now, Russian Circles.

Alex from Herd of Elk: Post rock/metal bands we love and listen to: Russian Circles, If These Trees Could Talk, Gifts From Enola, Cloudkicker, Jakob, Tides of Man, Spotlights.

Paul of The Wolf of Wyndham: I’m a huge fan of Sigur Rós and it’s really exciting to see them back in the studio and on tour, so if you get the chance to see them live, grab it because their live shows are amazing. I’m excited to see what they do next.

Ashley Owens of The Glass Pavilion: Honestly, as a listener, I’ve been away from the post-rock scene for a while; it’s only since I started making instrumental music myself that I’ve stumbled back into it! So I’m just scratching the surface myself.

Red Light Skyscraper: We used to say that post rock is so vague as a music defini on that we stopped enclosing ourselves in that structure. This genre has no clear and defined features, a part of the huge amount of reverb of course! Our sugges on is to seek post-rock in anything you listen to, contamina on is the key to diversifica on. Give a glance to The American Dollar, Holy Fawn and the Italian friends Platonick Dive.

Jacob from Smile Tribe: I have seen Godspeed! You Black Emperor performing at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco and immediately began to create my own music in a similar vein under the name ‘GHOST EMBRYO’. Post-rock is an emotionally charged type of music, I recommend listening with a friend.

a.d. of Our Sense of Time is Failing: One of my favourite UK post rock bands is Nordic Giants a duo who put on one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen where they play costumed, anonymous and hidden behind smoke and lights with the focus of the show being on short films which they sync their performance to perfectly, always a really special experience to see.

A bit closer to home, there’s an act from my area called Good Weather for an Airstrike, who is doing really cool ambient stuff with a hint of post rock. Something I consider to be Post-Rock adjacent is ambient tape loop music and its something that has been a huge influence on me, William Basinski is the absolute king of turning samples recorded onto tape into incredibly impactful emotional music, I’d highly recommend anyone who hasn’t to go check out his genre defining work The Disintegration Loops which is a work of sublime genius. In that same space is an artist called Amulets who taught me how to modify cassettes into endless loops which I use extensively in my work and is constantly doing endlessly creative projects, think multiple synced cassette players with huge loops of tape leaving the machine and running all around the room, sometimes running through multiple machines.

Lastly I just want to give a endorsement to the Berlin based experimental musician Hainbach without who Our Sense of Time is Failing wouldn’t exist, his constant strive to find beautiful new sounds through experimentation really inspired the whole project and I particularly love his works that he produces using vintage telephonic test equipment.

Million Moons: We’d really recommend checking out the other bands from the tribute – some incredible musical work with little recognition!

Daniel McKeown: I’m a bit iffy with post-rock as a genre / concept / label. The only other identifiably PR bands I listen to regularly are Hammock and Explosions in the Sky (‘Time Stops’ – huge tune).

AtonalitA: I think post rock is like a white sheet of paper on which anyone can draw their own drawing. To have a beautiful painting, colors must be used in the best way. I have always loved fusion music and I think this field has a lot of potentials. Using of other instruments (like violin, viola and etc.) in the post-rock could be a good idea and if you ask me, IT IS A MUST!

Carlos of Non Somnia: Well… This question is very relative, the genre “Post” I think it can cover all music, I don’t understand it very well myself, hahaha. But personally as a musician I go to bands that are underrated but with a great level, like for example Silent Whale Becomes a Dream or Crows In The Rain.

Alright, so let’s dive into your own musical journey. Tell us a bit about your band and give us some updates on your new releases and plans for the rest of the year.

Boris Warembourgo of Grizzly Cogs: With Grizzly Cogs, I’ve just released a new album called “Hibernation”, made during the various lockdowns we had in 2020-21. It is a synthwave / chillwave / chiptune album with a lot of 80’s aesthetic. I’ve played in various location across Europe, but this time i’m building a live set with 2 additional musicians (drummer and guitarist) in order to create a brand new show. Hopefully we will hit the road by the end of 2022!

Uppergaff: I’m constantly releasing new music, I take music as experiments so I keep evolving, playing with sounds and changing structures and moods, always within the post-metal/post-rock genre. I want to find that sweet spot where lush post-rock/ambient sounds meet heavy punchy guitar riffs. So it makes more sense to me releasing singles than a full LP for now.

I definitely will be releasing a full album in the near future though!

Alex from Herd of Elk: Herd of Elk – Ready to start playing shows again, currently writing new songs for said hopeful shows and streaming online. Plans for 2022 include writing new music, releasing more tracks online, and hopefully playing some shows again!

Paul of The Wolf of Wyndham: I’m currently working on my second EP, which I’m hoping to complete mid 2022. The tracks are part of the collection of works that were created around the same time as my first EP, with a couple of new ones thrown in.

I’ve also started writing some songs for a concept album/EP in which the first half will be based around guitars, synths, and other textural sounds/noise, including some light percussion. The second half will use similar instruments but the tracks will be more dynamic, energetic and with the inclusion of a full drum kit.

Finally I’ve been toying with the idea of reaching out to someone to provide some vocals on either some new tracks or remix versions of some existing tracks which would be quite exciting and add another element to my music catalogue. Plenty of work to keep me busy, that’s for sure.

Ashley Owens of The Glass Pavilion: I released the first Glass Pavilion album (When the Blazing Sun is Gone) in January and immediately started writing and recording the follow-up. The up side of having a studio-based project is that although I can’t play live to promote my music, I also don’t have to spend months touring between albums! So I plan to release a couple of new singles over the next couple of months and then a new album in the summer.

Red Light Skyscraper: We are about to release a new single in May 2022 and constantly writing new material to eventually produce our own vinyl – let’s see if we manage to issue it this year. We are currently working on many projects apart from playing gigs and producing music. We collaborate with many reali es and we struggle to spread our music to anyone who resonates with us. We recently built-up our brand new Twitch Channel and we’re using it to give value and get closer to people who listen to our music.

Jacob from Smile Tribe: I am currently operating Deen Deon Studios and Smile Tribe Collective, a conglomerate of personas and aliases. Plans for 2022 include expanding the discography of multiple artists. I am a lone musician so at the moment live shows are not readily available for me but I have been constructing online experiences to help me reach a live stage and audience.

Also just released ‘My Sol Burns Brighter‘ under the alias of Xavier Ghost Xavier.

a.d. of Our Sense of Time is Failing: After the release of Take Me Somewhere Nice: A Tribute to Mogwai, Our Sense of Time is Failing’s next release will be the single Expiation followed by a sequel to the Chronodepression EP (which was released in December of last year) titled Chronosuppression a bit later in the year. I also post little experiments or techniques I am playing with to Instagram, which most often take the form of more short form noise/highly experimental pieces.

Million Moons: We have a debut album “Gap in the Clouds” out on April 29. We have released four singles off it so far, taking a less conventional approach to the release process. We have a video out for our lead single Glimmer of Gold, which explores the topic of dementia in a difficult father-son relationship (link).

Daniel McKeown: I’m not actually in a band or creating music that regularly. I’ve played guitar since my teens, and I went a bit stir-crazy during lockdown and started building a synth lab in our attic, much to the chagrin of my partner. On the plus side, all of the stuff came from eBay, so at least it was relatively inexpensive. We’ve recently had a daughter so I probably ought to mothball the whole project before she gets old enough to make it up the stairs and start pulling on cables.

AtonalitA: AtonalitA is my solo post-rock fusion experimental project in which the violin plays the role of narrator. My first album was born in July 2021, coinciding with my 32nd birthday. The second album might be released on my 33rd birthday. Each album narrates the story of life of a special and unknown person, and the albums tell different stories. Depending on the listener’s thought and understanding, these albums can be considered in a row or vice versa.

I do not like to talk about my music at all, so as not to cause any bias on the listener’s judgment. Everyone can have their own interpretation of my work. I am also playing the violin in a newly formed post-rock band with different nationalities. Music is truly an international language. You can even form a band together without even seeing each other! Additional information will be provided about this band. Also wait for AtonalitA’s very different and atmospheric album.

Carlos of Non Somnia: Currently my main project is Non Somnia, created in summer 2021. This year in April or so, we will release a new album with Frozen Woods Records label. And we are already working on the next one.

Great! Can we extend it a bit with some more recommendations and shoutouts to your local bands from your closest music scenes?

Boris Warembourgo of Grizzly Cogs: I can recommend Fig., a friend of mine making hyperpop/lo-fi electronica, who’s just released her phenomenal new EP “Foxtrot India Golf”, Please Lose Battle, a band from France, who makes math-rock melted with 8-bit melodies, really worthy seeing them live, and Science Against Spheric Silence, who makes crazy post/math rock songs.

Also, if I can plug my band here: Run! Run! Jump! Punch!, in which I play the synthesizer. We write catchy songs with pop-punk structures from the early 00’s, and mix them with chiptune and lo-fi synths elements.

Uppergaff: There was this supporting act band for Russian Circles here in Dublin that was mind-blowing! They are called No Spill Blood. They are from Dublin, definitely worth checking them out!

Alex from Herd of Elk: Local bands (new and old) from in and around Hamilton, Canada that we dig: Chore, Shallow North Dakota, Not Of, Alexisonfire, Junior Boys, Tristan Psionic, Dirty Nil.

Ashley Owens of The Glass Pavilion: I’m really looking forward to the next album by Insect Guide, a great Leeds band making guitar pop of the finest sort! I’ve known Stan (their guitarist) for years and he was my first choice to do the mixing and mastering on my own stuff, because I knew he’d get the atmosphere right.

Red Light Skyscraper: Babel Fish from Modena (Italy) are fantastic, we played a gig together and we had a lot of fun. We met them thanks to the Italian Post-Rock Movement, an incredible community that put together all the people in our Country who play and listen to this music.

There are a lot of good bands playing other genres, for example Morning Views (Perugia), Handlogic (Firenze), Clustersun (Catania), just to name a few. We are confident to meet part of this Italian music scene in the Concre on Fes val foreseen for this July 2022 in Aquileia (Udine).

Jacob from Smile Tribe: ‘Lipstk‘ I was once in a band with the lead singer of Lipstk, Alec Cox. ‘Fitzgerald‘ I was once in a band with the drummer of Fitzgerald, Sam Bryant. We were all three in the band ‘Amber Effect‘, alongside of Tyler Nieves, Zach Brown, and Chris Spaulding

Daniel McKeown: I live in Ilkley (near Leeds) these days. Local acts I like are The Silver Reserve (‘Trophic Cascades‘  – great use of live looping) and The Paper Waits (‘On and on‘ – two wonderful voices in perfect harmony).

AtonalitA: I suggest bands like Aesthesys and TrucitatE, because the violin plays the role of narrator in their music too.

Alright guys, thank you so much for your time! Please feel free to share your closing notes and add anything you feel is worth mentioning here.

Boris Warembourgo of Grizzly Cogs: Thank you for covering this compilation ! I’m super glad it exists. It is such an honor for me to be part of it, and feels kind of an achievement to cover Mogwai who followed me half of my life. Also, the whole money will go to Wildlife Trust acting for wildlife in the UK. So much love was spread during the project and i am so thankful for that :) Cheers!

Uppergaff: I open up my track with an interview that Stuart Braithwaite gave where he says that during the pandemic people seem to have been more interested in arts, books and movies, mainly because that’s all we’ve got. And to me, those difficult months and the aftermath paradoxically got us closer to each other.

I see this tribute as a positive outcome of this whole mess. A group of strangers from all over the world, who either started or got better at their craft during the pandemic, getting together sharing art for a good cause. And in the middle of it, a great soundtrack provided by Mogwai.

Alex from Herd of Elk: We’re so grateful and excited to be a part of this album. These last few years have been trying, to say the least, so to have an opportunity like this come around has been a real breath of fresh air. We hope this album brings as much joy and excitement to you as it has for us. The herd gathers…

Paul of The Wolf of Wyndham: Just want to say what a huge blessing it has been to get the support of Mogwai on this project and we’re very excited for everyone to hear the album. A special shout out needs to go to Travis for organising it and making it possible. Cheers!

Ashley Owens of The Glass Pavilion: The “lockdown” album is in danger of becoming a cliche at this point, and I haven’t consciously tried to write music that’s “about” the pandemic, but it’s a fact that the lockdowns of 2020 are a big part of what prompted me to start making music again after giving up on it years earlier. So now we’re coming out of that era – hopefully – I find my whole focus in life has massively shifted from where it was going in.

Red Light Skyscraper: Pandemic was the perfect period to test us as a band, being far away didn’t hamper playing together and continuing to be creative. We expressed our creativity along with online projects. A take home message is to have fun and never be put down even if hard times escalate.

Regarding the current crisis in Ukraine we can just note that decisions of the few impact on the most. War is never an option to pursue. We guess that hard mes tear us apart but there’s a book we’d like to suggest to put together the remnants and live stronger than we’ve done in the past: “Kintsugi: Embrace your imperfec ons and find happiness – the Japanese way” Tomás Navarro.

Jacob from Smile Tribe: A few books and stories worth reading , ‘The Book of the Dead’ by the Scribe Ani, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Bible, The Chumash, The Qu’Ran, The Apocrypha, The Odyssey of Homer, Quadrivium, Trivium, Aesop’s Fables. Seeing the past gives greater depth to the words and ideas that we share today, as Musicians, it is our duty to understand the world we operate and reside within.

Thanks for reaching out and taking time to dig in to this project, it has been fun and I am fortunate to have been involved.

a.d. of Our Sense of Time is Failing: I want to express all of my thanks to everyone involved in the album, its come together better than anyone could have hoped. All of the artists are amazing musicians and incredible people that deserve all the praise and for all your readers to go check out. But it wouldn’t have happened at all without Travis who put the whole thing together, recruited everyone and has kept the whole thing on track.

If there’s one thing that the terrible times of the pandemic gave us I believe its an abundance of quality smaller artists putting out content, I’m proud to count Our Sense of Time is Failing among them and it really makes projects like this much easier to get involved in. Being stuck inside with nothing to do can severely take its toll on a person but also can be a wonderful catalyst for the catharsis of making art and its incredible to see how many people have channelled that nervous energy into creating amazing things.

Million Moons: Our album explore the topic of Alzheimers with its associated stigmas and challenges. The pandemic might be almost over but a pandemic of loneliness amongst the elderly continues. Ed volunteers every week to speak to lonely elderly folk, and says it’s very rewarding. Also Fuck Putin.

Daniel McKeown: Huge thanks and well done to Travis for making this project happen and of course to Mogwai for giving it their blessing, not to mention the many, many sublime tunes they’ve provided us with over the years.

AtonalitA: Unfortunately, the Coronavirus caused one of the most dark and difficult times of recent years, not only for artists but also for all human beings in the world. The work of many artists has been influenced by this pandemic and I am not an exception. Due to the difficult situation of the artists and the need for financial support of most of them by labels, this has led to my failure in finding a suitable label for the release of my second album. Also, the concerts I was planning to hold have been postponed. Hoping this pandemic to end quickly.

Finally, I would like to point out the futility of life and send a message to those in power who decide the lives or deaths of millions and invite them to study the sciences of history and astronomy.

𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑦, 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒. 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑢𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑜 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒! 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘!

Be kind! Thank you!