On their official website, Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite responded to a couple of questions concerning his recent comments on Radiohead:
Q: …I was recently at www.greenplastic.com (a radiohead site) which i caught drift of what you said about radiohead with your interview in the Careless Talk Costs Lives Magazine. When you say that Radiohead is hypocritical in what aspect may i ask? I see the whole Globalisation thing i suppose with the t-shirts and all but if you hold that against them then you are doing the same thing….. actually every band is doing the same thing. Please respond to me i would like to hear your thoughts of radiohead more in depth, and your thoughts of big corporations/globalisation, godspeed, a stupid american teen.
A: It was a joke.I don’t think any of us have a serious opinion on Radiohead. If truth be told I’ve never even heard any of their records the whole way through apart from on MTV and the radio. Barry met the singer once and said he was a nice guy. Stuart.
Here’s another questions posed to Stuart in the “Detailed Responses” section:
QUESTION:
Now – is it true that you consider Radiohead to have no artistic merit and in your opinion, should all major-label bands be viewed this way?? I agree, to a certain extent, that Radiohead are hypocritical, but i love their music. To me, that’s the most important thing.
Do we also discount The Beatles, because they were major-label?ANSWER:
No. I don’t think anyone in the band would have said that. Being on a major label can be stifling artistically but is by no means a stamp of worthlessness. Major labels are run by people who consider records as “products” and can treat bands with very little respect, but to discount their entire output would be ludicrous.Some major labels (Geffen and Island spring to mind) seem to have more integrity than quite a few smaller labels i could mention. I would advise new bands about to sign to a major label to read the small print and get a good lawyer though because most major labels are out to fuck them.
It is not uncommon for a major label to sign a band so that they don’t compete with one of their own signings thus fucking their career (Yuck awful word)
Of course music is the most important thing. I don’t think anyone who has ever opened their mouth is completely free of hypocrisy (me included).
With regard to The Beatles, see the above.
Cheers, Stuart Braithwaite
(thanks to Radiohead25 & MichCrew)
