John Cummings of post-rockers Mogwai tells Mark Tjhung how they are expanding their horizons (but they’ll never accept Lionel Richie)

Mogwai’s music has always been rather dramatic. It’s forever possessed an epic nature – the kind of apocalyptic, world-ending dramatics that are so commonly associated with not only these Scottish giants, but the entirety of the post-rock genre. So when the London riots broke out a couple of months back, the band’s tunes naturally made a perfect soundtrack – and it wasn’t without a bizarre touch of irony when Mogwai’s latest EP, Earth Division, actually met with some misfortune during those crazy few days.

“The warehouse [where the EP was being held] had been set on fire and a lot of independent labels lost their complete stock. It definitely affected a big pile of our stock,” says guitarist John Cummings over the phone from his hometown of Glasgow, thinking back to the inferno that claimed a sizeable chunk of the five-piece’s most recent release. “That was pretty rough, but I don’t think we’ve been affected as drastically as some people. A lot of small labels wouldn’t have been able to survive that sort of thing. It’s tough for a lot of wee bands.”

Fortunately for Mogwai, they’re no ‘wee’ band, whether you look at it by reputation, profile, members, fanbase or sound. Since their debut – some would say defining – album Young Team almost 15 years ago, they’ve built a reputation as one of the masters of post-rock – predictable inclusions alongside Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Rós and the like in all-too common ‘best post-rock bands in the world’ lists.

Even so, they’re not getting complacent – indeed, anything but. This year has seen them at their prolific best, adding their seventh studio album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will and EP Earth Division to their discography. “We recorded a bunch of songs that are on the album and on the EP. And we tried a lot of different things with a lot of different songs. The four on the EP didn’t really fit with the rest of the songs on the album. But yet we really liked them and they seemed to fit together themselves, the four of them,” says Cummings, explaining why they released two discs in such quick succession.

When seen together though, Hardcore and Earth Division represent a widely varied output from Mogwai over the past year. The former was widely seen as one of their most diverse releases, while the EP is perhaps as introspective, melancholic and – yes – as soft as they’ve ever been. And while he says it’s not intentional, Cummings acknowledges a slow evolution in the band’s sound over the years.

“As music listeners, I think we’ve had 15 extra years of listening to more music and we’ve probably found a lot of old music that we hadn’t heard when we were 19 or 20 [years old], and heard a lot of new music. You can’t really help absorbing different music, sorts of music and stylistic, subconscious tendencies.”

Mogwai listen to plenty of new, diverse indie stuff nowadays, says Cummings, but he also admits to a couple of surprising inclusions on the influence list. “I suppose we’ve got quite an eclectic mix,” he says, mentioning that 70s psych-funk-soul band Funkadelic and even a bit of Neil Diamond just might be on the Mogwai record shelf. However, despite including the song You’re Lionel Richie on Hardcore, the American pop icon doesn’t make the grade. “I don’t think that any of us are fans of, or are influenced by, Lionel Richie.”

Rather, they’re just happy to reference the moustachioed man in their famously entertaining song titles, adding You’re Lionel Richie to other such gems like George Square Thatcher Death Party, I Love You, I’m Going to Blow Up Your School, and Stupid Prick Gets Chased By the Police and Loses His Slut Girlfriend. You’re Lionel Richie, at least, is based somewhat in fact. “Stuart [Braithwaite, guitarist] was getting a flight, early in the morning after DJing somewhere and he was pretty hungover and spaced out, and saw Lionel Richie,” laughs Cummings. “Without thinking, he pointed out ‘you’re Lionel Richie’.”

For the most part, Mogwai are happy to leave the whimsical element to their song titles. Live, they’re more stoic, serious and largely dumb, as Hongkongers have seen in 2004 and 2009, and will see again when the Scots hit KITEC this fortnight. So what is Cummings most looking forward to on their return? “I’m very much looking forward to being back and having some tasty, tasty food,” he says. “My memories are mostly food based.” Tastes, smells, textures – we guess that’s such a post-rock thing to look forward to. 

Mogwai play KITEC on Monday November 21. Tickets: 3128 8288;  www.hkticketing.com.