The band was originally signed to renowned Glasgow indie label Chemikal Underground, but are now distributed by different labels, such as Matador in the US and Play It Again Sam in the UK. They have also developed their own label, Rock Action Records, named after Stooges drummer Scott Asheton, who had his name changed to Rock Action.
Their style has been influenced by bands including Dirty Three, Joy Division, Pink Floyd, The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and post-rock pioneers Slint. During 2004, the band supported tours by two major influences, Pixies and The Cure. Mogwai's style has easily identifiable connections to genres like shoegaze, math rock, art rock and occasionally instrumental metal.
Mogwai (meaning "ghost" or "devil" in Cantonese) are named after the creatures from the film Gremlins, although guitarist Stuart Braithwaite comments that "it has no significant meaning and we always intended on getting a better one, but like a lot of other things we never got round to it."
From Wikipedia
