Creation Stories: Irvine Welsh and Alan McGee (Tribeca Film Festival 2021)
8One of the many films that played at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival was director Nick Moran’s Creation Stories. The film is written by Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting, Filth) and it’s based on the life of Creation Records creator and founder Alan McGee. McGee co-founded the independent label Creation Records back in 1983 when he was twenty-three years old and championed bands like Oasis, The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, The Libertines, Teenage Fanclub, and more. While the label was gaining notoriety and supplying the “Brit Pop” soundtrack to the 90s, they were also dealing with bankruptcy, fights, breakdowns, and a drug-fueled haze of music and mayhem. In addition, McGee was one of the people responsible for changing government legislation in the United Kingdom so musicians could get financial help instead of taking other jobs to survive. And while what he accomplished at such a young age is phenomenal, what makes it even more incredible is that in the 90s McGee dealt with a serious drug problem that could have easily ended everything.
Shortly after seeing the film I spoke with Irvine Welsh and Alan McGee. They talked about the current state of the music industry, how everyone on Creation Records was a little bit mad and never boring, what’s in the movie that people will think is made up but is actually true, why McGee likes outrageous characters, if it’s possible for someone today to do what McGee did in the 80s, what they would make if they could get the financing for any project, and more.
Check out what they had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about. Creation Records stars Ewen Bremner, Kirsty Mitchell, Suki Waterhouse, Thomas Turgoose, Leo Flanagan, and Jason Isaacs.
Irvine Welsh and Alan McGee:
How did Alan McGee remember his life for the book after spending years partying?
Does McGee think it’s possible for someone to do what he did when he was twenty-three years old in the record industry?
How the music industry has become very corporate and digital.
What is the secret to signing a band and what is a band McGee regrets not signing?
Why McGee likes outrageous characters.
When did Welsh first hear about Creation Records?
What was the decision for making a movie instead of a longer television series?
How everyone on Creation Records were a little bit mad and never boring.
How back in the 80s and 90s people did things that would get you cancelled today.
Does Welsh think about budget when writing a script?
If they could get the financing for any project what would they make and why?
What’s in the movie that people will think is made up but is actually true?
What’s a band or bands they wish more people knew about?
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