Entertainment

Irvine Welsh to poke fun at Scotland's religious divide in new Alan McGee biopic


Skids legend Richard Jobson has given fans a sneak peek inside the new Irvine Welsh movie about music mogul Alan McGee… and revealed the writer has gone for more laughs about Scotland’s religious divide.

Welsh created a hilarious scene for the film T2 Trainspotting, in which Ewan McGregor’s Renton and Johnny Lee Miller’s Sick Boy steal credit cards in a staunch Protestant pub.

They’re forced to ad lib a song called No More Catholics before emptying the card owners’ bank accounts by guessing most of their pin codes are 1690.

In upcoming biopic Creation Stories, Jobson takes on the role of former Creation Records boss Alan’s McGee’s father.

The Skids Richard Jobson on stage at Rewind Festival

Jobson, who found fame in Dunfermline punk band Skids in 1977 with hits such as Into the Valley and The Saints Are Coming, said: “Creation Stories is obviously a sex and drugs and rock ’n’ roll story.

“When Alan discovered punk rock, his father John McGee was a very straight, stern Presbyterian Scot and thought it was the work of Satan.

“His and Alan’s relationship was quite brutal and the beauty of the script is they’ve managed to find humour in John’s behaviour.

“There’s a great scene where Alan comes home as a 16-year old kid and his Sex Pistols T-shirt is all ripped with safety pins in it.

“John is on his way out and has all his Freemason gear on and all that stuff.

“He tells Alan, ‘Get that s*** off and get in here now. You’ve brought shame on this house. Do you realise you look ridiculous?’ He asks that in his full Masonic gear.

The movie is based on music mogul Alan McGee’s life

“It’s a very Scottish thing to laugh at these things and Irvine has managed to find humour in moments where you might not expect humour to exist.”

Jobson, 58, admits he was keen to take on the role – partly because he’s a Celtic fan.

He said: “I landed the part because they were looking for a guy who could play both the young John McGee and the old one.

“They had tried quite a few very well-known actors who didn’t work as the younger John McGee so they had me in for a reading.

“I had to put on my teddy boy wig for the early John McGee and an old man wig for the contemporary John. It was nerve-racking.

“The hardest part was that John is a diehard Rangers fan and I’m not a Rangers fan.

“That was something I had to overcome because Alan’s father was a Freemason and I come from the other side of that cultural, weird divide in Scotland. So that was a bit odd.”

The Skids Richard Jobson wearing blue jacket white shirt with three other members of The Skids pop group

The Kirkcaldy -born singer added: “There are moments when it is very confrontational. John was quite a presence and very threatening to Alan. His malevolent seething is because he doesn’t understand what’s going on.

“He did what his father did and he wants his son to do the
same – get a trade, join the Freemasons and go and see Rangers at the weekend.

“Alan’s not interested in any of that. He wants to get down to the Glasgow Apollo venue and see bands, hang out with his mates like Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream and listen to albums and meet girls.

“Music saved young working-class ­people in Scotland from all the crazy stuff.

“The Skids were a mixture of Catholics and Protestants. It didn’t matter to us.

“We didn’t care and Alan was the same. He came out of that and found music. Music crosses all divides and is a magical healing thing. It is very transformative.

“Alan thought he needed drugs for that transformation and realised in the end that he didn’t need those things because he had a big heart and a soul and great taste in music.”

Creation Stories also follows McGee leaving his home in Glasgow and going to London.

Creation Stories

 

The biggest transformation in his life comes when he signs Oasis, after discovering them at Glasgow’s King Tut’s in 1993.

As the Britpop music scene explodes in the mid-90s, McGee finds himself hanging out with drug-fuelled celebrities as well as politicians such as Tony Blair.

Jobson, who lives in Bedfordshire, added: “John McGee has since mellowed. There is a lovely moment at the end where Alan goes back to Glasgow and his father has headphones on and is sitting listening to Oasis and singing along.

“So I’m singing along to an Oasis song and it is a beautiful moment.

“There is something quite substantial going on in the subtext of the film beyond the visceral madness of the period.

“I think if you asked John now what he thought of those weird clothes and being part of these secret organisations, he would probably be the first person to say to you it is absolutely ludicrous.”

Creation Stories is directed by Nick Moran and features Ewen Bremner in the lead role, as well as parts for Jason Isaacs, Paul Kaye and Suki Waterhouse.

Jobson rose to fame at the height of the punk rock boom. At 17, he founded The Skids with Stuart Adamson.

He also formed new wave act The Armoury Show in 1983.

He later became a presenter on Sky and directed the 2003 film 16 Years Of Alcohol, which starred Kevin McKidd, and 2008’s New Town Killers, with Dougray Scott.

He is now touring Scotland with his show Richard Jobson: Songs & Stories, with Bruce and Jamie Watson of Big Country.

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