http://themmp.tv/feature...terview-with-peter-hook/He’s a man whose vast musical legacy throws an enormous shadow not just across British music, but the whole god damn musical world. In emotive post-punk gloom merchants “Joy Division” he helped carve out a sound that has gone on to relentlessly influence generations of musicians since. Then, following the untimely and tragic death of singer Ian Curtis decided that he could probably have another go at the whole ”redefining the landscape of music as we know it” thing and went on to have another (massively successful) crack at it with a little band called “ New Order”.
The man just loves pushing the boundaries of music.
AND WE HAD A BLOODY CHAT WITH HIM DIDN’T WE!
So stick on “Blue Monday” and have a read about just what the devil Hooky is up to with his new outfit “The Light” ahead of their rather special show here at Clwb Ifor Bach in January.
How in the impending Mayan themed turbo apocalypse are you?
I’m very well thank you… we are just on the motorway somewhere in between nijmegen and paris, about to stop off so the drummer can have a piss!
The gig you’ve announced recently in Cardiff is the first airing of the bands New Order centric set. Has the response to this decision been more positive in light of how successful the Joy Division material turned out despite some initial scepticism and negativity from certain fans?
Anytime anyone does anything, there is always going to be people who complain – such is the world we live in with the internet and everyone having a voice on there. I must admit, when we first came to play Unknown Pleasures back in May 2010, I was quite surprised by the level of negativity, at times it felt like a real uphill struggle, but then by the time we started playing this was put into perspective by the amazing reactions of the audiences.
It’s that funny old thing really – you can be playing a great gig to 10,000 rocking people, but if there’s one guy down the front giving you the finger, he’s the one that you remember. The most interesting thing seems to be that the people who slate this project have not seen it, and have absolutely no intention of ever seeing it… They are just sniping at you for the sake of it… And the people that are into it and do come to the gigs, leave feedback on your facebook or whatever saying “that was great! Thank you for coming!” – these are the people that i should be listening to!
I must say the more we play and the longer we do it the criticism from the internet keyboard terrorists has reduced significantly, which is nice – especially as it was only ever really in the uk that we were faced with it, the rest of the world welcomed us with open arms – but throughout 2012 we have toured extensively in the uk and i would like to think that we have turned the tables somewhat.
Considering the extremely well documented and …somewhat bumpy… history that New Order have endured, how does returning to these songs with a new set of musicians feel? Was it to provide a sense of emotional catharsis or simply a two fingered salute to the other guys currently operating under the name?
Well i have been playing live with the lads in the light now for over two and a half years – we are a very good unit and we all get on great, so turning to these songs now with these guys feels great – we are all feeling the same sense of energy and excitement that we got from when we were first learning to play Unknown Pleasures and all the other Joy Division tracks. The whole thing was only supposed to be one night at the factory in manchester but it just snowballed – so from then on i thought hang on people do want to hear these albums live and people do want you to carry on, so that’s why we played closer and that’s why we played still. So to do “Movement” and “Power, Corruption & Lies” is simply the next logical step on from that. The songs from that era of new order are fantastic and especially during the later years of the band were completely ignored as barney would not play them. So it will be great to play them all again.
What exactly prompted your decision to reveal this new set at Clwb Ifor Bach? We’re pretty glad that you did mind, just curious why Cardiff…
Well we announced two shows for the new set at koko in london and also at the cathedral in manchester and they are both big venues – we didn’t want to be playing the set for the first time at a big london gig, we’d all look like startled rabbits in the headlights probably! So we started looking around at where we could do a warm-up gig in a much smaller venue and we have ended up in Cardiff – which is great because we have never played there and i do get a lot of messages on facebook or twitter lambasting me for that! So this is our way of coming to Cardiff for the first time but also giving them something special.
The recent Joy Division memoir you put out has been getting some extremely high praise indeed, are you thinking of doing something in a similar vein regarding New Order?
Well i was spurred on to write the Joy Division book on the back of the success of the Hacienda book, and i must say the Joy Division book has done really well too, i have had some great feedback on it and have really enjoyed doing the book tours around the uk. The week after the Cardiff gig i am going over to America for its official release over there too, so that is great, and we are also talking to people all over the world about having it translated into other languages. On the back of this, i would say that yes i am definitely going to write a new order book, just to complete the trilogy as it were.
Are there any plans to produce new music under the name Peter Hook & The Light at all? Or is it more a vehicle to continue playing the already defined back catalogue?
I would not be surprised if one day we got round to releasing some new material – the lads are a fantastic band and they are already kicking around lots of great original ideas, but at the moment we are so busy touring & then i have lots of other engagements such as the books or developing the hacienda brand that it is just really difficult to set aside the time to go in and do it properly. Hopefully we will get round to that someday, i would really like to do that.
What’s happening beyond the January shows? Are there more gathering together on the horizon waiting to be announced?
Well we are just finalising the plans for 2013 at the moment, it is shaping up to be a busy year! I can’t really reveal anything specific as i would probably be in the doghouse if i did but what i can say is that 2012 has been an amazing year in terms of getting out there and performing so we will definitely be on the road again beyond january and i am looking forward to it immensely.
Final question, (two headed one this)
A.) Does that weirdness at having somebody play you in a film ever really go away?
It is a bit weird yeah but i am blessed in that both 24 hour party people and control are great films. It would have been very different if they had been rubbish! But Michael Winterbottom did a fantastic job on 24 Hour Party People and then Anton Corbijn really nailed it with Control as he was there with us at the time of Joy Division so knew exactly how to portray us. I must say Joe Anderson in Control did a much better job of portraying me than Ralf Little did in 24 Hour Party People , i really don’t recognise myself in that film at all!
B.) When you inevitably get played by another actor in another adapted chunk of your life (there’s bound to be a New Order based talkie sooner or later) who’d be your first choice to play you?
Well i would have to say that the best option to play me would be my son! But failing that let’s go for George Clooney or Brad Pitt as we have the same look…. Hahaha!
Words: JD
