Legendary bassist Peter Hook, formerly of Joy Division and New Order spoke to Goldenplec about his current music project Peter Hook and The Light as well as reflecting on a long career and a bright future.
Hooky sings lead vocals for The Light, which begs the question, why did he not take the microphone more often in his New Order days? “The truth is that all three of us – Bernard, Stephen and myself – all had a go at being the full time singer for New Order, with varying levels of success. I think if you listen to some of the earliest New Order bootlegs, where we are actually still playing as a three-piece band, you’ll hear us all having a go.
Bernard seemed the most suited to it at the time and then it just became the norm. I was happy to sing a couple of tracks on our first album ‘Movement’ which I think are great songs, but in the main I think we made a good choice overall. We accidentally developed a style because Bernard could not sing and play together at first, so his guitar would come crashing in whenever the vocal stopped, and we really liked that, it’s all over ‘Movement’.”
One of the most important and pressing matters when it comes to The Light is doing justice to the vocals of both Ian Curtis and Bernard Sumner. Hooky tells how he approached this problem; “I would like to think I do the vocals justice. I have to admit it is a lot more daunting singing Ian’s songs & words, for obvious reasons, and I was extremely nervous at first, but I would like to think that by now I am able to do it justice. Singing the New Order songs is still relatively new to me so I am always trying to make it better. Eventually, I hope it will become as comfortable as the Joy Division ones have now become.”
The Light play a lot of Joy Division songs when performing, and naturally this is an emotional experience. Hook discusses his feelings during the performance of these tracks; “Everything – good and bad! But the overriding feeling is just a sense of joy that the songs are being played again, I am really happy that I have been able to do it and I really happy with my band in that we have played every single Joy Division track live once again, leaving no stone unturned, they have done a great job. Some Joy Division songs are very dark and tend to bring back all sorts of memories but then again there are also some which I find very uplifting.”
The Light have been touring since 2010, and during that time the band have performed exclusively Joy Division and New Order tracks. Hooky informs us this might be about to change… “I would like to think we’ll get some original material out there. The lads in the band were already kicking around lots of interesting ideas, and then when we got Pottsy in on guitar to replace Nat our old guitarist who left, it has become more of a possibility as obviously Pottsy was my writing partner in Monaco and Revenge.”
There are still obstacles to overcome, however; “So I would like to think that we will get round to it because I am aware that it is what a lot of people want. It’s just that we are always so busy on tour that there has not been much of a window of opportunity to go into a studio.”
With such a huge and varied back catalogue to work through, there’s bound to be a few favourites that Hook prefers playing above all others; “One of my favourite tracks to perform live would definitely be Cries & Whispers. It’s an old New Order track that we wrote very early on, and I love it. The whole song is basically one bassline but several versions of it all running at the same time; plus it was the first time I had used harmonics in a song. It is very powerful live so we like to open with it sometimes.”
Hooky also divulges his favourite album to perform songs from… “As for the favourite album to play, I would probably say ‘Closer’ by Joy Division just because playing that album is like a rollercoaster, lots of highs and lows and it really takes both ourselves and the audience on a journey.”
The Light will be playing at Leopardstown over the summer, and as music venues go, the racecourse is a bit of an odd one. We asked Hooky where it ranked in his list of wackiest places to play… “We’ve definitely had some interesting ones! There was this place called the Black Box in Tijuana in Mexico that we played in 2011 and that was wild. The place had no glass in any of the windows and all of the walls outside were covered in bullet holes! Then there was Budapest last year in Hungary where we actually played on a ship in the middle of the Danube. We get to some very wacky places indeed, so a racecourse in Leopardstown holds no fear for us!”
Joy Division has become one of the most revered and iconic bands ever, but there was a time where the band’s name was a topic of great debate amongst its’ members. Hooky ponders if the band would have been quite as successful as Slaves Of Venus… “I would love to know the answer to that! Probably not – it is a really bad name isn’t it? Still, it’s better than what we were very close to calling New Order – the Witch Doctors of Zimbabwe! Even worse!”
Speaking of New Order, we quizzed Hooky on the possibility of reuniting with his former band members and touring as New Order again; “Unfortunately I don’t think there is any sort of reconciliation on the cards. If they want to use the New Order name and play as New Order, even though they are quite obviously not New Order, then that is their prerogative and there are people out there who enjoy it.”
There’s still quite a bit of bad blood there clearly, not that Hooky is particularly bothered, “But by the same token there are people out there who enjoy what we are doing as The Light, and I have to say I am happier doing this then I ever have been in any other touring band, so long may it continue as far as I am concerned. We are on a journey and people are enjoying it. The next step is to perform the next two albums ‘Low Life’ and ‘Brotherhood’ live for the first time this September in Manchester and London. Hopefully we can bring that to Ireland too in 2015.”
With New Order carrying on without Hook’s distinctive basslines guiding the way, we asked Peter if he had actually checked out any of the band’s new material. “I heard their new song that they played live recently, Singularity? Or as Bernard mis-spelt it live on stage, Singularty! That was funny as I actually thought their working title for it Drop The Guitar was a miles better name. In terms of the actual song all I would say is that the intro bassline sounds eerily similar to Novelty by Joy Division… make of that what you will!”
When reminiscing about Joy Division, thoughts inevitably revolve around the untimely death of lead singer Ian Curtis. But what if he hadn’t died? Would Joy Division still be as famous as they are? “I think so yes, simply because the songs are that good. The material has really stood the test of time. The fact that Ian left us when he did does mean the band is constantly surrounded by this almost mythical, legendary feel – which I guess we have become used to now. But I do think that if Ian was still with us not much would have changed in terms of how big the band are because the songs are the crucial component to any band and the songs were fantastic.”
We could speculate about all the ifs and buts surrounding Joy Division all day, but ultimately it’s important to keep the focus on the band’s music. The band’s distinctive style influenced a whole new wave of post-punk bands in the last decade, such as Bloc Party, Interpol, White Lies, early-Killers, so we quizzed Hooky on his favourite post-punk revival bands… “I must admit that I really like Interpol, I think they are a great band who are unfairly compared all the time to Joy Division. Their back catalogue stands on its own in my opinion, they don’t need to be weighed down by any comparisons. Paul Banks’ solo record was also great, so I am looking forward to hearing their new stuff.”
Having been an essential member in two of the most outstanding, influential and innovative bands of the last decade, it perhaps wouldn’t be wrong to claim that Peter Hook is one of the finest bassists to grace this earth. His partnership with Joy Division/New Order drummer Stephen Morris could also be regarded with similar reverence. But what does Hooky himself make of his legacy? “Steve is undoubtedly one of the greatest and most innovative drummers, his drumming in Joy Division in particular was extraordinary. I guess we could be considered as a great rhythm section but for me you are never going to beat Keith Moon and John Entwistle from the Who.”
And so concludes our chat with Peter Hook. He and his band will be playing at The Leopardstown Racecourse on the 10th of July.