Peter Hook of New Order fame plays Toronto Sept. 19
While old bandmates Hook, Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert continue their dispute, Hook tours with new band the Light
By: Ben Rayner Pop Music Critic,
Published on Tue Sep 17 2013
The odds of New Order ever kissing and making up again seem pretty slim, as the ferocious war of words between bassist Peter Hook and former bandmates Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert shows no sign of abating anytime soon.
Oh well, at least that part of it is entertaining. Meanwhile, fans are left with the unthinkable spectacle of New Order touring since its 2011 “reformation” without the man whose limber bass lines were the signature feature of its sound, and Peter Hook touring and playing guitar in a new band, the Light, that’s performing New Order’s first two albums, 1981’s Movement and 1983’s Power, Corruption & Lies, in their entirety on the road.
Hook and the Light — which also features his 24-year-old son, Jack, on bass and three gents from his old side project, Monaco — have already done a couple of tours performing Unknown Pleasures and Closer, the two classic albums left to us by Joy Division before frontman Ian Curtis committed suicide in 1980. Those jaunts were done, says Hook, to honour his old friend and bandmate’s legacy. This one seems to be at least partly about sticking it to New Order, but also about exhuming a lot of fabulous tunes that never had a chance to be heard from the stage. He’s already looking forward to doing Low-Life and Brotherhood next summer.
The Star rang Hook up last week on a phone that just happened to be wearing an Unknown Pleasures case. He plays the Hoxton on Thursday, Sept. 19.
Q. So are you just gonna run through the entire New Order catalogue now that you’ve got Unknown Pleasures and Closer out of the way?
A. No, I think the idea is to run through the Peter Hook catalogue. It struck me that I was having such fun playing all this stuff that had been ignored for years I may as well carry on going through all the other stuff that I was ignoring for years, as well; I suppose the idea being that you play every track that you’ve ever recorded at least once before you shuffle off this mortal coil and go and join Ian Curtis in the great band in the sky.
Q. There’s a lot of stuff that never got played live at all.
A. You know what, the strangest thing about it all is that every time you bring these songs up and you’ve not played them for 20 years, you’re like: “Oh my god.” Some of them are that great that you wonder why you wouldn’t play them for 20 years. . . . In New Order, before we split, there was always a certain reluctance, shall we say, on Bernard’s part and Stephen’s to revisit the past: not the Joy Division stuff, the old New Order stuff. You do take on board the fact that you’ve moved on, but it did seem rather a shame and the thing is, you ended up doing the same set, more or less, every night. And, I must admit, I’m delighted to see that in 2011 and 2012 they’ve kept up with that remit and changed the set very little from when it was 2006.
Q. It does seem like you’re having fun tearing into these tunes.
A. I suppose the odd thing was that, in New Order before we split up, there was a barrier to you doing it and now that that’s been removed it’s like being given the keys to a toy shop. You’re able to run in and grab them all. It’s fantastic.
Q. Is there any chance of a reconciliation between you guys?
A. We’re still no nearer an agreement, never mind a reconciliation. The fact that they did what they did behind my back without me knowing, without my knowledge or consent, is something that I’m still fighting. I don’t think it’s fair and I’m still looking for a legal remedy to that.
Q. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not New Order without Peter Hook. But surely you’re aware that there are others out there who don’t approve of what you’re doing, either.
A. It’s interesting for me because I’m not pretending to be something I’m not. It would be like me touring and saying I was Joy Division, in my eyes. In my opinion, it would be like me calling myself Joy Division and playing Unknown Pleasures. That’s how much of a travesty they are.
Q. It’s sad to see all fall apart like this.
A. It’s quite a unique happening, which I’m very proud of. I’m sure Rob (Gretton) and Tony Wilson and Martin Hannett would be very proud to see us doing it so publicly. We might as well have booked a boxing ring and sold tickets. This is like a verbal boxing ring, isn’t it?
Q. At least you get to play with your son in the Light.
A. My son learned to play bass much earlier than me, actually. He learned about 13 or 14 years old. And while his taste in music did not stretch to Joy Division or New Order — he’s much more into Queens of the Stone Age and Metallica and it was always him telling me to turn down my bloody racket — he became quite good at playing bass. He had his own group. So what happened was that when I decided to get the group together, he was in college and because I couldn’t get a singer, I then had to step into those rather big shoes and I needed a bass player and he was all too ready to volunteer. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten into very much trouble with his mother — his two mothers, actually — because he gave up college to come with me. I’ve shot myself in the foot. He’s becoming a very tough taskmaster, actually. He’s very, very enthusiastic. I keep having to remind him how old I am with the amount of work that he’s desperately trying to get me to do.
Q. I guess you didn’t get to tour much with New Order, either.
A. I am enjoying it, that’s the thing. In New Order, towards the end I don’t think there was very much enjoyment in it for anybody. I loved touring. Unfortunately, dragging a rather heavy load about became rather tiresome.
This is what amuses me now with the new New Order — New Odour, as I call them — their love of touring. It’s like they’ve been kidnapped by aliens.Q. Again, this all makes me very sad.
A. It’s a very odd situation. Because for me, as a businessman — which I have been and have had to be for a long time — it’s a hell of a way to do business. If you’re gonna come back and bring the group back from the dead, I would have thought that you’d want to make the way as smooth as possible and surround it with good vibes instead of the way that they’ve done it because you stand a very good chance of ostracizing the very people that you’re trying to appeal to because of your behaviour. I find it very strange, actually. But it’s not stranger than I found it when I was in New Order, so there you go.
Q. So the Light is it for the foreseeable future?
A. As long as there is somebody there to listen, I will be bitching away and playing away until the day that the Good Lord decides to shut me up forever.
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