Hooky Performs Joy Division
Peter Hook by William Ellis
Music might have many enduring iconic figures but from the mid ‘70s to the present, slightly more brooding fans have cultified Joy Division and their late singer Ian Curtis with their story playing out in the media and in cinematic portrayals like 2002’s 24 Hour Party People and 2007’s Control. With the remaining trio reinventing themselves as the longer-running and equally influential New Order, Joy Division’s original founders Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook would continue to forge a musical identity that will surely continue to shape the form of music to come.
While Hook’s (or “Hooky” as he’s affectionately called) relationship with his former band mates has changed considerably, time has not stopped for this eternally bearded master of the bass guitar. Since New Order’s original disbanding he has worked with other artists in bands and projects like Monaco, Freebass and Revenge. Now wearing the hats of club owner, DJ and author, he continues to tour as Peter Hook and the Light, a band that features his son Jack Bates and performs Joy Division and New Order material.
“Well, although I think the music sounded mature, we didn’t really know or see that at the time and as always, I have to pay testament to the influence of Martin Hannett on our sound,” says Hook regarding Joy Division’s mature and composed sound, created in their early 20’s. “I’m not sure I really think either Joy Division or New Order when we were younger had a mature attitude really. Although the image of Joy Division was quite dour, we were a distinctive but very normal band and people didn’t use to see that really, or didn’t until I wrote the Joy Division book which I did to counter the idea that we were all very earnest bookish.”
With both bands, Hook achieved a period of musical growth as well as an enviable and frenzied output. With countless EPs and singles and five albums released between both outfits between 1978 and 1985, a product of their hard work and the agility of being young and proud of having accomplished so much from nothing. “Nowadays, some 35 years later, my attitude has certainly matured, although various people around me might not agree and although not everything seems as immediately necessary as it did when we were younger, I still love performing live and always have.”
This past December, Hook and the Light held court at Hebden Bridge’s Trades Club and as he explains, “the residency came about because we did all six of the Joy Division and New Order albums on three different nights in LA. The promoter at the club saw this and got in touch to offer us to do it there on consecutive nights. It’s something I’d always wanted to do in the UK and it went very well.” Though the performance took a toll on the band, Hook is proud of their flawless playing and doubly so that Abbey Road, who had previously recorded them at a festival, got involved to record the nights with the Hebden Bridge Tapes now a quasi-official Peter Hook and the Light release capturing all 78 tracks.
While Joy Division and Ian Curtis, as well as New Order may enjoy cult status, Peter Hook remains a humble figure in the fracas of an on-going legal struggle with his former New Order mates that started with their taking of the trademark and goodwill in 2011. “I think that the legacies of both bands are so wide and varied, that it is hard to know how they tint people’s perceptions in truth and there are so many differing opinions and interpretations which is great testament to the work we all achieved,” he diplomatically states, “With me revisiting the music of my early career with The Light, I have gone back to the albums and singles and come to realise and be very proud of what we accomplished. Not just with one but two bands and for New Order to come up after the demise of Joy Division gives the whole story another arc.”
Peter Hook and the Light has recently toured South America and will be embarking on a short tour of the South Eastern United States kicking off on April 17 at Miami’s Grand Central, “fans can expect to hear a faithful and passionate live performance of the Joy Division canon. We change it around every night apart from the albums really. It’s something I find very, how shall we say, heartening about The Light, that they can play every song, sometimes I can feel like Springsteen, like I can just call out a song and they can play it. I like that.”
~ Abel Folgar
