Peter Hook is no shrinking violet. The 56-year-old has lived his life in the spotlight for 30-odd-years and as such there have been public breakups, makeups and rebirths. The latter is at the cusp of Tenement TV’s chat with the Joy Division and New Order legend as we talk the drink, the tours and still ‘aving it as a middle-aged geezer.
“Emotional is a strange word to describe the up-and-coming tour, especially with what I have been through lately. But it’s a word that comes to mind.
“I took the idea of playing the Joy Division stuff off of Bobby Gillespie and him doing his Screamadelica. I thought, fucking great idea Bobby.
“The thing is you put so much work and effort into doing albums, from the structure and the stories about your life, which are very important to you. I mean the album is the be-all-and-end-all of your life. The creativity and satisfaction from recording all comes from the finished LP.
“It did strike me that it would be great to play every album I had ever done before I finished. So that’s why we planned the tours. We’ve done Unknown pleasures, Closer, Still and now we are moving onto Movement/ Power, Corruption and Lies.
“So yeah, emotional is a weird word for it because of what has happened with New Order over the past year and the fight that we have had.”
Since announcing that he and fellow New Order band member Bernard Sumner were no longer working together in 2007, Hook has reaped success with Peter Hook and The Light, published books and the popularity with Factory-based Manchester club The Factory.
2013 will see lost tracks from New Order’s 2005 album Waiting for the Sirens’ Call complied into a mini-album Lost Sirens. Hook reminisces fondly of the quality of the recordings: “The idea was that we were going to do another album really quickly and one of my dissatisfactions with the rest of the band when we were working together was the fact that it didn’t happen.
“The tracks were ignored for six years. I kept asking the question ‘why isn’t lost sirens out?’ It’s just a ridiculous thing that it hasn’t come out.
“I mean Lost Sirens does mark the end to my song writing with them, and that is a weird thing. I had gone to rehab just as the tracks were finished off. I was recovering from alcoholism and I wasn’t able to put in as much input as I wanted to.
“So I was in rehab and they didn’t wait. The whole thing was tinged and had a weird feel to it. I felt Ok about the song choices at the time and thought; yeah those tracks should have been left off.
“I only listened to it properly a few months ago when I had the time and I thought fucking hell! These tracks are really good.
“It’s really interesting from a recording point of view because these tracks had a lot of money spent on them and were treated in exactly the same way as the other album tracks. A lot of bands can’t afford to put the same production values on tracks and a lot of music nowadays sounds under-produced because of this. I think you can tell that a lot of tracks are done on a computer and lack clarity.
“I suppose it’s all thanks to everyone that illegally downloads music. They have fucked the sound. It all sounds shit, and it’s their entire fault! So thanks for that.”
An integral cheerleader for dance music, Hooky- his lovingly-coined pet name from fans- appreciates the hit-makers of our times. And whether we like it or not the names in the list include David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia and Calvin Harris: “I listen to a lot of dance music, I must admit that people who make great singles nowadays like Swedish House Mafia don’t really focus on the LP’s.
“The LP’s are getting a bit lost unfortunately. David Guetta and Calvin Harris do make some great records but not LP’s. I mean even Ed Sheeran has some great singles but the LP isn’t the same.
“I’m at the age now where everything is sounding familiar. It’s very difficult to get excited about something. Bands like Dum Dum Girls and Cut Copy do actually grab you. I like a lot of high energy, hard dance music.
“I like to mix with the past and the future because that’s what makes it interesting for me. A lot of kids nowadays just focus on the hits, and not a great album like we used to.”
Like most Northern bands, it’s no surprise Hook holds a special place for Glasgow’s Barrowlands: “Wildest venue? It’s without a doubt The Barrowlands. There was something fucking mad and manic about it every time you played it. That always sticks with me no matter what.
“I’ve got so much on the go at the moment. I have been writing a New Order book, writing new music with the boys, I’m doing a lot of DJ-ing. I am very busy actually. I’ve got the club in Manchester which is great. It’s good to have it because when you go and DJ they keep you on your toes. You’ve got to be very current and very cool at the same time. And for a 56-year-old fucking bloke it can be very taxing.
“Everything stops when you stop, so I suppose that’s the secret- you’ve got to keep going.”
Edited by Nadine Walker
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The final tracks from the “Waiting For The Sirens Call” sessions are to be released as ‘The Lost Sirens’ in mid January 2013, a mini album featuring Peter Hook,Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Philip Cunningham.
‘The Lost Siren’s features eight tracks and are all previously unreleased. ‘Hellbent’ features on ‘The Lost Sirens’ in its original non-radio edit form and ‘I Told You So’ is also previously unreleased mix.
The CD is being released across multiple territories between 14th Jan and 22nd Jan 2012.
To order the CD on Amazon check here – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-
“Movement / Power Corruption and lies” Debut Concerts Jan 2013 – Manchester Sold Out /London & Cardiff Warm up few tickets remain: http://www.peterhook.co.uk/#/
