Many musicians try and find success with one band or one outlet. It is very rare that a musician can find deep success and respect with two bands. For Peter Hook, who played bass in both Joy Division and New Order, he has managed to accomplish that task. After the suicide of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis in 1980, the members of Joy Division didn't stop, they formed New Order and carried on and took the 1980s and most of the 1990s by storm. The bands on-again-off-again hiatus for much of the late 90's and early 00's lead to Hook announcing he and New Order singer Bernard Sumner were no longer working together and left the band. In 2011, around the time Hook was taking his new band, The Light on the road to tour Joy Division's acclaimed final record, Closer, New Order announced they were replacing Hook and would continue touring. While the fallout between Hook and the rest of his former band remains in the headlines, he is looking to still continue playing the music of the bands he was in and still loves. Next month, he and The Light will bring New Order's timeless albums, Movement and Power, Corruption, and Lies to the U.S. following a successful run in Europe earlier this year. Take a look at my interview with Hook below:
How have the shows been in America as opposed to the rest of the world?
Well we have toured America twice now, in 2010 we toured Unknown Pleasures, then in 2011 we mainly toured closer, so to follow that with the Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies seemed like the next logical step in the plan. So this will be our third tour and there is a reason that we are starting the tour in the states because the last two tours have been wonderful, great crowds and so nice to go back. I enjoy playing to American audiences and am delighted to be coming back. Audiences are very different all over the world but Americans crowds have always been very welcoming to us which is nice.
Are American audiences different from those in Europe or South America?
Not too different in my opinion, we have been lucky in that we have had the opportunity to go round the world with this show and we have been well received everywhere. American audiences are very clued up on their music and they know their stuff, so we will be working hard to hopefully give them a great night!
In The Light, your son, Jack, is playing bass. In New Order's current line-up Tom Chapman is playing your parts. How is it that the music of New Order is being played live around the world and you are not playing your signature bass hooks?
Yes it is certainly a very funny situation isn't it! The good thing about this set though is that I do get to play a lot more bass, the music allows me to play much more than it did for the Joy Division sets that we did, which is nice. I suppose I should be flattered really that my bass lines are getting such airplay at the moment even if it isn't me that's playing the majority of them.
After this tour, will you be playing some of New Order's other albums live down the line?
Yes, believe it or not we do have a plan! We will tour our Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies set around the world first but once we have done that we do plan to move onto the next two records, Low Life and Brotherhood, towards the end of 2014.
Last year you released you fantastic book, Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division, are you kicking around the idea of releasing an inside story on New Order?
My writing partner Andrew Holmes and myself have actually already started on the New Order book. We are aiming to release that in 2014. I really enjoy the writing process. It will be a very different book to the Joy Division book.
New Order was a band that were so ahead of their time and still today the music from 20-30 years ago sounds as fresh as any new band out there. Did you think you were making such timeless music when it was happening?
I knew that what we were doing was good but I have to be honest and say that I really did not foresee the legacy that the music would leave and how good it would fare in terms of standing the test of time. I'm proud of the material as a whole and even more proud that it still sounds fresh all these years later.
Do you ever sit back and wonder and look at your musical career after being in Joy Division and New Order and say, 'Wow?' most artists struggle to make a success with one band, but you did it with two!
I am extremely proud, all of us should be proud of what we achieved together. It's a shame that there are rifts and divisions between us now but I hope that one day we can put all that rubbish aside and at least just sit down and go 'wow, we were good!' -- I have no regrets and wouldn't change anything for the world.
With the love/hate situation going on between you and your former band, if Ian Curtis were alive today, what would he say about all of this?
If he were alive today I am sure that he would have banged our heads together by now! It is a shame and I am sick and tired of the fighting but my mother told me to stand up for what I believe in and that is what I am doing in relation to the others.
A Longer Version Of This Interview Appears on www.officiallyayuppie.com