Get Hooked: Peter Hook On Joy Division, Ian Curtis, And Manchester City

If somebody created a version of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” for Manchester musicians, Peter Hook would probably be Kevin Bacon. We grabbed ourselves a place in the Hooky-verse when we got the former Joy Division and New Order bass player on the phone in Majorca. Despite what they tell you elsewhere, he’s not sarcastic at all …

Hi Peter.
Well you’ve got the right accent for Beijing, haven’t you?

And you’ve got the right accent for Majorca, I suppose. Anyway, you wrote a book called How Not to Run a Club. Any advice for Beijing club owners? We were lucky at The Hacienda in that we never did it for money, so we were able to be arty. But you have to find a balance between art and making money. When I played in Beijing – Babyface, was it? – about five years ago, the scene was just opening up. They were trying to blind everyone with technology, which was the wrong approach.

Joy Division are one of the bands most often cited by Beijing bands as an influence on their sound. Is that something you’re aware of?
No, but I’m flattered. Joy Division have been such a huge influence around the world, it’s quite humbling. When we started out in that horrible rehearsal room in 1977, you didn’t care about the rest of the world. That wasn’t our “raison d’etre” as it were. We were doing it to get out of Manchester. And I suppose we achieved that. It’s humbling, but it doesn’t get you through the day, does it?

Joy Division’s standing seems only to have gotten bigger over the years. Why do you think that is?
You have to say it’s the songs. There’s the sense that it’s all about Ian Curtis taking his life and the myth around that. When you look at Amy Winehouse, yes, that still has an allure. But “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” “Transmission” – the songs all sound as fresh now as 30 years ago.

And which one line, of all Ian Curtis’ lyrics, holds the most truth for you?
Now I’m singing Joy Division songs, I appreciate his craft much more. I see the clever little tricks he used. Other people don’t use the same word twice in a song. Ian Curtis would use the same word four times. The one that stands out for me is the line “How I wish you were here with me now,” from “In a Lonely Place.” There’s something agonizing, tantalizing, to think that was the last thing he wrote.

Is there any one bassline you wish you’d written yourself?
I don’t really compare very often. But that Fleetwood Mac one that’s the Formula 1 theme tune on the BBC [That’d be “The Chain” – Ed.]. I’m probably just jealous. I’d love my bassline to be the Formula 1 theme.

And one you’re glad you did write yourself?
Many. But I’d pick out “She’s Lost Control.” My son plays bass as well, and he’s 21 now, the same age I was when I wrote that bassline. He’s playing the bass on the Unknown Pleasures tour I’ve been doing, and every time I hear him play that I’m very proud. The thing was, when we started out, the bass was always in the background, and I was like “fuck that” – I wanted to change that, get us bass players out in front and do the main thing, do the main melody, be as loud as the guitarists.

You’ve been criticized and had your share of bad press in the UK. With the phone hacking scandal that’s going on just now, what’s your opinion of the British media?
Haha. The thing is by being “rock & roll,” I’ve got a pass. Unlike if you’re a politician, journalist, doctor, whatever, the media forgive you if you’re rock & roll, so I’m in the enviable position of being able to get away with things. they caught me full of coke, in bed with two prostitutes, or something like that, I’d be forgiven. That media hacking thing, it probably grew from some small idea, but then when you get to what happened with Milly Dowler – that’s disgusting. They just went too far. It’s like they say, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. So maybe they need knocking down, like some government or something.

What about if you were the Prime Minister of Britain, what would be the first thing you’d do?
You know, if you’d asked me this 30 years ago, it’d have been a very different answer. It’d have been all-night drinking, free this, free that. I’d be more realistic now. You’re chosen to look after your people, so you’ve got to be fair, and got to be honest.

Assuming you have no influence in the matter, what do you think they’ll write on your gravestone?
My kids know what to write, I’ve already told them. “Here is Dad” – that’s pretty much it.

You always seem to have had a flair for taking the piss a bit, winding people up. Where does that come from?
That’s a Northern thing, you should know that.

I suppose so. Finally then, as a Manchester United supporter, how do you rate United’s “noisy neighbors” and their chances for the new season?
The thing I love about Manchester City is they’ll always be City. They’ll always be the underdog. And them right now, it’s like they’re rummaging around in dustbins and they’ve found somebody’s wallet. But United will always have that bit of class that City will never have. You can’t buy class.

Supercolab presents Peter Hook at Tango on Sep 3. RMB 120, RMB 80 (advance). 9pm.