Music preview: Peter Hook

Dark and bleak, yet sinisterly cool, Joy Division may have had a painfully short tenure, but the magnitude of their legacy is such that out of sheer respect alone, their oeuvre has remained sacred for the best part of 30 years.

Joy Division released two timeless classics, Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980). Following the death of their enigmatic singer Ian Curtis, who committed suicide in 1980 at the age of 23, the rest of the band regrouped as New Order, with Bernard Sumner taking over vocal duties. They achieved international success, but acrimoniously split up when their bass player, Peter Hook, decamped in 2007. Sumner went on to form Bad Lieutenant, but a continued feud between he and Hook virtually put paid to any chance of New Order ever reforming … or so it seemed.

In October 2011, New Order announced they were getting back together; this time without Hook. Perhaps understandably, he was livid and still is.

"They are not New Order without me. It's like me saying, 'I am Joy Division,' " Hook tells The Prague Post. "Now I'm going to treat them like they've treated me. It's disgusting, and I'm continuing to fight it."

Part of that fight started last year when Hook announced he was going to tour with Joy Division material, much to the dismay of many diehard Joy Division purists and critics alike. He says he got the idea after being asked to help out with a proposed Ian Curtis exhibition.  

"There was supposed to be a festival in Macclesfield in May 2010 to commemorate Ian," Hook says. "When that fell through, I was very disappointed, as I'd waited for the anniversary to be observed at other times. So I decided to do Unknown Pleasures at my club in Manchester, The Factory, as a celebration of Ian's life and music. It sold out, and we did an extra night. Reactions were very good, and then I was asked to take it around the world. It's been great to get the songs back after 30 years."

Hook's new band, The Light, is a collection of musicians culled from various side projects he's been involved with over the years, such as Freebass and Monaco. He's also drafted in his son, Jack, who is apparently a chip off the old block.

"Jack's a really good bass player and very dedicated to the band," Hook says. "I'm lucky really, because it's not every father who knows exactly where his 22-year-old son is all the time."

Hook also plays bass in The Light but has the added responsibility of tackling Curtis' lyrics, which can be quite daunting.

"At first, I was terrified," Hook says. "But I'm used to it now and enjoy it."  

Asked whether he was aware of the despairing subtext of Curtis' lyrics for Joy Division,  Hook cryptically responds, "At first, yes. But, as time went on, particularly on Closer you knew it went a bit deeper than that and were afraid to ask."    

Hook will be performing Unknown Pleasures in its entirety at his Prague debut, and has decided to leave Closer for another time.

"I prefer to play records as an album format," he says. "I think it's more respectful to the work, and we take great care to replicate the albums as faithfully as possible, even to the point where they start with the sound of the needle hitting the album. Prague can expect a spirited, honest, passionate, respectful run-through of some of the greatest songs ever written."   

James Scanlon can be reached at
features@praguepost.com