Peter Hook

Peter Hook
Peter Hook playing with New Order in Manchester (November 2005).
Background information
Birth name	Peter Woodhead
Born	13 February 1956 (1956-02-13) , Broughton, Salford, England
Genres	Post-punk, alternative dance, synthpop, electronic, house, alternative rock
Instruments	Bass guitar, guitar, electronic drums, keyboards, vocals
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Factory, London, Warner Bros., Polydor, Hacienda, 24 Hour Service Station
Associated acts	Joy Division, New Order, Ad Infinitum, Monaco, Revenge, Freebass, The Light, Man Ray

Peter Hook (born 13 February 1956) is an English bass player, musician and author.

He was a co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division along with Bernard Sumner in the mid-1970s. Following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis, the band reformed as New Order, and Hook played bass with them throughout their career until his departure in 2007. He has also recorded an album with Revenge (One True Passion), two albums with Monaco (Music for Pleasure and Monaco) and one album with Freebass (It's A Beautiful Life) as bassist, keyboardist and lead vocalist.

Early life

Born in Salford, Lancashire, to Irene Acton (1928-2000; since 1962 Irene Hook), and John Woodhead. In 1959, his parents divorced and he and his brothers were brought up by his maternal grandmother Alicia Acton (born Chapman; 1896-1968) until 1962, when his mother re-married Ernest W. Hook.^{[citation needed]} Like his band-mate Bernard Sumner did, he took his step-father's surname, although in contrast of his friend he kept it, even more, he created his nickname, Hooky, from it. Because of his step-father's work, he spent part of his childhood in Jamaica before returning to Salford.

Playing style

With New Order's ever increasing use of sequenced synthesised bass, especially throughout most of 1989's Technique and 1993's Republic, Hook's bass playing became ever more melodic and rhythmic, often exploiting the baritone guitar range of his basses.

Hook also contributed backing vocals on numerous Joy Division songs in concert and sang co-lead with Ian Curtis on live versions of Joy Division's "Interzone" and sings lead on two New Order songs ("Dreams Never End" and "Doubts Even Here" from the 1981 debut album Movement).

Hook has said that he developed his high bass lines when he started playing with Joy Division because the speaker that he used initially (bought from his former art teacher for £10) was so poor he had to play that high to be able to hear what he was doing as Bernard Sumner's guitar was so loud.

Equipment

Peter Hook performing with The Light at the Festival do Norte in Vilagarcía de Arousa (8 May 2011).

Basses

• Gibson EB-0 copy – Hook's first bass, bought at Mazel's Music Shop in Manchester in 1976 and used live with Warsaw 1977 (there are photos of him playing it at a 1977 gig at Rafters, Manchester) and on the 18 July 1977 Warsaw demos.^{[citation needed]}
• Hondo Rickenbacker 4001 bass copy – Used on Joy Division's 1978–1980 recordings and used live with Joy Division 1978–1980.^{[citation needed]}In an interview in Bass Guitar magazine, he revealed that was given away to a child for a charity sale "He [the child] didn't even use my name! He just thought it was a bass guitar like any other. Nowadays that'd be worth what, nine or ten grand?"
• Yamaha BB1200 – Basically a neck-through, active version of a Fender Precision Bass with the pick-up installed in a reverse configuration to a Fender P bass.^{[citation needed]} Used on Joy Division's Closer LP and every New Order album.^{[citation needed]}
• Shergold Marathon six-string bass – Has a 30" scale putting it between normal bass (34") and guitar (around 25").^{[citation needed]}
• Eccleshall bass – Based on a Gibson EB2 bass, main live bass.^{[citation needed]} He wanted a hollow body with Yamaha electronics, so Chris Eccleshall took the active electronics from a BB1200 and built a full-scale neck-through bass with 24 frets.^{[citation needed]} Subsequent versions of the bass have been produced using custom circuitry designed by a Japanese student visiting Chris Eccleshall, a custom circuit was needed as Yamaha stopped producing the BB1200 preamp. He is currently awaiting a fourth incarnation of the Eccleshall bass. All are designed to be as identical as possible.
• In 2010 it was announced six Peter Hook Hacienda Bass guitars were to be built using the maple dancefloor sections from the Hacienda as the fretboard on the neck of the guitar.They will be given HAC numbers HAC51 to 56 and Peter Hook will be playing guitar HAC51.

Amplification and effects

The main equipment Hook used during the early days of New Order was an Alembic F-2B preamp/ Roland rack unit/ Amcron DC-300A power amp fed through two large custom built 2 x 15 Gauss loaded flightcase cabinets designed and built by Chris Hewitt of Tractor Music. These can be seen in the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" music video, as can Hook's Yamaha BB1200. The Alembic- Amcron- Gauss system was designed by Peter Hook, Chris Hewitt and Martin Hannett. In the earlier days of Joy Division, Hook used a Hiwatt Custom 100 Watt head initially on top of a Vox Bass Cabinet and then later on top of a 4x15 Gauss loaded Marshall cabinet put together by Tractor. The Marshall 4 x 15 Gauss cabinet was stolen during New Order's first visit to America. He has also used an Ampeg SVT rig, and has expressed interest in Ashdown amplification.

For the most part, his distinctive tone comes from the use of a chorus pedal, an Electro-Harmonix Clone Theory. This has recently been reissued by Electro-Harmonix, and whilst having the same circuitry as the original has a somewhat different tone than the original 1970s ones (described by many reviewers/players as "less exciting").

With Revenge and Monaco, he updated an Ampeg SVT, which is used at maximum volume when playing live.

In New Order from 1990 onwards Hook used Hiwatt 200 watt heads mounted on Hiwatt 1x15 and 4x10 combined speaker cabinets with Fane speakers.

He is currently using Trace Elliot amplification.

Other work

Peter Hook & The Light performing at the Paard van Troje in The Hague, Netherlands (28 May 2011).

In 1984, Hook recorded the single "Telstar" with the band Ad Infinitum, which was composed of him and members of the Stockholm Monsters.

In the late 1980s, Hook also worked as a producer for bands such as Inspiral Carpets and The Stone Roses. In 2003 he contributed bass to a number of tracks on Hybrid's album Morning Sci-Fi, including the single "True to Form". Hook also co-owned the Suite Sixteen recording studio formerly Cargo Studios which Hook purchased with Chris Hewitt in 1984. Cargo and Suite Sixteen in Kenion St Rochdale were major studios in the history of punk and post punk music. A blue plaque was unveiled on the Kenion St Music Building in Rochdale that used to house the studios in September 2009 and Peter Hook played a special concert in Rochdale on that day with Section 25 donating all proceeds to the Back Door Music Project,a Rochdale youth project for people interested in music.

New Order have broken up more than once, and Hook has been involved with other projects. In 1995 he toured with The Durutti Column. He has recorded one album with the band Revenge and two with Monaco (both as bassist, keyboardist and lead vocalist) with David Potts, the latter of which scored a club and alternative radio hit "What Do You Want From Me?" in 1997. Hook and Potts reformed Monaco on two occasions in 2007, with original drummer Paul Kehoe and Hook's son Jack completing the line up for two gigs at Manchester's Hard Rock Cafe in March and at the Ritz Theatre in October. On 4 May 2007, Hook announced on Xfm that he and New Order singer/guitarist Bernard Sumner were no longer working together, effectively spelling the end for the band; the band later denied disbanding. He is currently working on a new band project called Freebass with bass players Mani (The Stone Roses) and Andy Rourke (ex-The Smiths).

He also contributed to Perry Farrell's Satellite Party. His bass can be heard on "Wish Upon a Dogstar" and "Kinky". Inspired by Clint Boon of Inspiral Carpets, he started with the Return To New York nights in London. He contributed a distinctive bassline to Hybrid's 2003 single "True to Form", as well as another track from their Morning Sci-Fi album, "Higher Than a Skyscraper", playing on stage with them on a number of dates of their ensuing tour.

In November 2008 Hook performed a selection of Joy Division and New Order songs in Paris, Brussels, Oss and Krefeld with Section 25. Hook is featured on "Dirty Thirty" and "Blunts & Robots", two tracks off of The Crystal Method's 2009 album Divided by Night. Hook recently compiled "The Hacienda Acid House Classics" following on from his original mix of "The Hacienda Classics" in 2006.

In October 2009, Hook published his book on his time as co-owner of the Hacienda, How Not To Run A Club.

Ironically, Hook then opened a new club and live venue in Manchester, FAC 251 – The Factory, in February 2010 singing lead vocals with his band, The Light. The club is situated in the old head offices of Factory Records in Manchester City Centre. On 18 May 2010, the 30th anniversary of Ian Curtis' death, The Light performed a set of Joy Division songs including every number off Unknown Pleasures.

In 2010, Hook also recorded and released two EPs on American indie record label 24 Hour Service Station as Man Ray with production partner and Freebass keyboardist Phil Murphy. The first, released in April and entitled "Summer 88", revisited the staple sounds of the Hacienda nightclub, with the duo using a mixture of classic Roland synths and drum machines to simulate early Acid House vibes. "Tokyo Joe" followed in December, blending Hook's trademark high range bass sound and old school punk inflected vocal chant with Murphy's classic synths, guitars and drum machines to produce an indie dance track reminiscent of classic New Order. The song was also used as the theme to FAC 251 – The Factory.

In 2011, Peter Hook And The Light released "1102 2011 EP", four versions of Joy Division songs, including the previously unrecorded "Pictures In My Mind." The EP takes its name from the palindromic recording date of 11th February 2011 at Blueprint Studio, Salford. Featured Happy Mondays' vocalist Rowetta sings versions of “Atmosphere”, “New Dawn Fades” and “Insight”. Hook sings “Pictures In My Mind”, an unfinished Joy Division track discovered on a demo recording unearthed by the band’s “bootleg society” from a rehearsal tape stolen in 1977, setting it between Warsaw and Unknown Pleasures. The effervescent and punk tinged tune was completed for this release, and was declared "a worthy addition to the Joy Division canon" by BB6 DJ 
Mark Radcliffe.

Personal life

Hook was born in Salford. He was in a relationship first with Iris Bates, with whom he has two children, daughter Heather (born in 1985) and son Jack (born in 1989). In 1994, he married comedian Caroline Aherne. After the marriage broke down in 1997, he went on to marry a former air hostess called Becky Jones and had a child with her called Jessica (born in 1998).

Film portrayals

In Michael Winterbottom's 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which focused on Factory Records, Hook was played by Ralf Little. In Anton Corbijn's 2007 film Control, which focused on the life of Ian Curtis, he was played by Joe Anderson.

External links

• Official website
• FAC 51 The Hacienda - Hacienda Records UK
• 24 Hour Service Station - Hacienda Records USA
• Peter Hook's Myspace
• Peter Hook RBMA video lecture session Pt.1
• Peter Hook RBMA video lecture session Pt.2
• BBC interview with Peter Hook
• Interview with Peter Hook about Joy Division legacy and Closer live tour - Rocker Magazine 2011
• Peter Hook talks about saving a child's life
• Interview with Hook from Glastonbury 2010 by Francisco A. Tapia Robles for Adictos Al Ruido (Latin American music website and radio network).