Peter Hook

For the American linguist, see Peter E. Hook.

Peter Hook
Peter Hook playing with New Order in Manchester (November 2005).
Background information
Birth name	Peter Woodhead
Born	(1956-02-13) 13 February 1956 Broughton, Salford, England
Genres	Post-punk, new wave, alternative rock, alternative dance, synthpop, electronic
Instrument(s)	Bass guitar, drum machine, keyboards, synthesizer, guitar, melodica, vocals
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Factory, London, Warner Bros., Polydor, Hacienda, 24 Hour Service Station

Peter Hook (born 13 February 1956) is an English bass player, musician, singer, DJ, nightclub owner, and author. He is currently lead vocalist and bassist for Peter Hook and The Light.

Hook was a co-founder of the seminal 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 the modern rock band, New Order, and Hook played bass with them until his departure in 2007. The band has since reformed without Hook. 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 Peter Woodhead in Salford, Lancashire, to Irene Acton (1928–2000; since 1962 Irene Hook), and John Woodhead. When he was the age of 3, 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. Like his band-mate Bernard Sumner, he took his stepfather's surname, although in contrast to his friend he kept it, even creating his nickname, "Hooky," from it. Because of his stepfather's work, he spent part of his childhood in Jamaica before returning to Salford.

Playing style

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.

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 higher notes on 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." He sings lead on two New Order songs ("Dreams Never End" and "Doubts Even Here" from the 1981 debut album Movement).

Equipment

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 18 July 1977 Warsaw demos. He still owns it.
• Gibson EB-01 – He used it after retiring the EB-0 copy, but sold it years later because he had no money.
• Hondo Rickenbacker 4001 bass copy – Used on Joy Division's 1978–1980 recordings and used live with Joy Division 1978–1980. In an interview in Bass Guitar magazine, he revealed that it 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. Used on Joy Division's Closer LP and every New Order album.
• Shergold Marathon six-string bass – Has a 30" scale putting it between normal bass (34") and guitar (around 25").
• Eccleshall bass – Based on a Gibson EB2 bass, main live bass. 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. 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

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

The main equipment Hook used during the early days of New Order were 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 Sound City L120 head and then a Hiwatt Custom 100 Watt head. The Sound City and Hiwatt heads were both used with a Vox Foundation 1x18 cabinet bought from Hook's former art teacher. The Hiwatt was then used 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 similar 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 then played and recorded with 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 from 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 11 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 BBC 6Music DJ Mark Radcliffe.

In 2012, Hook launched a brand new Masters Degree Program in Music Industry Management and Promotion at the University of Central Lancashire, due to start in October 2012. It provides an opportunity to study the music business at postgraduate level and to get hands-on experience of working within the industry. Students will combine their academic studies with a placement in a commercial music industry institution working on real world projects. The course offers industrial experience which will involve working in the Factory 251 venue in Manchester, providing contact with significant industry figures connected with this culturally important company. Hook was awarded an honorary fellowship from the same institution on 11 July 2012.

Personal life

In 1979, Hook was questioned as a suspect in the Yorkshire Ripper case. Joy Division's touring schedule happened to be similar to Peter Sutcliffe's movements which led to the police's suspicion. Following gigs in Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds and Manchester, Hook was questioned and drummer Stephen Morris was arrested.

He has 2 children from his first relationship with Iris Bates. 29 year old Heather and 24 year old Jack.

In 1994, he married comedian Caroline Aherne but the marriage broke down in 1996.

He then went on to marry again to Rebecca and he has a daughter with her named Jessica.

In July 2012 Hook was awarded a Honorary Fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire during the graduation of the university's creative art students.

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
• Peter Hook's Myspace (Official)

Interviews

• 2013 interview with Peter Hook, discussing Movement and Power, Corruption and Lies
• Peter Hook RBMA video lecture session
• BBC interview with Peter Hook
• Interview with Peter Hook about Joy Division legacy and Closer live tour – Rocker Magazine 2011
• Interview with Hook from Glastonbury 2010 by Francisco A. Tapia Robles for Adictos Al Ruido (Latin American music website and radio network).