It’s 2pm on Wednesday May 15 and Peter Hook is having his roots done for tomorrow’s Cannes premiere of the Ian Curtis biopic, Control.
“Tell your readers that and I’ll come round and firebomb your home,” says Hooky, who thankfully doesn’t know where I live. He knows where the hotpress offices are but, hey, let the insurance company worry about that. Unlike the international press corps who gave it a standing ovation – see, we’re not all unappreciative wretches – the 51-year-old had already seen the Anton Corbijn-directed film prior to going to France. His verdict, although not that of a qualified movie critic like Tara Brady, is overwhelmingly positive.
“Do you know what? I’m really, really proud of Anton. The guy has lived with this film, heart and soul, and done the ultimate, which is put a shit-load of his own money in. I don’t think anyone else could have done what he’s done. If you look at the ‘Atmosphere’ video he did in 1988 and you see the film, it’s the same sort of feeling. Anton, because he’s lived with us for so long, has got it 100% right whereas, good laugh or not, 24 Hour Party People was a work of fiction. Most of our fans will love Control when they see it ‘cos it captures the hope and the desperation and is… very, very Manchester. It’s true to the ideal people had of Joy Division.”
There being no such thing as a free premiere, Hooky had to lug his record box down to Cork with him.
“Yeah, for a pre-premiere beach party, so the old-timers can get drunk and then piss all the way through the film.”
What a lovely mental image. Although they looked happy enough walking down the red carpet together in Cannes, Hook is adamant that New Order are no more.
“Bernard and I are not going to be working together,” he says matter-of-factly. “It’s one of those things. People move on and it felt like it was time for a change again. Anyway, if we don’t split up now, how are we going to be able to reform in a few years’ time for that lucrative reunion tour?”
Make of that what you will. Not a man to stay home and watch daytime television, Hooky has gotten together with Mani and Andy Rourke to form the Freebass – geddit? – supergroup.
“It’s fun, but at the same time hard work,” he reflects. “It’s only when you try and replace someone like Bernard that you realise how gifted they are. Add the singers Andy and Mani have been in bands with and we’re tough fucking employers to impress! We do have a young Moston lad, Carl, that we’re trying out next week, so after that hopefully we’ll be in business.”
Pity the poor soundman who has three old codgers demanding “more bass in the monitors.”
“You’ve obviously been at one of our rehearsals,” he cackles. “We’ve 17 songs in instrumental form, one of which is going up soon on myspace.com/peterhookneworder so that people actually believe me when I talk about ‘works in progress’!”
Out of interest, is there ever an occasion when Mani isn’t totally mad for it?
“The lad’s certainly got a passion,” Peter smiles. “I’ve seen him worried, which is good ‘cause you need that nervousness to stop you becoming complacent. He was especially crapping it two weeks ago when we DJ-ed together at this festival in Spain, and found out milliseconds before going on that it was all techno, which we don’t do. Mani’s a good bloke to be in the trenches with, though, and we bluffed our way through.”
Would he agree that, as with stand-up comedy, DJ-ing can be a very solitary experience?
“Yeah, I really do miss the group hugs and the bottles thrown at each other across the dressing-room after,” Hooky deadpans. “It can be solitary, but the rewards when it goes well are greater ‘cause you’ve done it on your own. There wasn’t much artistry involved when I started DJ-ing ‘cause I was an alcoholic, but now that I’ve given up I’m quite intensive in my preparations.”
Like Bobby Gillespie – famous quote: “If I wanted to watch cunts sending emails, I’d go to an internet café” – he wouldn’t be a big minimalist techno fan.
“That’s very good for Bobbie! There was this guy in Spain who sounded like he was clipping his nails for two hours, and the whole fucking room was grooving. I just don’t get it.”
Indeed there was a time when the Mancunian didn’t get any aspect of dance culture.
“I used to think that all DJs were arseholes,” he confesses. “Then I became one and realised I was right! No, it’s gone from being a drunken laugh to something that’s given me back my interest in music.”
You can discover whether Hooky’s as dexterous with a turntable as he is a bass on June 16 when he plays Dublin’s South William Bar. What are his current floor-filling failsafes?
“You can’t go wrong with your Candi Statons and your Bodyrockers, can you? I’ve been lucky in that only once have I had a complete disaster, which was in Italy. They were booing and throwing cigarettes at me, so I stuck the Sex Pistols on.”
Did that win the crowd over?
“No, but for the bouncers they’d have lynched me. 29 years after it came out, ‘Anarchy In The UK’ can still cause a riot!”