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Peter Hook very kindly took some time to chat with Yorkshire Coast Gigs prior to his DJ set in Scarborough for the official Happy Mondays afterparty, FAC51 Hacienda at the Spa Complex, on Saturday 22nd June.
In between a nostalgia trip of clearing out memorabilia from his lock-up during a rare few days off, it seemed clear that he still loves touring and performing. There were hints of the already well-documented tensions with the remainder of New Order / Bad Lieutenant, albeit it seemed largely outweighed by his love for the experiences he has had and his enthusiasm for his own current projects, with plans stacking up well into next year. He also discussed the importance of self-belief and nurturing new talent.
The FAC51 Hacienda Afterparty at the Spa has been billed as one of the biggest dance events to hitScarborough. Is this your first time in Scarborough?
Actually, I used to come here quite a lot as a kid, family holidays in the caravan with my parents. I’m pretty sure that whilst New Order didn’t play here, we might have stayed here overnight once as well, en route to a gig.
What would make the 22nd June go down as a night to remember, for you in particular?
I have a great naïveté about life, that wherever we go, people are mostly well-meaning and welcoming – so long as we get a good greeting, I’ll be absolutely fine. I think that we attract a certain type of audience, a like-minded set of people like us, so I’ll just look forward to that.
What would you hope that the fans, old and new, might take away from it?
Nothing, the robbing bleeders!!
At the ones we’ve done so far, there’s been a sense of shared love for the Manchester – Madchester culture, that wonderful period from about 1988-93 – and dare I say it, some of the older fans, who maybe don’t get out as much as they would like, relish the opportunity to get out and let their hair down. It leads to some interesting nights – and some interesting hangovers!
For me, it is nice to be able to relive some of that formative time of my youth – 24 Hour Party People united to make a real night of it.
I gather that very recently the Happy Mondays had to postpone and ultimately cancel their Australian tour, due to drummer Gary Whelan being unwell. You were originally meant to be joining them out there, and I guess this must have been disheartening for all parties. We hope that Gary is much improved: I know you’ve said recently in interview that the Mondays are currently as good as the best they’ve ever sounded. Do you think there’ll be any surprises in store to make up for the disappointment of not going to Australia?
It was a shame, of course, for myself and for Darren from 808 State who was supposed to replace me on the rescheduled tour, but we’ll all be together again on Saturday and hope to have a good time. The Mondays are as unpredictable as ever so who knows what excitement to expect at the concert.
It’s been great to get the Hacienda brand back together and on tour, to get to meet up with the old crowd, the Mondays, 808 State, Graeme Park, Mike Pickering… and relive the glory days.
You’ve been advocating for the new music school, BIMM Manchester. What is your involvement, and why are you so supportive of courses like this?
I’m not involved with teaching or anything, I am lucky enough to be too busy gigging, but I support courses like this because I have had such a great time doing what I do, I want others to be able to experience that. I’m also involved with sponsoring a course at UCLAN.
When I started out, you were made to feel like a bit of a social leper if ‘musician’ was your career choice, so it’s great to see it now being viewed as a true and valid craft. I support anything that helps anyone to have as good a time as I have done; anyone who has half as good a time will have had a very good time indeed!
What key pieces of advice would you to give any musician looking to break into the industry?
Keep going. As soon as you stop, it’s over.
So many people might seem like sudden sensations, but if you look at, say, Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, they aren’t – they’ve been working away at it for years beforehand. You’ve got to have utter self-belief. It’s what saddens me about shows like X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent – it’s people asking ‘What do you think of me?’ and if they get negative feedback, they think ‘Oh, shit, I’d better give up then.’ Can you imagine putting Ian Curtis, or Ian Brown, in front of Simon Cowell? They’d get told they had weird voices and to give up…
You’ve got to remember that you do these things for yourself, and not for other people.
We’re at a point in time now where the history of the Factory Records / Madchester / Hacienda Scene is well-documented, as well as being translated in the arts into films, novels, etc. Do you think we’ll ever see the like of such a scene again?
It was a unique time, that Madchester / Acid House scene, the only thing I think that mirrored it was Punk. I feel incredibly lucky that I was able to be part of these fantastic, huge movements that affected the world, musically, culturally.
The success of these FAC51 Hacienda nights shows that people are still interested in that ‘happening’ – even the fact that the rest of New Order are touring again, whether that’s a blessing or not…but I don’t think there’ll ever be anything quite like those days again.
That said, Manchester certainly seems to deliver over and over again for music – right now, there’s Everything Everything, Delphic, Elbow… The important thing, I think – and I can’t believe I get a lot of stick for this in my DJ set sometimes – is to incorporate old and new; otherwise you’re ‘bumping into yourself’ musically. I think there’s a duty to include new stuff – learn the lesson from Hacienda FAC51’s original remit. Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson’s aims were always to promote new acts and new DJ’s – they were very forward thinking.
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Peter Hook will be joined by Graeme Park, Vince Vega and Bez for FAC51 The Hacienda at the Spa Complex, Scarborough, Saturday 22nd June, 11pm til 3am (doors 10.30pm). Tickets £12 from www.scarboroughspa.co.uk or 01723 821888.
This event is the official afterparty for the Happy Mondays at Scarborough Open Air Theatre, supported by 808 State and Scarborough Tunnel Club DJ Mark Starkey. 7.30pm (gates 6pm), £32.50. 01723 818111 or http://www.arenaticketshop.co.uk/whats-on/happy-mondays/
There are buses running from the Open Air Theatre to the Spa on the evening – fare £2.
Peter Hook & The Light are also appearing at Leeds Cockpit on 25th October, playing tracks from New Order albums Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies; there are plans to tour next year with tracks fromLow-Life and Brotherhood, and we’ve cheekily requested that they try to book some dates nearer the Yorkshire Coast for that one.
Peter Hook interviewed by Kath Dunn-Mines, 18.6.13.
