May 2025
Electronic, New Wave, and post punk, among others, as a founding member of Joy Division and New Order, Peter Hook’s past bands have been labelled as playing a variety of styles. However before either of these well known bands shot to fame, the bass player got his start as a good number of musicians did… by making it up as he went along.
“It was open, it was friendly. It was about sharing,” Hook reflects on the punk scene around England, and more specifically his community of Manchester. Before Joy Divsion the four piece called themselves Warsaw. However they had a different identity even before that.
“We were named Stiff Kittens because we couldn’t decide on a name. I remember the first gig we played with the Buzzcocks. There was a band called The Adverts and they were playing. And the Adverts said to us, ‘oh we’re playing a gig tomorrow in Newcastle, why don’t you come along?’. And we went ‘yeah, okay’, and we just packed everything into me mate’s van and we went up to Newcastle, unadvertised, unasked by the promoter and played with the Adverts the next night.”
“It was wonderful to be part of something that meant so much to so few people.”
This occurred in 1976. Hook, himself, had found himself following different types of music.
“I suppose weirdly in my life I’ve been lucky to be in the right place at the right time. I was skinhead when skinheads first came round. I was part of the Suedehead movement. I became mod a bit later with scooters and all that lot, and then I became a punk.”
The infamous story goes that Hook and his friend, Bernard Sumner, attended a Sex Pistols show and enjoyed it so much, they decided to form a band. This was the group that would eventually become Joy Division. Hook mentions the Sex Pistols a lot in his recall of his Joy Division bandmates finding their pace.
“The week before [the Sex Pistols gig], I’d went to see Led Zeppelin, and they were amazing, marvelous! God man, they were incredible to watch, and I was a great fan. But I’d never looked at Led Zeppelin and thought, ‘I could do that’. They were so far away from you… But when I saw the Sex Pistols and Johnny Rotton spent the whole night telling everyone to fuck off, I thought, ‘you know what? I could do that.’
Following a contentious split with his former bandmates and Sumnet in particular – a parting of ways he describes fully and eloquently thoughout his books, Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division, and Substance: Inside New Order – Hook would eventually create the project, Peter Hook & The Light. PH&TL have been performing the albums of Joy Division and New Order. The group will spend the summer months of 2025 playing New Order’s 2001 album Get Ready in its entirety. However, for their headlining slot for the Punk Rock Bowling Music Festival in Las Vegas, Hook has promised a set of Joy Division songs, harkening back to his punk days.
“I didn’t rate the Sex Pistols for musical talent when I saw em. All I registered was their attitude which was just so freeing – if you don’t like someone, tell em to fuck off. And it was like ‘ Wow! Why didn’t I think of that!’”
Even as New Order was releasing platinum singles and albums, Hook would reference this going against the grain. Specifically when being asked to lip sync on mainstream television programs like Top Of The Pops, and instead the group gave an indulgently messy live performance.
Now, with the history of Joy Division and New Order behind him, Hook still enjoys the high that comes with performing, though these days that music is on his own terms. He’s played stages around the world, having headlined some of the largest music festivals that have taken place, and having been part of a club that had a policy of social and musical inclusivity, and he’ll mention the lessons learned when youthful rebellion was taken advantage of by predatory record executives and labels.
“I think the strange thing is I think that as we grow up, and especially as we move from being children to being adults we’re always weary and wondering what the future holds, so yoiure always going to be apprehensive, and I think punk sort of gave you the impetus to stop worrying, tell everyone to fuck off in your music.”
Peter Hook knows his place in history. Though he carries on playing. His project, Peter Hook & The Light, often gets spoken of as being the most genuinely enjoyable opportunity to see and hear those old Joy Division and New Order songs performed live. But through it all, Hook still speaks extremely fondly of the underground scene from which those bands emerged.
“Joy Division was right there. The fight for survival was pretty raw. My god, I wouldn’t swap those experiences for now! It was wonderful to be part of something that meant so much to so few people.”
Peter Hook & The Light will headline Saturday night of the Punk Rock Bowling Festival taking place in Las Vegas over Memorial Day Weekend.
Complete information can be found at PunkRockBowling.com
