Published on July 28th, 2022 | by Darren Paltrowitz
0New Order & Joy Division Co-Founder Peter Hook On His Upcoming Tour Plans, His Next Book As An Author & More
A co-founder of 2 legendary bands — New Order and Joy Division — Peter Hook is the rare sort of musician who has been influential, critically-acclaimed and commercially-successful. Prior to New Order disbanding in the early 1990s, Hook began producing other artists, including Inspiral Carpets and The Stone Roses. After New Order went on hiatus in the early 1990s, Hook began recording and/or touring with the likes of The Durutti Column, Revenge and Monaco. The bassist would rejoin New Order in 1998, remaining part of the reunited group for nearly a decade until 2007.
These days, Peter Hook keeps busy with a variety of projects. He has written 3 published books. He has collaborated with a host of other artists, including The Crystal Method, Gorillaz and Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party. He was one-third of the band Freebass with The Stones Roses’ Mani and The Smiths’ Andy Rourke. He has launched a music insutry-themed masters program at the University Of Central Lancashire. And as the frontman and bassist of Peter Hook & The Light, Hook has been touring the world — Mongolia included — with New Order and Joy Division-themed live shows in recent years.
Slated to kick off next month with a 2-night stand at Toronto’s The Danforth Music Hall, Peter Hook & The Light’s North American Tour of Joy Division: A Celebration kicks off on August 11, 2022. Following these opening shows in Canada, Hook and crew will eventually be making their way to Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Their 26-date tour will feature the group performing Joy Division’s seminal 2 albums Unknown Pleasures and Closer in full, in addition to Joy Division rarities and an opening set of New Order material. Per Hook in a prepared statement: “We have always been lucky to have been appreciated as much as we have in the States, ever since our first tour in September 1980. I am hoping for much the same this time. There is definitely a great appreciation for both Joy Division’s and New Order’s music.” The tour’s first dates were originally scheduled for May 2020 but were ultimately rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On July 26, 2022, I had the pleasure — and I do mean “the pleasure” — of speaking with Peter Hook via Zoom, as embedded below. Beyond the upcoming tour dates of Peter Hook & The Light, we discussed his future plans as an author, how he truly feels about the catalogs of New Order and Joy Division, and why he knows more about the music business than most attorneys. More on Hook, The Light, these North American tour dates and Hook’s next book can be found online by clicking here, here and here.