Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Peter Hook interview + New Order officially announce Lost Sirens

Peter Hook has been doing a lot of interviews lately - he released his memoir Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division a few months ago in the U.K. (the book is scheduled for a January release stateside) and he's also gigging with The Light playing Joy Division albums in full (New Order albums get their turn next month). New Statesman was the latest media outlet to catch up with Hooky for a little chat - a few highlights from the interview are posted below:

On whether he thinks he'll ever be able to reconcile with Bernard Sumner:

"Yeah probably on the end of a pair of dueling pistols or maybe in a boxing ring"

On "Atmosphere" being played at funerals:

"The emotional power of it when it's coupled with grief or loss is unbelievable. I don't think Ian meant that either because Atmosphere was written very early in our career before he was ill..."

On New Order:

"One of the problems in New Order was that it wasn't "do as I do" it was "do as I say""

On Joy Division/New Order legacy:

"If I had to sit and count how many people we've influenced, it's unbelievable. Between Joy Division and New Order we must be responsible for about half the music business...the thing is you should never consider suing anybody because they sound like you...it's something you don't do because it's against the way you're brought up"

Other topics of discussion included Joy Division's song "Warsaw," Hooky's bass playing style, the Hacienda, politics, his memoir, and more. Head over to New Statesman to read the full interview.

Meanwhile, in New Order news, the band won an award for Best Headlining Performance at the U.K. Festival Awards yesterday. Check out a group picture of New Order snapped after their win.

New Order also announced their long awaited outtakes album, Lost Sirens, will be released on January 22nd. The album is available to pre-order through Amazon (samples also posted). Tracklisting for Lost Sirens posted here.

For more on Peter Hook, New Order, and Joy Division:

Joy Division fan remasters pulled
Peter Hook video: stories on classic Joy Division songs
Bernard Sumner + Stephen Morris interviewed by Consequence Of Sound
Watch: pro-shot video of New Order's set at Bestival
Video: New Order live in NYC