Peter Hook Quotes & Sayings

The worst words I could ever hear as a bass player was, 'Can you play the root notes?' — Peter Hook

I was reading an article about Kings of Leon's bass player, who said that he was directly influenced by Joy Division and by me. I was like, 'Woah!' It surprised me. It's a great compliment. — Peter Hook

But then I quite enjoy when something goes wrong, because when I watch DJs that take it very seriously, it's nice when you make a mistake and laugh about it. — Peter Hook

Bass players are always the underdogs of the band, but I made sure that I was never viewed as one. I went out of my way to steal as much limelight as I could. — Peter Hook

I prefer it when I can intimidate the audience rather than the audience intimidate me. I've been lucky in my career to have both. — Peter Hook

I love that young bands will do anything to succeed. — Peter Hook

Over the years, Joy Division has become a huge part of music culture. — Peter Hook

I suppose in the end it's almost too easy to look back and say what you should have done, how you might have changed things. What's harder - what's much, much harder - is to accept what you actually did do. — Peter Hook

My father was always Labour, and my mother was always Conservative, so I tended to sort of go in the middle. — Peter Hook

There are so many bootlegged Joy Division/Martin Hannett tapes, a lot of really bad bootlegs on the Internet. — Peter Hook

I play a lot of hard, uncompromising dance music; it can be anything from dance to rock to reggae. — Peter Hook

What was punk all about? To me, it was if you really want to do something, go ahead and do it. — Peter Hook

When I started DJing years ago, I took great delight in annoying the audience. Playing Johnny Cash in the middle of a banging night. — Peter Hook

I don't find imitating other people's music easy at all. I remember being fifth in line for a Rolling Stones tour, early '90s, when Bill Wyman left, and I was hoping against hope that I wouldn't get the call to audition. I wouldn't be able to play a Stones song if you put a gun to my head. — Peter Hook

I'm not a good flyer. Because I do it so much, I think the odds of something going wrong are not in my favour. — Peter Hook

What I've learned is that life is a balance between idealism and realism. — Peter Hook

I've watched so-called 'New Order' playing in Auckland, and Tom Chapman is miming along to my bass on tape ... He's got his fingers on the low, and you can hear my high bass in the background. So he's miming. — Peter Hook

I regularly go to concerts with my children sharing the music. — Peter Hook

I've been very grateful and humbled by the fact that young people really dig Joy Division's music. It's a great testament to the chemistry and the songwriting prowess between the four original members. — Peter Hook

I don't think the Cure liked us. I think they resented us in some way, because we'd managed to stay cool, credible, and independent and they'd, well, sort of sold out a bit. The problem was on their side; it wasn't on our side. But I think they thought, Wish we were Joy Division. — Peter Hook

I am always working on new material with my production partner Phil Murphy in our guise as Man Ray; we do a lot of soundtrack work & some great collaborations. — Peter Hook

And they do tend to be fast and up, because that's how I like to drive. — Peter Hook

Once you made that decision to split New Order up, you were like, 'Woo-hoo! I better get out there and get a job.' — Peter Hook

In the late '70s, the conditions that bands had to endure were, shall we say, not as civilized as they are today. People were a lot more aggressive back then. So there was definitely a lot of suffering for your art. But I would argue that was a good thing. Generally, people make better music when they suffer. — Peter Hook

My mother used to always say to me, 'Do naught, get naught.' It's an adage that I hold by. If you don't do anything, you can't really expect anything. — Peter Hook

I read one too many books about Joy Division by people who weren't there, and they always seem to dwell on the dark, the intense, the miserable image of Joy Division. — Peter Hook

When you DJ, you're just on your own, which is nice because there's no argument. — Peter Hook

When you balance it against New Order, New Order don't work or tour relentlessly. We definitely work in our own way and sometimes it's a bit too slow for me, so I like to plan ahead and fill my time up. — Peter Hook

The rise of the iPod meant that digital music became the norm, It's sad, but you can still find the real stuff out there if you look for it! — Peter Hook

Now I don't know why, but Morrissey had always hated Joy Division. Maybe Rob got it right when after a lively debate as the cameras were turned off he turned to Morrissey and said, 'The trouble with you, Morrissey, is that you've never had the guts to kill yourself like Ian. You're fucking jealous.' You should have seen his face as he stormed off. I laughed me bollocks off. — Peter Hook

'Unknown Pleasures' is a very important record for me. It was the first LP that I recorded. — Peter Hook

Madonna's like a black widow spider. She tends to use people, then they shrivel up and disappear. — Peter Hook

There are keyboard terrorists everywhere who hide behind a veil of anonymity to pursue their vicious slanders. — Peter Hook

I'd rather have ten people who are mad for it than ten thousand who aren't. — Peter Hook

We've had a problem finding a vocalist. We have not been lucky yet to find the one. I think the problem is that the three of us have such a pedigree of vocalist, that if we come out with someone that's not good we'll obviously be slated! — Peter Hook

'24 Hour Party People' was a comedy, and I knew that from the beginning. — Peter Hook

I think that you have to bear in mind that music is about escape, and it's not unreasonable to think the music business would be based around escapism. — Peter Hook

A poetic, sensitive, tortured soul, the Ian Curtis of the myth - he was definitely that. — Peter Hook

When I'm not playing music, certainly the last thing I want to do is listen to music! — Peter Hook

[...] if you're going to waste an opportunity, there are a few important things to remember. Do it in style. Do it in public. And, above all, do it in Manchester. — Peter Hook

Actually when we stopped New Order I was busier than ever. The only gaps have been while we've been writing. — Peter Hook

'Love Will Tear Us Apart' is very simply written. — Peter Hook

To be in one band that changed the world musically is pretty good, but to be in two bands that changed the world musically, that's amazing. — Peter Hook

We loved country songs in New Order. That's our big secret! — Peter Hook

Music was such an important part of everyone's life in the '60s and '70s, but everywhere you played, the music was dreadful. — Peter Hook

There are lots of Joy Division songs that are so powerful when played live, some of which we did either never play or played very rarely. — Peter Hook

There are so little outtakes from the Joy Division era. We didn't have much money. You couldn't be very generous in recording, so we were very thrifty in how we recorded. Everything was very, very well looked after financially because we just couldn't afford it. — Peter Hook

The chemistry involved made everything Factory did quite special. — Peter Hook

Bands don't play the whole LP. They play a selection of the songs that they like. — Peter Hook

When you're fat and comfortable, your music is going to sound fat and comfortable. — Peter Hook

Old men are cantankerous: they like to get their own way. — Peter Hook

They amaze me most of those remixes. Some of them are crap. But every time I complain, someone comes up and says they are for a different market that you don't understand. Some of the New Order ones are really great, though. — Peter Hook

Great music seems to come from a lot of angst, and that angst is from great musicians getting together with intense chemistry. When that chemistry isn't there, people tend not to write great music. — Peter Hook

That was the thing about Joy Division: writing the songs was dead easy because the group was really balanced; we had a great guitarist, a great drummer, a great bass player, a great singer. — Peter Hook

I always do try to encourage my children to vote and at least exercise their right. — Peter Hook

Yeah, I still feel as if I have things to do really. I'm not ready to stop. — Peter Hook

To me, New Order split up when Bernard and I stopped writing together. We started Joy Division together; we started New Order together. — Peter Hook

When I play a gig and look out at the audience, you're literally looking at a sea of Joy Division T-shirts. — Peter Hook

When you get the right people together, writing music becomes very effortless. — Peter Hook

Democracy for us tends to be has to do with who shouts the loudest! — Peter Hook

The fact is that you don't want to be away forever, but you want to lead a normal life. — Peter Hook

Atmosphere" is a massive song. A lot of people say it's their favorite Joy Division song, but it's not mine; it reminds me too much of Ian, like it's his death march or something, and it figures that it's one of the most popular songs to play at funerals: Robbie Williams has got "Angels" for weddings and we've got "Atmosphere" for funerals. — Peter Hook

Originally, I didn't play any New Order when I deejayed. I suppose it comes from being a little embarrassed or humble or whatever. But people were coming to see me because of New Order, so in the end, I had to realize that if they were using my name on the poster, then maybe I should play some of the music. — Peter Hook

Knowing very little about a band only adds to the allure. — Peter Hook

I think people expect mud at festivals, I think you'd be asking for your money back if you didn't get it. — Peter Hook

America stopped making vinyl and phased out the single but Germany held out and refused. Warner's never phased out vinyl in Germany. Now America imports it! — Peter Hook

Dance music tends to be a solitary affair. — Peter Hook

That's it really, at the moment I wouldn't say I was influenced by any one thing in particular. — Peter Hook

I must confess that over my career, I've actually downplayed the importance of DJs. It's such a different art form. Then all of a sudden you try it, and you think, 'Good God, these guys do work.' I used to be very cynical and very blase about it. I can only apologize. — Peter Hook

The reason Joy Division and New Order are as influential and successful as they are is because of the unique playing of all the individuals. — Peter Hook

My big frustration in New Order was that they played the same tracks all the time. — Peter Hook

I'm one of those old cynics that thinks, whoever you vote for, the government always gets in. — Peter Hook

There's a very fine line between being artistic and being a dickhead - it's like love and hate. — Peter Hook

I have a hard time getting my head around the idea of playing 'The Perfect Kiss' in my 50s. I can't quite get there. — Peter Hook

Any coalition, especially where one party is more powerful than the other, it's always bound to have a pecking order. — Peter Hook

The thing with Joy Division's music is that each member was playing like a separate line. We hardly ever played together; we all played separately. But when you put it together, it was like the ingredients in a cake. — Peter Hook

I've never been out of work in my whole life. — Peter Hook

Nobody is the same. If we were all the same it would be bloody boring. — Peter Hook

It was nice doing my own Joy Division book to be able to put forward the fact that Ian was actually quite a nice guy and very hardworking, ambitious and loyal. But the thing was, he was battling such a dreadful illness in an era when they really didn't know how to treat it. — Peter Hook

It's really nice to be able to do what I'm doing without having to compromise with another musician. — Peter Hook

You look at 30 Seconds to Mars, and you don't think, 'Ooh, I bet they're angry.' No one really does anger these days. I suppose it's a turn-off. — Peter Hook

'Movement' sounded like Joy Division, but 'Power, Corruption & Lies' is the first New Order record. — Peter Hook

It was only after we recorded Unknown Pleasures that I could hear and begin to take notice of the words, and it was quite startling then to see how they changed between that album, where they were still quite detached and aggressive, to Closer, which is even darker and not detached at all but really introspective and quite frightening - especially of course when you listen to it in light of what later happened. — Peter Hook

I am man enough to be able to admit my own mistakes. I think that is an important trait to have. — Peter Hook

Like the time I threw out Pete Murphy of Bauhaus for saying those six immortal words to Slim when he'd forgotten his backstage pass: 'Don't you know who I am?'
'Ha, ha, yeah, I do,' I said, 'You're out, arsehole'. — Peter Hook

New Order never celebrated anything to do with Joy Division. — Peter Hook

Nobody was better at moving between different groups of people than he was. But I also think this was an aspect of his personality that ended up being very damaging to him. He had three personas he was trying to juggle: he had his married-man persona, at home with the wife; the laddish side; and the cerebral, literary side. — Peter Hook

People go and hide, but I don't. I'm a fighter. — Peter Hook

Most people have just heard Joy Division on record. And Joy Division on record was completely different than it was live. — Peter Hook

I watched John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers play it acoustically at their gig at the MEN Arena. I think I can safely say that, of the 19,000 people there, 18,950 didn't know what it was - but I did, and it brought a tear to my eye, definitely. Monster bass line. A bass line that every bass player dreams of and I got it, so thank you. — Peter Hook

The interesting thing is that New Order finished on an okay note. It was only after we split that things got worse. — Peter Hook

You don't get many chances in the world, and you don't want to throw them away. — Peter Hook

Everything up to and including Unknown Pleasures really existed only when the four of us were in a room together playing it. Not written down, not recorded, just from memory. — Peter Hook

When digital recording came in about '84, everything started to follow into digital. Now, you've got the best recording media in the world, but it's not very pleasing to the ear. — Peter Hook

Sarcasm is a Manchester trait. — Peter Hook

At my age, I only travel business class because I just don't bend anymore; my body can't cope with it. — Peter Hook

I've stayed in hotels where you were scared to even put your feet on the floor, or had to sleep in a chair. — Peter Hook

It's quite ironic I suppose, it's that thing about being in a group when you all start out as friends and then invariably end up hating each other. So I just thought they needed telling really, in case they were labouring under the apprehension that they were still friends. — Peter Hook

When you've travelled for 34 years as a musician, you do all the culture stuff when you're young and full of energy. In the middle stage, you indulge too much and are scared of daylight. Then, in the final stage, you've seen it all, so you tend to take things a lot easier. — Peter Hook

What I loved about Anton was that he did the pictures really quickly, with no fuss, no fucking about: bang, bang, bang, and it was over. At the time, I thought, Now, that's how a photo shoot should be. Those shots he took of us in the tube station: absolutely brilliant. — Peter Hook