Talking Joy Division, Punk Rock, And Hemorrhoids With Peter Hook
by Mike Hsu,posted Jan 30 2013 9:04AM
Joy Division were one of those bands that didn't have huge success while they were around but influenced many to start bands and take the path of making music with emotional intensity and dark atmospheres. U2, Radiohead, The Cure and many others readily give credit to Joy Division for inspiration.
After lead singer Ian Curtis took his own life in 1980 the band and their music were elevated to a mythic level. Their last album Closer, recorded shortly before Curtis' death, is basically a suicide note. The remaining members continued on under the name New Order with great success through the 80's and 90's. But Joy Division's dark and tragic past was always hovering over them.
Despite the brooding anthems and the dire conclusion of the band, bassist Peter Hook has written an account that somehow injects a little humor to the legend and brings the mythos down to earth. In Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division, Hook presents a first hand account of young Punks banging it out in crappy empty clubs and freezing vans like any other struggling band. Stories of boyish pranks and chaotic live performances show that these Gothic Lords were more than just a pantheon to doom and gloom. The book also touches on the mazing story of the Factory record label and their mission to keep it very real.
I spoke to bassist Peter Hook by phone and despite his reputation and self confessed pleasure for making interviews awkward and difficult he was very pleasant. Check out the interview below:
Here's Joy Division's first full length album Unknown Pleasures:
This is a 1979 Television performance:
I also reccomend the movies 24 Hour Party People which is very entertaining(even if you're not a Joy Division fan) and the beautifully filmed Control.
