Peter Hook: “Better dead than playing with New Order”

Peter Hookfounding bassist of New Orderspoke with the Mojo magazine regarding the band’s entry – together with Joy Division – in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame explaining his adamant position against a reunion with his former bandmates for a performance at the ceremony in Los Angeles on November 14.

This is what the 70-year-old British musician declared: “Is it deserved? Without a shadow of a doubt! The fact that both bands are present is perfect, otherwise we would only know half the story. Joy Division were the foundation of everything we have ever done, and rising from the ashes like a phoenix to arrive at what we achieved as New Order… those 10 years, from 1980 to 1990, were absolutely golden. It’s a fantastic discography and I still firmly believe in our music.”

The tone of the speech Peter Hook changes radically as much as going back to playing with old bandmates. “I will never play with them again. I would rather die than play with those three… what they did to me and my family when they took over the name was terrible… in this world you have to have moral principles, and if I abandoned them, I don’t think people would have a better opinion of me. (…) The best thing about leaving New Order was being able to tell the fucking truth, because I lived a lie for a really long time to maintain the status quo… it drains you the soul.”

Hook’s bitterness comes from a complex history that goes far beyond the typical internal fractures of a band. The name dispute turned into a long legal and public battle. The conflict was over trademark rights and use of the name New Order and caused confrontation between Hook and his former bandmates Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris And Gillian Gilbert.