New Order to Split?
New Order might have said goodbye in Buenos Aires
..The last live show ever..
Bassist Peter Hook confirmed what -until saturday- his partner Stephen Morris told Página/12 before the Personal Fest show. They say nowadays they look like the "old guys of the neighbourhood...
by Roque Casciero and Mariano Blejman
..This might be our last concert ever... Bassist Peter Hook talks and the show he mentions is the one New Order did last saturday night in Buenos Aires closing Personal Fest´s main stage. The interview in which Hook confirmed their split -at least temporary- to Página/12 it was given right before the band´s gig, in one of the comfortable dressing rooms in club Ciudad de Buenos Aires, where the festival took place. But before talking to the bassist it was drummer Stephen Morris who throwed the first stone when we reminded him that in 2007 it would be the 30th anniversary of the band, first as Joy Division and then -after Ian Curtis suicide in March 18th 1980- as main characters of the crossover between dance and new wave New Order. The drummer said they didn´t think about anything special for the anniversary: "We´re not very good in making plans. The good thing about when we started in Factory (their first label, which is shown in the 24Hour Party People movie) was that you didn´t have to plan what you were going to do. You could write a song and say "this could be a good single" and then release it two weeks later. You can´t do that anymore, you have to write and record an album... But the truth is that we´re not good planning anything, so i couldn´t say what are we going to do do next year".
..So, how´s the band´s present?
Stephen Morris: ..I really don´t know. This is a strange time to be New Order... It was good a couple of years ago when everyone was saying we were "god-like geniuses" (New Musical Express gave them an award with that name) and the fans recognized the band. In some point now there´re a lot of New Orders around and we´re the old guys of the neighbourhood, so we should stop for a while and let them take our place.
..But the thing is that you´ve been a huge influence first as dark post punk as Joy Division and then in the mix of dance and new wave as New Order
..Yes, yes. I don´t know, it´s good to be remembered, it´s really an honor. And the influence is positive because we´ve been very influenced by Iggy Pop, The Velvet Underground, David Bowie and people like that, besides punk rock, and we don´t sound like them. But the influence goes beyond New Order, there´s like a new "new wave" or something like that. That´s why i´d like to try something different, although is not that easy when you come to certain age. Besides, when you do find something different it´s because you crash into it, not because you plan "hey, i´m going to do something different".
..That sounds like there will be no more New Order
..Uhmmmmmm... I could say there won´t be New Order for a couple of years, but as i said before we´re bad planning things so let´s see what happens.
..Are you going to take another 8 years like between Republic and Get Ready?
..(Laughs) What happened is that we got seven songs left from Waiting for the Siren..s Call (2005) and we didn´t want to make an album that was the rest of another one. Besides, WFTSC wasn´t a successful record for our label to say "yes, yes, yes!" but more like "uhmm, maybe"
..Do you feel like you did your job or something like that?
..No. The trick is not getting attached to what you do because you´ll be repeating the same thing again and again. Sometimes you just have to stop what you´re doing and get ready to learn again instead of becomming a copy machine.
Singer Bernard Sumner declined giving interviews in Buenos Aires, saying that he had a cold that we didn´t notice during the show. But Hook, who apart from walking around his trade mark sound for all the main stage also did a DJ set on the Personal Fest, was as honest as Morris about New Order´s future. ..It´s time that we stop and think about what do we want to do.., he said. ..It´s wonderful to stop when you have to do it. Sometimes when you´re lucky to have it all you don´t appreciate it as you should. So you need a reminder of how things were when you didn´t have it all. In this moment we do have it all, so maybe it´s time that we lose it, maybe to start feeding again. That´s how i feel...
..Does that mean that your first show in Buenos Aires might as well be the last time you play live?
Peter Hook: ..Yes, it might be our last show ever. It might.
..Or maybe it´s a matter of waiting another 8 years to see you guys together as it happened once?
..Maybe another 17, or 30...
..30 years is exactly your annyversary together next year
..Well, we´ve been 29 years together, i don´t think another year could make any difference really
..But are your personal relationships ok?
..Yes, yes, we still hate each other (laughs). It´s a love-hate thing
..Do you have other plans?
..Yes, i´m full of plans. I´m forming a band with Mani (Gary Mournfield, from Primal Scream and ex Stone Roses) and Andy Rourke (ex The Smiths), that is called Freebass.
..But you´re three bass players...
..Sure, that´s the secret (winks an eye)
..And the three of you will play bass?
..Sure! We´ve already wrote 17 tracks and it´s comming along very well. We hope to finish it soon
..Who sings?
..Neither of us, we have a guy named Richard, from Wighan, England. So far so good because we get along very well with Mani and Andy.
..So Freebass is going to unite the three most important bass players of Manchester´s history.
..The reason why we decided to do it was because everyone laughed at our face when we suggested the idea. So we thought "fuck them! we´re gonna show them...". There aren´t many albums with three singers, right?
..How´s New Order´s involvment in Control, the movie about Ian Curtis, directed by Anton Corbijn?
..I´m pissed about the movie right now because Anton Corbijn seems to be getting too much control, precisely. I would have prefer that he showed more repect for us. That´s what he should do. I don´t know, it´s ok. Anton is too pasionate about the movie but i think he should have a wider view. At the beginning he would say "come everyone to help" but now he closed the doors and sent everyone to piss off.
..So you´re not going to make the movie soundtrack?
..We´re supposed to, but the problem is that he´s telling us what to do. and if we don´t tell him how to direct why is he telling us how to make music? Bernard and Stephen seem to be ok about it but it bothers me a lot.