New Order legend Peter Hook chatted to IHOUSEU this week about his hugely ambitious plans for new Manchester club the Factory and revealed that he has no concerns about losing face if it fails.
“No not at all, I’m very resilient and some would say two faced, I have a spare, you know,” he chuckled.
“Am I a masochist? All musicians are, it’s what keeps you writing great music,” he laughed, “It’s pain, pain and more pain, bring it on.”
The new three room venue is located in the building where Factory Records’ old head office was located and bears striking similarities to Factory (and New Order’s) previous club the Hacienda. Featuring a mix of weekly indie rock and dance parties spread over six nights, the opening weekend includes performances from Mani from the Stone Roses and Sean Ryder from Happy Mondays though Hooky stressed he has no concerns about repeating his Hacienda mistakes (wonderfully documented in his recent autobiography ‘The Hacienda- How not to run a club’).
“This time we haven’t made the errors which crippled us in the past with the Hacienda,” he explained.
“Last time it was like buying a second hand car and then not putting something aside for the things that you know are going to be wrong with it. This time I’ve learnt from my mistakes and am working with people who have a very practical outlook on running a club,” he said.
He also sounded a cautious note of optimism about the threat posed by Manchester villains who in the 90s terrorised the Hacienda eventually forcing the club to close.
“Well it’s a different sort of club and hopefully we’ll attract a new crowd and things have moved on well in Manchester, I think. I’m also hiring Steven (Steven Morris)’s tank for the security of the venue,” he laughed. “And how long will the club continue for if no-one comes? This time about 15 minutes, I don’t plan to be that stupid again.”
He was also decidedly grounded about his reasons for getting involved in the new Factory after documenting his previous trials and tribulations so minutely in his recent autobiography ‘How not to run a club.’
“When Aaron (Tokyo Industries’ Aaron Mellor) approached me a few months back with the idea I thought ‘why not, it’s better than sitting at home scratching my fat arse’,” said Hooky.
“It was on the book tour actually and I think I was feeling a bit nostalgic and the idea of it being a different venue to The Hacienda, focusing on live music and more indie type music also appealed to me. Also I think it’s good for Manchester and its music culture to have a new hub. Also the fact it’s in the old Hacienda offices kind of swung it. I couldn’t really pass it up,” he said.
The Factory officially opens on Friday 5th February with Peter Hook’s The Light, a ‘supergroup’ created especially for the occasion features special guests including Mani, Rowetta and legendary pot smuggler Howard Marks. For more information (including the club’s entire six nights a week schedule) click below:
http://www.factorymanchester.com (‘In true FACTORY style the opening has been put back 7days - A combination of snow last week messing up supplier deliveries & complicated material sourcing of some of Ben Kellys great new bar designs. This time the posters arrived but the building didn’t . . .NEW DATE: FRI 05 FEB 2010 at 8pm)
http://tinyurl.com/ya9jmx4 (Factory Facebook group)
