Behind the scenes at SUBvert’s Interview with Peter Hook (Former New Order/Joy Division bass player)
SUBvert has been working on a Peter Hook/Hacienda short film. Phase one, we filmed Hacienda’s Xmas Party at Sankey’s, and now we’ve just completed phase two SUBvert’s interview with the legendary man himself at a secret location.
Angel -”I’ve been working closely with three graphic design students from Salford University to produce SUBvert’s Peter Hook/Hacienda Film. They previously shot a video for the band The Thrills, so they have had some experience in this area. However, each section of our film, the live event, interview and Hacienda exhibition, all require different skills and this has been a real learning experience for them all.
Above photo by Andy Golpys
I gathered the film crew at Salford University for a run through. We tested the lights and the camera equipment, then did a test of the sound levels. Once everything was working perfectly, we ran through the questions and planned out what shots, angles we wanted to get. Then we worked out the best person for each individual job. This actually took two hours to run through but was an extremely important part.
We then set off in the angelbus (my vw caravelle) to find the secret location where Peter Hook would be meeting us. When we got to the venue we had to quickly decide the best place for Peter and myself to sit. We had to find somewhere with good light and no distractions in the background. Making sure there was no clutter on the floor or anything distracting in shot. Again testing the camera’s and sound and ensuring the people in the interview were correctly framed in camera. When we first set up the shot there was too much negative space, (blank space with nothing in it) so we had to move the camera around and work out the best place for Peter to sit. This took us about half and hour to set everything up.
Above photo by Tash Wilcocks
Then we were introduced to Peter and we cracked on with the interview. Everything seemed to go smoothly except for Peter’s mobile phone going off, then the house phone went off. But these were minor problems that we dealt with swiftly. Peter was very entertaining, telling us stories about the early days in Joy Division and how New Order at the end were performing to bigger audiences in the US than the Spice Girls or Oasis have ever played. I ran through two and a half A4 pages of questions in an hour. Peter was having to work hard to remember way back in the early days how he felt, and about the order of events. Even though he pulled some classic faces during the interview his answers were fascinating and he had everyone transfixed. At the end he looked quite exhausted but also a little chuffed at the reaction from our camera crew who were filled with excitement about having had the pleasure of listening to such a legendary music figure.”
Above photo by Tash Wilcocks
Andy Golpys - “5 in all, we set off for the interview. A few hundred wrong turns and some more U-turns we finally got there with the light humour and banter keeping us sane. When we arrived at the location, we had time to setup the cameras and lights before peter hook arrived.
When peter arrived, he made a joke about him not being dressed for the occasion which was a good starting point for myself as it broke the ice. I was a little nervous at first but the humour continued as Peter was down to earth and made a few jokes during the interview. My favourite was something like “I became a musician to tell everybody to f**k off” or something similar to that. The interview lasted about an hour and even though we slightly over ran and he was eager to go and see his daughter, we got all the information we needed. Some great shots, and excellent footage of a influential man. The experience has further enhanced my confidence, I think the fact that Peter was down to earth helped the job go smoothly.”
Glen Caskie - “The Peter Hook interview has been my favourite part, mainly because it was as hectic as filming at the other locations, but Peter Hook has been a big influence musically in my life so it was inspiring to meet him in person and hear some person experiences about his life and growing up in Salford. I especially enjoyed the tales of Ian Curtis and Tony Wilson and how he admired them so much to speak of them so highly.”
Gareth Morgan - “I enjoyed the experience of working with Subvert again, the whole day taught me a lot about how important preparation can be, for instance getting together early so we could run through who was doing what, which camera was filming what, and even how the noise volume would come through as a trial run. I found the interview itself relaxed and comfortable and realised that this was because of our earlier practice runs and early set offs.”
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