Interpol respond to Peter Hook’s claims that he applied to join the band
Interpol guitarist Daniel Kessler has responded to Peter Hook’s claim that he once applied to be the bassist of the New York band following the departure of Carlos Dengler in 2010, who had been a member since their formation in 1997. Notably, after Dengler left, Interpol continued as a trio with frontman/guitarist Paul Banks also taking on bass duties, which it must be said, he is brilliant at, as his work on ‘All The Rage Back Home’ attests.
Not long after Dengler quit the post-punk heroes, the former Joy Division bassist was asked about his thoughts on the “five-year epidemic of Joy Division-sounding groups, going back to 2002 with Interpol “by LA Weekly.
To which he responded: “I don’t mind it. Again, it has to be taken as a compliment. When Carlos left Interpol, they did an Internet application form to be a bass player. I applied and didn’t get picked [laughs]. I applied as Peter Hook, and they turned me down.”
Now, in a new interview with NME, Kessler maintained that he wasn’t aware that Hook had applied for the role all those years ago.
“I heard some weird rumblings as far as the story and the rumour behind it, but I don’t think I even knew that he supposedly applied online,” he explained. “I don’t even know to whom or where, but we never received anything and we never had such a discussion.”
It’s been a busy year for Interpol. 2022 marked the 20th anniversary of their game-changing debut album Turn On The Bright Lights, and in celebration, they dropped The Black EP, alongside a 13-minute documentary from 2002.
The documentary features interviews with the members of the band, as well as clips of them playing fan favourites, ‘PDA’, ‘NYC’ and ‘Stella Was A Diver And She’s Always Down’. It has been fully restored in hi-resolution, after being lost.
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