Fac251 (Interview)

by Jess Dunning on 21.02.10


20 years since the birth of ‘Madchester’, the building that started it all, and ultimately destroyed it all…

Redesigned by the original Fac51 – The Hacienda architect Ben Kelly, co-owned by Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook and Tokyo Industries, and an opening weekend line up to blow your mind, you just know that this brand new, three floors of indie/rock’n’roll club and venue is going to be something big.

The Fac mantra is “Give something back”, and that’s exactly what they plan on doing.

“It’s going to be a place where people with like minds hang out and hopefully start their own bands. The Hacienda worked its magic by getting bands such as the Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses together, and if we can perpetuate the next generation of Mancunian excellence, then it’s a good thing”, Mani.

Opening weekend at Fac251 – The Factory, tickets are sold out in 6 minutes , there are film crews, photographers, and one hell of a lot of Joy Division shirts queuing up outside…and I must confess, I’m buzzing with excitement.

Tonight we are welcomed by ‘The Light’, a one night only super group composed of Joy Divisions Peter Hook, Stone Roses Mani, Rowetta of the Happy Mondays and the infamous Howard “Mr. Nice” Marks who have come together to play songs from New Order, Joy Division, Freebass and Monaco.

Tomorrow, a hard hitting electro/house pop band from Oldham called ‘The Whip’. Boys, you might recognize their song, ‘Muzzle #1’ from FIFA 09!

Walking into the first of three floors, also known as ‘The Basement’, you are welcomed into a hazy, industrial room lit up by hot neon lights, with a cheeky portrait of Hacienda’s founder, Tony Wilson hanging on the reception area’s wall, a little reminder of the buildings bizarre history and perhaps what’s to come.
Up a narrow set of stairs, we come to ‘The Loft’. The raw brick walls contrasting with the neon clad ceiling is kept minimalist but none the less has a real 80’s rave vibe about it. At one end is an impressive glass DJ booth overlooking the reception area, and the other, a bar hiding a VIP room behind it complete with sunken seating area’s and projectors filming the stage just to make sure you don’t miss a thing.

Although the building makes you feel like you have stepped back in to the 80’s … ‘This is not the fucking Hacienda’.
So I asked co-owner Peter Hook, why open the Fac251- The Factory?

‘As a musician, I’ve realised that all I can do with my life is things to do with music. So I toyed with the idea of buying a music shop on Oxford Road, but then thought, that seems pretty dull, so when Ben (Kelly) came to me with the idea of this Fac251, the opportunity seemed too good to miss. Ben (Kelly) is a good friend and a very successful business man, I’m hoping that all the things I lack in business, he will bring to the floor.”
“My History with the hacienda is quite radical, I’ve never been afraid to take a risk. I’m bringing the risk and his job is to take the edges off it, that way we can find a middle ground that we both enjoy.”
There was undoubtedly a mixed reaction to the news of Fac51’s grand opening. The long dead and gone but never to be forgotten Hacienda was an amazing part of Manchester’s history, once considered the most famous club in the world, it was certainly unique and iconic. And yes, it never made a penny… Built by Tony Wilson, designed by Ben Kelly and Peter Saville, paid for by New Order and Broken by the Happy Mondays, as the saying goes.
So is this club really about trying to hold on to an old Manchester legacy and bring back something that some believe should be left alone or is it simply Hooky’s way of giving a taste of what he loved and what he learnt to the new generation of club goers and indie bands?

Having flitted around the busy Boardroom for the last quarter of an hour or so and a good chat to some of the people involved in this project, it’s very easy to pick up on the high hopes and enthusiasm that surrounds the club. I managed to steal the very calm and confident Hooky and friends away from the excitement to get their view.

‘The idea is to use this space to put on new DJ’s, bands, acoustic acts or whatever anybody comes up and use it’s [the Haciendas] history, which I’m very proud of, to help launch bands of the future. If you have as much fun doing it as I did, then go for it, but don’t make the same mistakes as me. If you can discover the next Oasis or Joy Division then you’ve not done bad; have you.”

It’s clear. This isn’t about the Hacienda, this is about new music, creating something brilliant and passing on the knowledge and of course mistakes.

“I’m a singer, its all I’ve ever done, I got asked to sing a lot and I’m really lucky that I got asked to work with some amazing people; like Hooky, Mani, Happy Mondays and recently The Black Eyed Pea’s who have just sampled my voice in one of their new songs.
It came very easy for me, having said that, I really do work hard when I want something, I get along really well with, and respect the people I work with and I get a lot of respect back.” Rowetta.

“Watching Joy Division as a kid made me want to be in a band so if our wise old head’s can impart any knowledge to the next generation of kids, I’d show them where I went wrong and what not to do. I wouldn’t like any one else to go through it, make sure you get the right advise before signing a record deal and watch who you get to manage you, they’ll rob you blind! I’ve had a life beyond my wildest dreams, as a snotty nosed kid from South Manchester, I’ve travelled the world four times and had every ounce of enjoyment to be had. If you know what’s good for you, do it, it beats the shit out of working for a living. If I can do it, why not you.” Mani.

So as the excitement continues, the band are whisked away and storm on stage with a beautiful energy that I feel honoured to witness! Opening up with the first live airs of Freebass’s tracks ‘Dark Starr’ and ‘You Don’t Know Why’ the 450 crowd heads go crazy. The band storm through a 90 minute set covering such songs as ‘What Do You Want From Me‘, ‘Pictures’ and a breathtaking, soul filled version on Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ by Rowetta. Just as they finish with ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ by Joy Division, the ever eager crowd want more and the band return to play ‘Blue Monday’ by New Order.

“Don’t take yourself to seriously and just keep playing” Mani

An awesome night all in all but I don’t think I can quite make it until the 4am closing time so I call it a night, until tomorrow.

After gigging extensively last year, even a show at Glastonbury, I caught up with Saturday night headliners, Manchester based, The Whip after hiding themselves away for the winter and working on a second album, trying to find to find the right producer and generally moving forward and enjoying themselves writing.

“It’s exciting to be here, we weren’t planning on doing many gigs, but we wanted to be a part of this weekend because of its links to Manchester’s history and its seems like a very exciting thing that’s going on.”

The Whip, formed in 2006 in Oldham, they released an album, X Marks Destination and off it, several singles such as ‘Trash’ and ‘Sister Sian’. As they became more established, they where commissioned to do remixes for bands such as the Editors and Hadounken!

Fee: “As a band we cover everything in terms of what influences us, Nathan is really into progressive rock, I love disco, Bruce is into electro house/dance stuff. The next album is going to be a bit tougher, heavier and harder sounding. I’ve started doing some singing which is weird for me but it’s different and the right follow on from the last album.”

Fee “Its weird when you stop doing gigs, you get used to life on the road, the highlight of being in a band is the travelling. I remember watching a film on the bus in America about San Francisco, and we where all really excited to see everything, but when we got there, for four hours all we saw was the venue and the parking lot! But we have managed to explore places like Japan and Australia. When I got a text saying that we had just been booked to play Japan, I screamed like a little girl. We all had a little emotional moment!”

Bruce: “Japanese fans are great, they are so polite, even grown women bring you gifts and wait by the back door.”
Fee: “We had a signing once and even though everyone was lined up patiently, as soon as they reached us they would just start screaming. One fan made us all towels, I use mine to cover my decks with, it was really, really sweet.”

Fee: “We played a gig in a massive warehouse in London once, it went really well but because id had a few drinks and we had played the show, I just said leave me here because I was having such a good time. Then they shut it and I thought, what am I going to do now? About seven floors up there was a bondage party going on called a Whipping party and I only just realised that I had to wait there for 9 hours in a party full of people with latex mask’s etc. until the vans came back to pick me up! It was a bit harrowing but very funny! You’ve just got to do these things I think!

Bruce: “We enjoy playing night clubs, you get everyone partying everyone gets lost dancing to the DJ’s and I think it’s nice for the people in the club to suddenly have a band come on because they have something to actually watch. I like the change; it’s different from the usual 3 bands in a row, the only downside being the crew who work for us, get a bit frustrated when we play gigs at three in the morning when sound check was at one in the afternoon! Its nuts!”

So how exactly is it that this little Oldham band has managed to take on the likes of Glastonbury, a tour with The Courteeners and land a gig at opening weekend of The Factory?

Fee: “We wrote our first album, ‘X Marks Destination’ just to get out there and do some gigs. I feel like we learnt a lot doing it. You learn what your strengths are, especially with songs that people haven’t heard before, we relied on the beat and key dance elements to get people going. When we started out we just said yes to everything that we got offered. We where always crammed into a little car with equipment literally over or heads trying to get to these gigs plus all having jobs at the same time it was really difficult but we just said yes and that gave us a really solid fan base from the beginning because of all the exposure. You can’t be too fussy or picky about what you do to begin with and grab what you can; it definitely did us good anyway!

So there we have it! A brilliant weekend and some wise words. If Peter Hook plays his cards right, I think we are definitely going to see some talent emerge from this club.

Peter Hook: “Iv never made a profit out of anything I’ve ever done, so its obviously not about the money.”

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