Joy Division bassist Peter Hook visited the new Ian Curtis mural in Macclesfield today.

It was as Manchester street artist Akse added the finishing touches to the Mill Street mural of the late Macclesfield musician.

Ian Curtis was a Macclesfield civil servant and frontman for the band Joy Division. He worked and lived in our town until his death aged just 23.

Hook was friends and bandmates with Curtis from 1976 until 1980, until the Macclesfield resident took his own life at his home on Barton Street.

Akse's mural is based from a Kevin Cummins photograph taken of Ian Curtis in 1979 - just months before Curtis would pass away in his Macclesfield home. (Image - Alexander Greensmith)

"It is great to see. It makes me happy just looking at it," said Peter Hook.

"We were so cruelly short-changed in our lives the way his illness took him.

"He's a great man. I love him. To celebrate him like this and the music and the band is just fantastic."

"So it is nice that he is here, and his memory is cherished and celebrated."

The Mayor of Macclesfield David Edwardes (left) pictured with Peter Hook (right) as Akse (back) adds finishing touches to the mural. (Image - Alexander Greensmith)

Located on 86 Mill Street above a convenience store near Macclesfield Bus Station, the mural is in a prime position for visitors and locals of our town.

Macclesfield Central Ward Councillor Janet Jackson MBE - who came up with the idea to create a mural of a Macclesfield hero - revealed how the project came to be.

"Cheshire East Council got some funding for an arts project," she said.

"It wasn't ratepayers money, it was a pot of money we could use for art and culture. So it was decided a mural in our town would be good.

Cllr Nick Mannion, Peter Hook, and Cllr Janet Jackson MBE pictured admiring the mural. (Image - Alexander Greensmith)

"And everyone knows Ian Curtis is an iconic figure. Everyone comes to see the sights. Whether it is going to the Cemetery, going to Barton Street where he lived, going to the Employment Exchange where he worked.

"People come from around the world to see his hometown, so we wanted something to commemorate him.

"Having it in this position of town near the bus station is a no brainer. So many people come to the town already, and even more will now.

"It will increase the footfall through the town as well and that is what we are wanting.

BEFORE AND AFTER: The mural is opposite the new benches on Mill Street, which will make a perfect place to sit and reflect at the craft put into the mural. (Image - Alexander Greensmith)

"It helped persuade people to get this project to happen in the first place."

Joy Division fan and Macclesfield West and Ivy Councillor Nick Mannion also spoke glowingly on the positives the mural will bring.

"This is great news for the town. It is going to encourage people to visit Macclesfield and realise what a fantastic place our town is, and what it can be going forward," he said.

"It is a celebration of the life tragically cut short of a local boy made good. He went to King's School in Macclesfield. And I suppose to my generation he was unique.

While born in Stretford, Curtis grew up and spent most of his short life in Macclesfield. (Image - Alexander Greensmith)

"He was that bridge between the explosion of punk rock in the mid-seventies to what went on whereafter. He is a true local icon. This is a long overdue but well-deserved celebration of his life.

"My mum probably doesn't know some of this - but I first saw Joy Division when I was 15 at a place called the Electric Circus in Manchester [the same venue Hook first met Curtis a few years prior].

"They were different, unique and reflected some of the challenges and angst at the time of the young teenage people in the country.

"And I think it is brilliant that Peter Hook has taken the time to come to Macclesfield. He's obviously a very busy man.

It is hoped the mural will attract more music tourists to Macclesfield, a common occurance before lockdown. (Image - Alexander Greensmith)

"Ian passed away many years ago but he still obviously has a huge place in his heart for the guy."

The Ian Curtis mural is the latest in a series of iconic works by Manchester street artist Akse, who has over 100,000 followers across social media

He has been spray-painting similar projects over a varied 30-year career.

The Curtis mural of a 1979 Kevin Cummins photo joins Akse's greatest works, including murals of the late British army officer and fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore and Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford MBE.

Peter Hook (right) holds together the two albums he and his Joy Division bandmates made with Macclesfield's Ian Curtis (mural).

On completion of his latest project, Akse said: "Although I've been working on murals most of my life, it's still always an incredible feeling to get to the end of the journey – well the end of my journey at least.

"Now it's time for the people of Macclesfield to enjoy the mural, as I know how much Ian meant to so many of them."

Hook would love to see Akse paint a Joy Division mural next in Salford - Hook's city of birth. And spoke glowingly on of Akse's work.

"He actually came over to do this in Macclesfield because he was a fan. Which was quite strange to see it here but it is wonderful to see it here I must say," added Hook.

"[Akse] previously completed the Manchester Ian Curtis mural, and is a lovely boy."

Concluding his chat with Macclesfield Nub News, Hook reminisced on his connections to our town.

"Macclesfield is becoming more important in my history," he declared.

"When I think about when Joy Division used to rehearse, we used to rehearse in Macc at a pub called The Talbot [on Oxford Road] which got knocked down.

"We wrote a lot of songs there. With Steve [Stephen Morris, Macclesfield drummer of Joy Division] and Ian. It has played a big part.

"So it is great to all be here today to celebrate a great man, from a great time where music changed the world.

"It is overdue in my opinion. We tried to get a statue a couple years ago but it was very difficult.

"It is really great walking down and just standing there [at the mural] watching everybody by being moved.

"Even if it sparks interest in people that don't know the band or don't know Ian's story, I think it will help both Macclesfield and Joy Division."

Hook has regularly performed charity gigs for Ian Curtis in Macclesfield, including for epilepsy charities, as the condition plagued the latter years of Ian's life.

The Peter Hook & The Light lead singer will return to Macclesfield next month for a concert at Christ Church's Party in the Pews Festival.

The artwork is the second Ian Curtis mural in Macclesfield - with the first being inside Chestergate business proper sound.

See Also: Ian Curtis: Six ways how the Macclesfield musician still impacts our town.

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