Peter Saville

Peter Saville, as well as being a highly esteemed and influential designer, comes across in interview as a thoughtful, quotable, and erudite free thinker.

So it’s not entirely unexpected that The Tony Wilson Experience concept came from him and close friends and colleagues, particularly when you consider this quote – “There is a wilful elitism about Manchester which is very condensed compared to other cities. There’s something historically, geographically, socially about the climate, people that prepares you for something. We didn’t think we were the best, we knew we were.”

One of the original founders of Factory, and as the design impetus behind the label, Saville crafted the diffident, iconoclastic and individualistic image of Factory, often typically left to his own devices by Wilson and Gretton to turn it what he liked or deemed appropriate.

A great mate of Wilson’s, he remains intimately involved with Manchester in his role as Creative Director for the city. Indeed the event arose from this brief where he oversees the regeneration and cultural aspects of the city and as Saville made clear to Clash, he’s resolute about encouraging opportunities for young creatives as an ongoing legacy to his pal.

“What do you think Tony would have thought of today?”

“Just a few moments ago I smiled to myself that Tony meant enough to the city for something like this to happen, I would hope he’s smiling about it yes. He would have been the perfect host for the event, it’s in his idiom, the idea of the interview and the debate, so I would hope he would approve of it, were he here he would be hosting it and as he’s not here I hope he would approve of it otherwise he would be a miserable bugger.”

“The sad thing is that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. I think the sad thing for Manchester is and I’m not saying this in a bad way but I think he was taken for granted. That happens, you become part of the furniture, you become part of the furniture in your own home, and no-one really realises then until you’ve gone how important you were.”

“It is a fitting tribute, combining the speakers, debate and music, to encourage youth creativity and access to opportunity…

“That is the point of it. Tony was always accessible in this city. To me, Tony was like a doorway of opportunity to people and he was always open to people, you couldn’t go a hundred yards in Manchester with Tony without someone coming up and expressing their opinion to him thrusting a record, a cd, a tape, a book into his hand and going that’s me my number’s inside. And Tony made himself accessible to people, to the city, everybody felt like they knew him, everybody in Manchester felt they had carte blanche to say what they felt to him. The positive side of that openness was that if somebody felt that if Tony could encourage them, help them, give them an opportunity, he was there for you to do that.

“He’s gone too soon and that conduit of opportunity which he offered to people is no longer there. The point of today is to keep that open, even if it’s just for a couple of days but I think it will grow bigger than that.”

“It’s more proactive than a piece of stone in Albert Square, that’s the point. Yes it’s in his honour, but much more importantly it’s to give somebody here a feeling that a door could be opened for them. That’s the difficult thing when you’re young, you know what you want to do but you don’t know how to achieve it, Tony gave that window of opportunity to people and this is just to keep that door open.

Do you feel you would have pursued the career you had if it hadn’t been for Tony?

“I would have pursued my career but it would not have been the career I’ve had I not gone and sat in the lobby of Granada waiting for Tony Wilson. we had a mutual friend. I phoned him up, I said “Mr Wilson I’m a student at the art college, can I come and see you please”. He said “yeah ok, tomorrow afternoon at Granada”. I sat in the lobby at Granada waiting for Tony to come in. Of course I felt like I knew him because I knew him from television but actually I didn’t know him. He was very amenable and patient and said let’s go downstairs in the canteen at Granada and I showed him some books and he said ok do a poster.

“The whole point of this event today is to continue that open access to opportunity.
It’s an event for the people who have come here. It isn’t about a bunch of grown ups to talk at them, it is supposed to be a bit of a happening. Richard Leese, on behalf of the city council, has put up some thousands to support this, which to me is great but bizarre. For Sir Richard Leese, to say yes I’ll support this, it is a strange and changing world.

“The point of today is to see if any of us can pass on to someone else that bit of opportunity, optimism, belief in ourselves, that Tony gave is. That’s the point of it.”

“Why do you think Factory Records and all that goes along with it continues to be so resonant in the modern day?”

“The principle spiritual reason is that it’s one of the last few true stories in pop. There are very few true stories in popular culture, the Factory, Joy Division, Tony Wilson story is a true story, it’s not an invented created strategy, it’s not pre-determined packages idea that the kids might buy into and there aren’t many true stories in a highly commoditised popular culture and this is a true story and that’s the basis of it’s ongoing resonance. There is something there to genuinely believe in.”

“Do you think the story’s ended with Tony’s death?”

“Did the story end when Ian Curtis died? No, the story’s ongoing, The story hasn’t ended, Martin Hannett has died, Rob Gretton’s died, there’s only me and Alan Erasmus left from the founding partners of Factory but no true stories don’t die, they’re myths they go on this is the new mythology of Manchester, societies and places need those myths, we need those things that people can believe in and that’s why they live on.”

By Domenic Marte & Richard Smirke