The 'Alternating Currents' Legacy Interview: Peter Hooton of The Farm

From Anfield fields to indie anthems, a look back at Liverpool's band for the people.

Jun 26, 2024

The Farm, 1991; Peter Hooten (front). Credit: Sire/Reprise

Prologue

Riding a wave of infectious dance beats and political fervor, The Farm stormed the British music scene in 1991. Their Liverpool roots ran deep, but their sound was anything but traditional. The band's debut album, Spartacus, became a surprise UK Number One, catapulting them into the heart of the "baggy" movement – a genre that blended the swagger of indie rock with the pulsating energy of acid house. With catchy tunes and a socially conscious message, The Farm were ready to make their mark on a music scene hungry for something fresh.

There are political bands. There are correct bands. There are politically correct bands. Then there's The Farm.

It's hard to fathom, what with all this Manchester-groveling, in-your-face fracas, that the little British city by the sea – Liverpool – is once again producing hip music. You may like it straight-forward (The La's pure pop, for instance) or you may like The Farm. However, this Liverpudlian sextet is making a good case for a new sound: conscientious comeuppance.

Rising from the muck and mire of the river Mersey, you learn to play a few tricks on the side, personally and professionally. As it turns out in my phone conversation from New York City with frontperson Peter Hooton, we somehow steer away from ‘escapism’ to talk about, as Hooten put it, “real stuff.”

"There are a lot of people who give Liverpool a bad reputation," he notes in his heavily drawn accent. We're mainly discussing the role of the British music press, to this day still rallying proud the 'us against them' attitude. “You've got to take them with a pinch of salt,” he continues. “We try and play them at their own game. We feed them absolute drivel so you don't find out we’re really a sinister, socialist, left-wing band!”

The Farm - Groovy Train - Top of the Pops - 1990/℗© BMG Rights Management

Off-the-cuff remarks that contain a kernel of truth, perhaps? With their U.S. debut Spartacus (Sire), The Farm takes subtle strides to weave infectious pop melodies with lyrical awareness: “Groovy Train”' as a question of judgment; “All Together Now” as an anti-war anthem. Not that London-based rock scribblers don't have a sense of humor, it just rubs them the wrong way as Hooton sketches in the gory details.

“They're always having a go at us purely on a superficial basis,” he says of the tabloid paper The Sun, “so it's not that bad.” Unfortunately, the rag did mount a scathing campaign against fellow comrades The Housemartins which led to the group's break-up. Though The Farm have a huge cross-section following similar to The Housemartins, it's a sticks and stones banter with the press, as Hooton concludes “The only way they [The Sun] can attack us is by calling us animals or hooligans.”

Ironically, there may be a perverse righteousness from a Londoner's viewpoint in trying to assess the cast of characters that inhabit the country ‘up North.’

The Farm - All Together Now (Official HD Video)/℗© BMG Rights Management

“Liverpool’s always been people on the streets,” Hooton notes. “It was always regarded as the volatile artist city, mainly through the tradition of the docks. A tradition of militancy that is not always justified. You ask people from London and they say Liverpool is always on strike. That’s the image.”

Extraordinary unemployment, rioting and a heroin problem that reached epidemic proportions in the early ‘80s contribute to a jigsaw puzzle that sadly has yet to be solved. There were jobs marches some years ago to raise awareness - The Farm’s guitarist Keith Mullin numbered among them - but I ask Hooton what the situation is like today.

“It’s exactly the same,” he laments. “It’s just not news anymore."

1981 UK People’s March for Jobs, Unemployment Protest/©Kinolibrary

It seems hard to imagine a less than glamorous spawning ground for The Farm, as Hooton confesses “I’ve never been able to play anything musical in me life.” He and guitarist Steve Grimes did manage to build a group around themselves throughout the ‘80s, at one time accentuated by a horn section. The current line-up stands as Hooton, Grimes, Mullin, bassist Carl Hunter, drummer Roy Boulter, and keyboardist Ben Leach.

It’s quite a ‘matey’' group, though it’s hard to shake the footballer image linked to the group by way of the tabloids. Yet they have persevered through tragedies, including the car crash death of original drummer Andy McVann in 1986. I gently ask Hooton about McVann, as Spartacus is dedicated to McVann’s parents in his memory.

"We invite his family to the concerts in Liverpool,” he says. “It’s very upsetting for them, but it also makes them proud.” “Don’t Let Me Down” from Spartacus has McVann in mind, but ultimately Hooton says, “He was destined not to reach 25. He was 21 when he died.” He becomes quiet and speaks slowly. “I used to say to him [sounds exasperated] ‘Andy…’ and he used to do daft things. He got drunk one night and took his brother’s car and ended up getting chased…”

His voice trails off and I apologize for touching an open nerve.

“I’m overlooking The Dakota as well,” he notes with irony, as it is the building where John Lennon lived and died. “I’m gonna start crying any minute!”

His sense of humor – true to Liverpudlian form – picks him up as we wind down our chat. “We’re a bunch of Boy Scouts, really,” he jokes, laughing. The Farm, he insists, will be the people’s band until the end.

They’ve earned enough badges to be more than a passing fad.

Epilogue

Hooton and his mates played Citi Club in Boston in September, 1991, opening for Mick Jones’ Big Audio Dynamite II.

In 2011, the band joined forces with Jones, Pete Wylie and John Power to create the Don't Buy The Sun Gig, at the Olympia in Liverpool, which was part of the continuing protest on Merseyside against The Sun newspaper for its false reporting on the Hillsborough disaster 22 years before.

In 2016 he was Chair of The Beatles Legacy Group, appointed by Mayor Joe Anderson to study the contemporary value and examine the impact of The Beatles on the city. Hooton has a degree in economics and public policy and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education and is currently Vice-Chair of Spirit of Shankly, an organization that assists members and supporters of Liverpool Football Club.