Steve Hanley

Stephen Hanley (born 29 May 1959) is an Irish-born English musician best known as the bass guitarist in the Fall from 1979 to 1998 and with House Of All since 2022. His distinctive and muscular basslines were a signature part of their sound, often carrying the songs' instrumental melodies. Hanley is second only to Mark E. Smith in longevity in the band. With Peter Hook, Andy Rourke and Gary Mounfield, he is widely considered one of the pre-eminent Manchester bassists of his generation. He has always been very private and rarely interviewed; for this reason his 2014 autobiography The Big Midweek: Life Inside The Fall was highly anticipated. On publication it was met with widespread acclaim for its frank honesty and dry, no nonsense humour.

He is currently a member of Brix & the Extricated with guitarist and vocalist Brix Smith. He also plays bass with The House Of All, consisting of a number of other ex-Fall members, whose debut album was released in January 2023 to widespread acclaim.

Career

In 1978 he played in the Sirens alongside Marc Riley and Craig Scanlon. When Riley left to join the Fall, they became Staff 9, but disbanded when Hanley and Scanlon joined the Fall themselves in 1979. During the first half of the 1980s, Hanley's brother Paul was also a member of the Fall, playing drums and keyboards. Scanlon and Hanley were stalwarts in The Fall through multiple lineup changes in the 1980s and into the '90s. In a 1992 interview with Volume magazine (issue 4), frontman Mark E. Smith described Scanlon and Hanley as "fuckin' hard as nails...very super-intelligent fellows, but they're really reticent...I just love them to death. Jesuit lads, you know...Steve and Craig are brilliant". In a late '80s interview, Smith said that "the most original aspect of The Fall is Steve...I've never heard a bass player like him. He is The Fall sound." Hanley co-wrote the music for over 100 Fall songs on more than a dozen albums; including the tracks "Rowche Rumble", "Fiery Jack", "Container Drivers", "Lie Dream of a Casino Soul", "Totally Wired", "Winter", "The N.W.R.A.", "To Nkroachment: Yarbles", "I Am Damo Suzuki", "Jerusalem", "Van Plague?", "Yes, O Yes", and "Free Range". He has said that his part on the This Nation's Saving Grace track "Bombast" is the bass-line he is most proud of.

Hanley left the Fall in April 1998 following an onstage altercation in New York, which also resulted in the departures of longtime drummer Karl Burns and guitarist Tommy Crooks. Smith regretted the row and asked Hanley to return, but the bassist declined. and joined the Lovers in 2001, a group fronted by Tom Hingley of Inspiral Carpets. Both these bands also featured Paul Hanley. The Lovers released two albums, Abba Are the Enemy, released in 2004, and Highlights which was released in March 2008. The band split amicably in 2012. He was briefly a member of fellow ex-Fall member Martin Bramah's group Factory Star, as was his brother Paul Hanley. "The Big Midweek" a book chronicling Hanley's time in the Fall, written by him with Olivia Piekarski, released by Route Publishing on 15 September 2014. He was also a member of Brix & The Extricated alongside brother Paul, Steve Trafford and Jason Brown.

His 2014 autobiography The Big Midweek: Life Inside the Fall was met with critical acclaim. As of 2023, Hanley plays bass with The House Of All, a band consisting of his brother Paul, and other ex-Fall members Martin Bramah, Simon Wolstencroft, and Pete Greenway. Their critically and fan acclaimed self-titled debut album is due for release in April 2023.

Discography Album Date of release Label Dragnet 26 October 1979 Step Forward Records Grotesque (After the Gramme) 17 November 1980 Rough Trade Records Slates 27 April 1981 Rough Trade Records Hex Enduction Hour 8 March 1982 Kamera Records Room to Live 27 September 1982 Kamera Records Perverted By Language 12 December 1983 Rough Trade Records The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall 8 October 1984 Beggars Banquet Records This Nation's Saving Grace 23 September 1985 Beggars Banquet Records Bend Sinister 29 September 1986 Beggars Banquet Records The Frenz Experiment 29 February 1988 Beggars Banquet Records I Am Kurious, Oranj 31 October 1988 Beggars Banquet Records Extricate 19 February 1990 Phonogram Shift-Work 22 April 1991 Phonogram Code: Selfish 23 March 1992 Phonogram The Infotainment Scan 26 April 1993 Permanent RecordsMatador Records Middle Class Revolt 3 May 1994 Permanent Records Cerebral Caustic 27 February 1995 Permanent Records The Light User Syndrome 10 June 1996 Jet Records Levitate 29 September 1997 Artful Records