Steve Hanley (musician)

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

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,^{[n 1]} you know...Steve and Craig are brilliant".^[4] 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."^[5] 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.^[1] After, he formed Ark with Burns, Crooks and former Creepers bassist Pete Keogh, the band releasing the album Brainsold in 2002,^[6] 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,^[7] 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.^[8] He was also a member of Brix & The Extricated alongside brother Paul, Steve Trafford and Jason Brown.^[9]

His 2014 autobiography The Big Midweek: Life Inside the Fall was met with critical acclaim.^[10] 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.^[11][12]