Quotes from Bernard Sumner

Joy Division sounded like Manchester: cold, sparse and, at times, bleak.

I felt that by the late '90s, I'd gone as far as I could with the keyboard.

As you get older, you kind of take a more sober view of life.

There were certain things I couldn't do with New Order without upsetting the rest of the band, so I started to write some solo stuff.

I get writer's block all the time. The only way I can write what I consider to be good lyrics is to put myself through the mill.

You can't put rubbish into a computer and get something good out.

We didn't play any Joy Division songs for 10 years after the start of New Order, which was a very honourable thing to do even if it meant shooting ourselves in the foot.

I think in South America people are very, uh, they have no inhibitions and wear their hearts on their sleeves - what's the word? They're very expressive, demonstrative.

The drummer is the backbone of the band and is the real underrated one.

There's challenges in life that present themselves unexpectedly, and if you rise to them, then those challenges will toughen you up.

I see all the musicians in Blur with equal standing, really.

New Order has always been a hybrid band. We always mixed guitar, bass, drums with electronic.

I'm very proud of New Order and Joy Division, that heritage of songs.

I think New Order have got their own sound. But what we like to do is experiment, using dance music and other things.

The story of New Order is all about learning from our mistakes.

I always felt like there were always egos involved when I was trying to get music finished in New Order. Sometimes it would feel like I was running through water.

I'm sure every time I bring something out that isn't New Order, people say it sounds like New Order.

Joy Division finished the 1970s on a high. Our debut album, 'Unknown Pleasures,' was doing well; we'd just finished a hugely enjoyable and successful tour. The band's profile was higher than it had ever been, and it seemed to be growing by the day.

I'm not interested in the past or in talking about myself.

I'm not interested in how well someone can sing. It's what you're singing that interests me.

I never knew my father. He'd disappeared from the scene before I was born, and I still have no idea who he is. Perhaps strangely, it's never bothered me; I certainly don't believe it's really affected me.

One of the things I like about music is it's an abstract art, totally abstract, where you can convey an emotion, which I find amazing.

In Salford, we had fish in our tap water. I remember, one hot summer day, running to the toilet at playtime and dunking our heads in a sink full of water. I remember putting my head in and seeing all these little fish in it.

If I work on music, it'll be for 10 hours a day, so sometimes I'll feel stressed, and I'll go for a two-hour walk. That sorts me out.