His late friend and bandmate Ian Curtis: "It was nice doing my own Joy Division book to be able to put forward the fact that Ian was actually quite a nice guy and very hardworking, ambitious and loyal. But the thing was, he was battling such a dreadful illness in an era when they really didn't know how to treat it."
The two movies made about Joy Division (2007's "Control" and 2002's Manchester scene tell-all "24 Hour Party People"): "The '24 Hour Party People' film was very much about all the myths. [Factory label founder] Tony Wilson used to tell me that fiction is always greater than fact. And I told him that on this one occasion, the facts about the Hacienda club, Factory Records and Joy Division and New Order were better. You couldn't make those up. I like 'Control' because it was much more truthful. [Director] Anton Corbijn portrayed us as we were. It was uncomfortable, really, to watch somebody portray you in such a true way."
His new band's approach to bringing his old records to life: "Our gimmick, if you like, started with doing the Joy Division records, and the thing about Joy Division is it's still a huge band today that almost nobody ever saw play live. Most people have just heard Joy Division on record. And Joy Division on record was completely different than it was live. In concert, Bernard [Sumner] would mostly play guitar. There were no keyboards, and if he did play keyboards, then there was no guitar. Now, obviously, we have more personnel, just as they do in Fraud Order. You can fill those holes. I'd never hope or imagine to fool people into thinking we were Joy Division. It's as ridiculous as that lot pretending that they're New Order."
