Interviews

:: Doc Fest ran in Sheffield, November 2007

The world premiere for the latest film about the band took place at the Toronto International Film Festival and the buzz created led to the opening night for the 14th annual festival in Sheffield to be a hot ticket event.

The film documents the music scene in Manchester and how it led to the formation of the band in 1976, and the influences which led to the creation of Joy Division. Using interviews with band members, they document the whole story including the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis in 1980.

The film also features interviews with the late Tony Wilson and other leading figures of Manchester's music scene who all help tell the story of how the music changed the city.

"I am really proud of it all... it's a wonderful thing to still be celebrating after 30 years. I find it mind boggling that people are so moved by the story."

The film is one of two that are currently on show about the band. The other, Control, concentrates on the life of deceased lead singer Ian Curtis. Hook tells us about the album the name is taken from:

"Closer is still one of my favourite LPs of all time, I actually play it for pleasure. When I was doing Control [the film] I was finding it difficult to watch it... must be age, pulls your heart strings a little too much.

"I think Ian had it planned out, I think he'd made his mind up that he wanted to get out. Suicide is a very selfish attitude... it just leaves those problems for everybody else.

"If there's anyone I feel sorry for while we've been going through this Joy Division and Control business is his daughter. I feel really sorry that I was involved in anything that took her father away. As a father myself it's something I find really distasteful."

From Joy Division to New Order

"I think musically we would have gone the way we did, 'cause Bernard and Stephen were very interested in the technological side of it. I think Blue Monday would have come along and it would have been really interesting to hear Ian sing on Blue Monday.

"People always say to us 'you invented electronic music', I'll take that but I don't know what you're going to say to Kraftwerk!

"I've been very lucky, been through Joy Division, New Order, the Hacienda, Madchester, been through Acid House, the dance music explosion... I've been very, very lucky."

Grant Gee

The documentary is directed by Grant Gee who is well known for the film he made about Radiohead. Gee has also shot a documentary for Oasis and directed a number of music videos too. He told us how he put the film together:

"It was getting both the images and the sense of how that has happened right at the beginning and right at the end of the film that I'm particularly pleased at.

"I just assume that they're one of those template bands like the Velvet Underground. Paul Morley said at one point, 'if you're gonna form a four or five piece band there are very few places you're gonna look for the basic templates of what you're gonna do with that sound.

"Velvet Underground is one, and Joy Division is one... and maybe Nirvana in that league.

"The Hacienda then attracted the attention of local councilors to say 'why are young people back in the centre of this wretched town? Maybe we can make it not wretched again?'

"Tony said it right at the beginning of the film, Manchester's changed beyond all recognition in the last 30 years, and at the heart of that change, really strangely is a bunch of bands.

"It sounds preposterous that a band could be in anyway responsible for regeneration, but it's kind of true."

:: Doc Fest ran in Sheffield, November 2007