New Order’s next album is coming: Bernard Sumner talks “Complete Music,”

Erm, yeah, I would like to be, but I never thought about it until you just mentioned it now. I like reading biographies and historical books because you learn the way other people have lived, what they’ve achieved. I didn’t learn a lot in school, but I’m finding that my thirst for education has got greater as I’ve got older, and I learn off other people and the way different people behave. I’m not perfect, by any means—I’m no angel. If I was, I wouldn’t have a hangover today.

The other potential moral of “Chapter and Verse” might be, “Don’t go into business with your bandmates” (beyond music).

It needs mentioning, there’s one in particular I wouldn’t go into business with again. Diversification is not my bag. That’s a lesson I learned. I don’t want to be worrying about whether we’re going to put some cheeseburgers in The Haçienda when I’m trying to write a song, or whether we should get a metal detector at the door or bulletproof vests for the bouncers. All of that was an enormous distraction, and it weakens you. Our [hedonistic] behavior was a distraction. We’ve not got any of that now, and I think that’s why things are working really well. I think that shows itself with the success we’ve had with this album.

This past December, the News section of your website mentioned, “‘Music Complete’ album sales more than doubled (+107.9%) in the week ending 4th December following the court hearing [that gave Hook the right to sue for allegedly unpaid royalties] and Mr Hook’s statement. Seems like there’s no bad publicity for record promotion or is it the glowing end of year accolades driving sales?” Do you think all the press about the fallout actually helped bring attention to the band?

It is true, sales went up, and I don’t really know why. It could have been that we were touring at that time… The court hearing was just an initial hearing, with a certain spin put on it, but it’s not the end of the story. I can’t talk about it much, but I don’t think it’s beneficial to anyone. None of this **** comes from us. It all comes from the opposite direction. You left the band; get on with your life—that’s my advice. You’re doing what you want to do, and we’re doing what we want to do. What’s the problem? And I have to say one thing: We pay Peter Hook a license fee for all our activities; we pay him a percentage of everything we do. It’s just not enough for him. He wants more money. But he doesn’t pay us anything when he goes out and tours the albums, like “Unknown Pleasures” and “Power, Corruption and Lies.” He thinks that’s OK, but he thinks that we should pay a lot more than what we pay him. Let’s be kind and say it’s a bit unfair. But I can’t talk too much about it, because it’s ongoing.

Parts of your book are very funny, for instance being driven around by Bez from the Happy Mondays in Spain —

That is not a memory I look back on with great fondness. At the time, I’m thinking, get me out of here! I was being driven around by a drug-crazed maniac—funny in retrospect, but not at the time! And when we got back to the studio, in Ibiza, where we recorded part of “Technique,” I told Bez that the waiter, Herman the German—only a young guy—had some drugs, and Bez dragged him over the counter and started chasing him around the studio. Me and my girlfriend locked ourselves in the bedroom while Bez was trying to get his drugs! [laughs] Don’t get me wrong; I love Bez. He’s a great guy, and a good friend, but just in those days, it was on the edge, shall we say, of craziness.Erm, yeah, I would like to be, but I never thought about it until you just mentioned it now. I like reading biographies and historical books because you learn the way other people have lived, what they’ve achieved. I didn’t learn a lot in school, but I’m finding that my thirst for education has got greater as I’ve got older, and I learn off other people and the way different people behave. I’m not perfect, by any means—I’m no angel. If I was, I wouldn’t have a hangover today.

The other potential moral of “Chapter and Verse” might be, “Don’t go into business with your bandmates” (beyond music).

It needs mentioning, there’s one in particular I wouldn’t go into business with again. Diversification is not my bag. That’s a lesson I learned. I don’t want to be worrying about whether we’re going to put some cheeseburgers in The Haçienda when I’m trying to write a song, or whether we should get a metal detector at the door or bulletproof vests for the bouncers. All of that was an enormous distraction, and it weakens you. Our [hedonistic] behavior was a distraction. We’ve not got any of that now, and I think that’s why things are working really well. I think that shows itself with the success we’ve had with this album.

This past December, the News section of your website mentioned, “‘Music Complete’ album sales more than doubled (+107.9%) in the week ending 4th December following the court hearing [that gave Hook the right to sue for allegedly unpaid royalties] and Mr Hook’s statement. Seems like there’s no bad publicity for record promotion or is it the glowing end of year accolades driving sales?” Do you think all the press about the fallout actually helped bring attention to the band?

It is true, sales went up, and I don’t really know why. It could have been that we were touring at that time… The court hearing was just an initial hearing, with a certain spin put on it, but it’s not the end of the story. I can’t talk about it much, but I don’t think it’s beneficial to anyone. None of this **** comes from us. It all comes from the opposite direction. You left the band; get on with your life—that’s my advice. You’re doing what you want to do, and we’re doing what we want to do. What’s the problem? And I have to say one thing: We pay Peter Hook a license fee for all our activities; we pay him a percentage of everything we do. It’s just not enough for him. He wants more money. But he doesn’t pay us anything when he goes out and tours the albums, like “Unknown Pleasures” and “Power, Corruption and Lies.” He thinks that’s OK, but he thinks that we should pay a lot more than what we pay him. Let’s be kind and say it’s a bit unfair. But I can’t talk too much about it, because it’s ongoing.

Parts of your book are very funny, for instance being driven around by Bez from the Happy Mondays in Spain —

That is not a memory I look back on with great fondness. At the time, I’m thinking, get me out of here! I was being driven around by a drug-crazed maniac—funny in retrospect, but not at the time! And when we got back to the studio, in Ibiza, where we recorded part of “Technique,” I told Bez that the waiter, Herman the German—only a young guy—had some drugs, and Bez dragged him over the counter and started chasing him around the studio. Me and my girlfriend locked ourselves in the bedroom while Bez was trying to get his drugs! [laughs] Don’t get me wrong; I love Bez. He’s a great guy, and a good friend, but just in those days, it was on the edge, shall we say, of craziness.