Bad Lieutenant's Bernard Sumner Moves On From New Order

Posted on Oct 13th 2009 3:30PM by Benjy Eisen
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When Bernard Sumner formed Bad Lieutenant in 2007, he already had some experience with launching new bands. After all, he was a founding member of both Joy Division and New Order and stuck with both those hugely influential bands 'til their final curtain call. He also, accidentally, formed a supergroup in 1989 with Electronic. Originally intended as a solo project, Electronic included Johnny Marr (the Smiths, Modest Mouse), Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) and Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk). Not a bad support cast, eh?

"It was only a supergroup to the outside world," Sumner tells Spinner. "To me, I was just playing with my friends." The group started as a true solo endeavor when, during a peak in New Order's illustrious career, Sumner's creative output was overflowing. "I used to go up to New Order's rehearsal room on a Sunday, work on my own there all day, sleep on the floor and then rehearse with New Order on Monday," he recalls. "And I found that whole experience terrible, unsurprisingly. The floor was very uncomfortable and I was spending the day by myself entirely in a room without windows."

It wasn't just the sleeping arrangement that Sumner found intolerable; he discovered that he really didn't like writing music by himself. He had nobody to play his ideas off of and, after awhile, became aware that he was talking to himself, asking himself for a second opinion on certain songs. "Music is about communication and about communicating with people," he says. "And to make good music, you have to make it with other people, I think."

So when New Order was unraveling in 2007, Sumner revved up the engines of a brand new group, assembled in part from the pieces of his old one. In addition to himself on vocals and guitar, he is joined by two more guitarists, New Order newcomer Phil Cunningham and Jake Evans. As such, while there is a sense of sonic continuity from Sumner's previous work, there is also much more of an emphasis on guitar and a lot fewer synthesized sounds. "I wanted the writing experience to be a social experience and I wanted to have a good time writing this record with what I regard as my friends," explains Sumner. "So I didn't want to send them away for days on end while I programmed a synthesizer."

Bad Lieutenant is joined on drums by part-time member Stephen Morris, who has been keeping time for Sumner in both Joy Division and New Order since the late '70s. Their debut album, 'Never Cry Another Tear,' was released on October 6 via Amazon.com and will come out next month through all the traditional outlets. Sumner says that he's learned from his past and that Bad Lieutenant is definitely a group of merry men. "I realized my initial mistake with Electronic," he says. "I didn't want this to be like that. I make music because I want it to be fun, you know?"

Hence, bassist Peter Hook departed New Order and they disbanded. And, in conclusion, Sumner formed Bad Lieutenant. A new band, a new chapter. Sounds like things are fun again.