The Argus: Brighton Festival 2012

Thirty-two years after the death of Ian Curtis, aged 23, there is as much interest and intrigue in Joy Division as ever.

While his former bandmates continue with their petty public squabbles and apparent attempts to sour the Joy Division’s legacy, journalist Paul Morley and photographer Kevin Cummins were able to shine some light on the formative years of the band.

What emerged was a vivid description of a band that was very much of its own time and place. Having formed in the late 70s, shaped by the rundown and desolate Manchester environment, they were a product of their circumstances.

Nothing illustrated this better than Cummins’ iconic shots of the band in Hulme, where they are distant figures on a bleak, snow-covered bridge.

The most fascinating insights, though, centred on how the mythology of the band developed and the pivotal roles played by other people.

Morley revealed how the band were transformed by the production skills of Martin Hannett, who stripped down the sound and added their trademark “space”.

Meanwhile, Cummins told us his iconic images of a seemingly reclusive and lonely Curtis were actually taken with his bandmates close by, talking to him and trying to make him laugh.

It also emerged that the band, contrary to their image, were prone to asking pretty girls for directions before switching on the windscreen wipers, splashing them with water.

While this discussion was a fascinating insight into the time, and successfully put the band into a wider social and cultural context, it strangely failed to focus very much on their music.

After all, it’s their genuinely groundbreaking sound – which is seemingly protected from the ravages of time – that is their true legacy.