“I never knew my father. He'd disappeared from the scene before I was b...” — Bernard Sumner Quote

I never knew my father. He'd disappeared from the scene before I was born, and I still have no idea who he is. Perhaps strangely, it's never bothered me; I certainly don't believe it's really affected me.

I see all the musicians in Blur with equal standing, really.

I believe that every business and company takes two years to establish.

I'm sure every time I bring something out that isn't New Order, people say it sounds like New Order.

You can't escape from yourself, can you?

Every single performance of 'Fleabag,' I would learn so much from the audience reaction or how you could change it all the time, and I loved that sense that the performance is ever-growing and changing and could be affected by the audience.

Whenever l've travelled l've found myself affected in conflicted ways. Sometimes the new experiences inspire a path of self discovery, but at other points those situations can highlight insecurities and bring about feelings of displacement.

I feel like every piece of art is a mirror of what's going on in the present time, because the artist - a painter, a sculptor, a filmmaker - will be affected by what's around them, so it seeps into their work.

The real American type can never be a ballet dancer. The legs are too long, the body too supple and the spirit too free for this school of affected grace and toe walking.