Bernard Sumner attempted hypnosis to get rid of Ian Curtis’ “death wish”
Ian Curtis’ emphatic dancing style and baritone vocal delivery of lyrics pertaining to desolation and emptiness made his band, Joy Division, one of the most influential post-punk acts of the late 1970s. Curtis suffered from epilepsy and severe depression, and Joy Division’s guitarist, Bernard Sumner, once turned to hypnotism to help his singer out of his mental anguish.
“I’ve got to be careful not to sound like a lunatic here,” Sumner once said. “I first read about hypnotism at school, and I used to do tricks like getting a really skinny guy to arm wrestle the local bully. Much later, when we were in Joy Division, I read a book on hypnotic regression and how it could be used for therapy. I first hypnotised Ian at our rehearsal room.”
He added, “He remembered nothing, but when we did it again, exactly the same memories came up, about him being a mercenary in the hundred years war. I recorded it, and when I played it back to him, he was astounded. It was my feeble attempt to try and shake him out of a death wish he seemed to have. He’d already tried to commit suicide. I’ve never listened to the tape since because it was too tender, but I decided to have it transcribed and put it in [my] book. Otherwise, it would be lost forever.”
Curtis had asked his wife Deborah to end her divorce proceedings in May 1980, but Deborah was reluctant, given Curtis’ penchant for changing his mind on things. Thoughtful of his prior suicide attempt and his anxiety, she offered to spend the night with Curtis. However, when she arrived, Curtis had indeed changed his mind and wanted to be alone. Tragically, the following morning, Curtis committed suicide by hanging.
Joy Division were on the precipice of a debut tour in North America. However, Curtis had been sceptical of going on the tour as he was afraid of flying and was worried about how the American audience would perceive his epilepsy.
Sumner also revealed that a week before Curtis’ tragic suicide, he had planned to quit the band and open up a bookshop in Bournemouth. Sumner said, “He had a wayward week. People were suddenly writing amazing things about us, and we were about to go on an American tour.”
He added, “It was probably like waking up from a dream and finding that the dream was actually happening, but he was feeling a lot of pressure from all sides. He had his relationship with his wife and Annik, and I think he felt very guilty about his daughter, Natalie. Love literally was tearing him apart. Also, to have very bad epilepsy and be expected to go out and do concerts. I guess it just pulled him in every way.”
