Gillian Gilbert | |
|---|---|
 Gilbert on stage with New Order in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gillian Lesley Gilbert |
| Born | 27 January 1961 Whalley Range, Manchester, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards, programming, guitar, vocals |
| Member of | New Order |
| Formerly of | The Other Two |
Gillian Lesley Gilbert (born 27 January 1961) [1] is an English musician and singer, best known as the keyboardist and guitarist of the band New Order.
Gilbert's family moved from her birthplace, Manchester, to the nearby market town of Macclesfield when she was young. She disliked living in Cheshire as a teenager and had wanted to live in Manchester. [2] In the late 1970s, seeing Siouxsie and the Banshees play live on UK television was a life changing experience for her. "Me dad always says to us, 'You changed as soon as you saw Siouxsie and the Banshees on television'... And I really liked Gaye Advert out of the Adverts, who played bass, and I thought, 'Oh, there's nobody playin' guitar' - you know, women in bands." [3] Her uncle taught her how to play guitar. [3]
She then was in a punk band with three girls, The Inadequates, [4] who rehearsed at premises next to Joy Division. [2] In a 1987 interview with Option , Gilbert reflected on the first time she became familiar with Joy Division: "We didn't have a car and us three needed a lift home. So we asked them, and they said, 'Alright, but you have to buy one of our singles.' So we did and got it home and played it on this horrible record player. We'd known Stephen before. We thought, 'My God, this sounds horrible.'" [2] She would later begin dating Stephen Morris.
After Ian Curtis's death in May 1980, the three remaining members of Joy Division started a new band called New Order. Wishing to complete their line-up with someone they knew well and whose musical skill and style was compatible with their own, New Order invited Gilbert to join the band during the early part of October 1980, as keyboardist and guitarist. She had already played with Joy Division a number of times, filling in for both Curtis and Bernard Sumner playing guitar. New Order's manager Rob Gretton suggested she should join. Gilbert's first live performance with them occurred at The Squat in Manchester on 25 October 1980. [5] [6]
Her voice can be heard on several New Order tracks: the 1981 single "Procession"; the 1983 single "Confusion"; "Avalanche" from the album Republic on which she sang a single word, "faith"; and "Doubts Even Here" from their first album, Movement , on which she provided a spoken-word background vocal.
Given that fellow band members Sumner and Peter Hook had already produced music outside New Order, Gilbert and Morris formed their own band, The Other Two. They released their first single "Tasty Fish" in 1991, and recorded two albums: The Other Two & You , released in 1993, and Super Highways in 1999. Gilbert and Morris were engaged in 1993, and married the following year. The couple live in Rainow, outside Macclesfield, and have two daughters. Gilbert stopped touring with New Order in 1998 so that she could care for their children, [7] one of whom suffers from neuromyelitis optica. [8] Her husband had briefly offered to care for the children, but Gilbert reasoned that it would be easier for the band to replace her than her husband. [9] She participated in the recording of 2001's Get Ready , [10] after which she was replaced by Phil Cunningham in New Order's line-up.
In 2007, Gilbert and Morris remixed two tracks for the Nine Inch Nails remixes album Year Zero Remixed . That year she was diagnosed with breast cancer, from which she recovered. [8]
She rejoined New Order in 2011, after a 10-year absence from their albums. She performed alongside Cunningham who remained a member, expanding the group to a quintet. She is quoted as being glad that she did other things during that time. Since 2011, New Order have performed across the world. Their album Music Complete was released in September 2015. [8] Gilbert's vocals were featured on a Koishii & Hush remix album titled Lifetime; it was released on 3 February 2016, and featured four tracks remixed by artists such as Saltmarine, Lavigne, FM Attack and Re:Locate. [11]
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook, and drummer Stephen Morris. The members regrouped after the disbandment of their previous band Joy Division due to the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. They were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. New Order's integration of post-punk with electronic and dance music made them one of the most acclaimed and influential bands of the 1980s. They were the flagship band for Manchester-based independent record label Factory Records and its nightclub The Haçienda, and they worked in long-term collaboration with graphic designer Peter Saville.
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".
Ian Kevin Curtis was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was best known as the lead singer, lyricist and occasional guitarist of the post-punk band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980). He was noted for his unique dancing style influenced by his experiences with epilepsy, as well as his dark baritone voice. Retrospectively viewed as "one of the finest songwriters of his generation," his intensely introspective and dark lyricism has provoked "visceral and raw emotions" among fans. He was also noted for his distinct on-stage behaviour.
Bernard Sumner is an English musician. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, Electronic, and Bad Lieutenant. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the post-punk, synth-pop, and techno music scenes, as well as their various related genres, and was an early influence on the Manchester music scene that presaged the Madchester movement of the late 1980s centred on Factory Records and The Haçienda club in Manchester.
Susan Janet Ballion, known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She came to prominence as the leader and main lyricist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, who were active from 1976 to 1996. They released 11 studio albums, and had several UK Top 20 singles including "Hong Kong Garden", "Happy House" and "Peek-a-Boo", plus a US Top 25 single in the Billboard Hot 100, with "Kiss Them for Me".
Stephen Paul David Morris is an English drummer who is best known for his work with the rock band New Order and, previously, Joy Division. He also wrote and performed in The Other Two, a band consisting of Morris and his girlfriend and later wife, Gillian Gilbert. Morris also participated in the New Order spin-off band Bad Lieutenant.
Republic is the sixth studio album by English rock band New Order. It was first released on 3 May 1993 in the United Kingdom by CentreDate Co Ltd in association with London Records and on 11 May 1993 in the United States by Qwest and Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album following the demise of their former label Factory Records, and would be their last studio album for eight years until 2001's Get Ready.
"Ceremony" is a song written by Joy Division, and first released as New Order's debut single in 1981. The track and its B-side, "In a Lonely Place", were recorded as Joy Division prior to the death of Ian Curtis. Both were re-recorded and carried over to Joy Division's re-formation as New Order.
"Everything's Gone Green" is the third single by the English rock band New Order, released in December 1981.
Movement is the debut studio album by English rock group New Order, released on 13 November 1981 by Factory Records. Recorded in the wake of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis' suicide the previous year, the album is a continuation of the dark post-punk sound of Joy Division's material, increasing the use of synthesizers while still being predominantly rooted in rock. At the time of its release, the album was not particularly well received by critics or audiences, only peaking at number thirty on the UK Albums Chart; the band would gradually shift to a more electronic sound over the course of the next year.
Philip Cunningham is an English guitarist who is a member of the bands Marion, New Order, Bad Lieutenant, ShadowParty and, more recently in 2020, Sea Fever.
The Scream is the debut studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 13 November 1978 by Polydor Records. The album is considered a landmark recording: its innovative combination of angular and serrated guitar with a bass-led rhythm and machine-like drums played mostly on toms, made it a pioneering work of the post-punk genre.
Join Hands is the second studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 7 September 1979 by Polydor Records. Upon its release, it was praised by the British press, including Melody Maker, Sounds, NME and Record Mirror.
Control is a 2007 British biographical film about the life of Ian Curtis, singer of the late-1970s English post-punk band Joy Division. It is the first feature film directed by Anton Corbijn, who had worked with Joy Division as a photographer. The screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh, was based on the biography Touching from a Distance by Curtis's widow Deborah, who served as a co-producer on the film. Tony Wilson, who released Joy Division's records through his Factory Records label, also served as a co-producer. Curtis' bandmates Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris provided incidental music for the soundtrack via their post-Joy Division incarnation New Order. Control was filmed partly on location in Nottingham, Manchester, and Macclesfield, including areas where Curtis lived, and was shot in colour and then printed to black-and-white. Its title comes from the Joy Division song "She's Lost Control", and alludes to the fact that much of the plot deals with the notion that Curtis tried to remain in control of his own life, and yet had no control over his epilepsy and pharmaceutical side effects.
"The Last Beat of My Heart" is a song written, produced and recorded by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released in late 1988 as the third and final single from the band's ninth studio album, Peepshow. In 2021, Spin rated it in their list of "the 50 best alt-rock love songs", for its "slow-climbing swell of accordion and muted tom-tom thump", qualifying it as a "perfect marriage of words and atmosphere".
John McKay is an English songwriter and guitarist. He was the first studio guitarist of Siouxsie and the Banshees. He was a member of the group from July 1977 until September 1979. He played a "jagged unorthodox chording", and created a "metal-shard roar" with his guitar. Q magazine included McKay's work on "Hong Kong Garden" in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever". He recorded two studio albums with the band, their debut album The Scream in 1978 and Join Hands in 1979.
Kenneth Ian Morris, known professionally as Kenny Morris, is an English drummer, songwriter and visual artist. He was the first studio drummer of Siouxsie and the Banshees. He joined the band in January 1977; he had attended their first live appearance at the 100 Club a few months earlier and had been impressed by their performance. Morris's first studio recording with the group was in November 1977 when they recorded their first John Peel session for BBC radio. Music journalist Kris Needs said : "Like as a rhythm machine for feet and guts Kenny Morris' drumming is unorthodox, primitive and far removed from the clicking hi-hats of the fly-strength paradiddle merchants".
Bad Lieutenant was an English alternative rock supergroup formed following the second breakup of New Order. The band consisted of then-former New Order members Bernard Sumner and Phil Cunningham as well as Rambo & Leroy's Jake Evans.
Peter Hook and The Light are an English rock band, formed in May 2010 by bassist and vocalist Peter Hook, formerly of the influential post-punk bands Joy Division and New Order. The band also features Hook's son Jack Bates (bass), as well as Andy Poole (keyboards) and Paul Kehoe (drums), who both played with Hook as part of Monaco, one of Hook's previous groups. From the first gigs in May 2010, Nat Wason was the group's guitarist, however in July 2013 he was replaced by David Potts, another former member of Monaco.
Seeing Siouxsie & The Banshees on TV changed Gillian Gilbert's life. "Me dad always says to us, 'You changed as soon as you saw Siouxsie & The Banshees on television'... Watching the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & The Banshees and a group called Penetration - I just wanted to be in a band!
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