Stephen Paul David Morris (born 28 October 1957) is an English drummer who has worked with the rock band New Order and, previously,

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

. He also wrote and performed in

The Other Two ''The Other Two'' is an American sitcom created by Chris Kelly (writer), Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. The story follows two floundering millennial siblings who must grapple with their 13-year-old brother's overnight fame. The series premiere ...

, a band consisting of Morris and his girlfriend and later wife,

Gillian Gilbert Gillian Lesley Gilbert (born 27 January 1961) is an English musician. She is the keyboardist and guitarist of the band New Order. Early life Gilbert's family moved from her birthplace, Manchester, to the nearby market town of Macclesfield when ...

. Morris also participated in the New Order spin-off band

Bad Lieutenant ''Bad Lieutenant'' is a 1992 American neo-noir crime drama film directed by Abel Ferrara, from a screenplay co-written with Zoë Lund. It stars Harvey Keitel as the title character "bad lieutenant", an unnamed and corrupt New York police off ...

. He and frontman

Bernard Sumner Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956) 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 ...

are the only two continuous members of New Order, and appeared on every one of the band’s albums.

Career

Stephen Paul David Morris was born on 28 October 1957, in

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. His father was a travelling salesman who also put on dances. His uncle was a musician. When Morris told his father he wanted to be a drummer, he replied: "Drummers, Stephen. I’ve never met a sane one yet... They all end up taking morphine and drinking absinthe, rotting their brains. You don’t want to end up like that, do you?" He attended the

King's School, Macclesfield The King's School, Macclesfield, is an all through co-educational private day school in Prestbury, Cheshire, England, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It was founded in 1502 by Sir John Percyvale, a former Lor ...

, as did

singer

Ian Curtis Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, lyricist and occasional guitarist of the band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums ''Unknown Pleasures'' (197 ...

. After Joy Division (then called Warsaw) tried three other drummers, they eventually recruited Morris, who responded to a wanted ad posted in a local music shop. Morris is noted for his "machine-like" skills as a drummer, which he credits to

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...

influences, naming

Klaus Dinger Klaus Dinger (24 March 1946 – 21 March 2008) was a German musician and songwriter most famous for his contributions to the seminal krautrock band Neu!. He was also the guitarist and chief songwriter of New wave music, new wave group La Düsse ...

Neu! Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plank, w ...

as an important influence. Drummers he also named as musical inspiration, were

Jaki Liebezeit Jaki Liebezeit (born Hans Liebezeit; 26 May 1938 – 22 January 2017) was a German drummer, best known as a founding member of experimental rock band Can. He was called "one of the few drummers to convincingly meld the funky and the cerebral". ...

of Can and

Moe Tucker Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker (born August 26, 1944) is an American retired musician, singer, and songwriter who achieved international fame as the drummer of the rock band the Velvet Underground. Tucker occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, ...

of the

Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionist Moe Tuc ...

because they "were the ones who kept it simple". He also cited John French as an influence. From 1977, he was influenced by the music of

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

because their "drummer Kenny Morris played mostly toms"; "hearing the sessions they'd done on

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

's show and reading gig write-ups", ..inspired him. During Joy Division recording sessions with

Martin Hannett James Martin Hannett (31 May 1948 – 18 April 1991) was an English record producer, musician and an original partner/director at Tony Wilson's Factory Records. Hannett produced music by artists including Joy Division, the Durutti Column, A Cert ...

, Morris was asked to record his parts one drum at a time so that Hannett could have complete control over the production. He also took an early interest in drum machines, combining them with traditional drumming on many Joy Division and New Order releases. Although he is primarily a percussionist, Morris also plays keyboards and synthesizer. Early on, Morris was a contender to become New Order's lead vocalist, and his vocals can be heard on some early live tracks. He also contributed musically to as-yet-unreleased demos by

Quando Quango Quando Quango were a British electronic music group, formed by The Haçienda DJ and Factory Records A&R man Mike Pickering, Hillegonda Rietveld and Reinier Rietveld. Their unique sound influenced the underground dance music scenes in New York ...

and produced a number of acts with Gilbert for Factory, such as the duo Red Turns To...., under New Order's Be Music production tag. He played drums for

Echo & the Bunnymen Echo & the Bunnymen are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch (singer), Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson. By 1980, Pete de Freita ...

on their rendition of

the Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

' " Soul Kitchen", which they recorded at Amazon Studios in Liverpool in 1986. During a break from New Order, Morris and Gilbert formed the side project

; together they have released two albums as well as various remixes and soundtrack work. In 2007, Morris and Gilbert remixed two tracks for the

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson ('' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 200 ...

Year Zero Remixed ''Year Zero Remixed'' (stylized as ''Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D'') is the third remix album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released in the United States on November 20, 2007, and in the United Kingdom six days later. It features remix ...

''. In June 2009, during New Order's second break-up, band members

and Phil Cunningham, along with Jake Evans, formed a new band called

. Morris recorded drums on several songs with the band, and joined their line-up for live gigs.

released their debut album ''

Never Cry Another Tear ''Never Cry Another Tear'' is the only studio album by Bad Lieutenant. It was released in the UK on 12 October 2009, and in the US on 10 November 2009. New Order member Bernard Sumner formed the group with Jake Evans and Phil Cunningham. The ...

'' in 2009 and toured from October 2009 to April 2010. They began work on a second album, but are presently on hiatus. New Order reformed with a new line-up in September 2011, and Morris returned to playing with New Order. In 2019, the book ''Record Play Pause'', the first volume of his ''Confessions of a Post-Punk Percussionist'', was published by

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

and later by

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

. On 2020 the second volume, ''Fast Forward'', was published by Little, Brown and Company. In 2021 Morris contributed to an interview reflecting on the previous 10 years of New Order

Personal life

In 1979, Morris was questioned about the Yorkshire Ripper case. Joy Division's touring schedule happened to be similar to Peter Sutcliffe's movements which led to the police's suspicion. Following gigs in Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds and Manchester, both Morris and bass player

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born 13 February 1956) is an English musician. He was the bassist and co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division and its successor New Order. He often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings wi ...

were questioned. Morris married fellow New Order member

in 1994. The couple live in

Rainow Rainow is a village and Civil parish, civil parish in Cheshire, England, in the valley of the River Dean and next to the B roads in Zone 5 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, B5470 road between Macclesfield and Kettleshulme. It straddles the e ...

, Cheshire, and have two daughters. He is a science fiction fan, particularly of the TV series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

''. He has a full-sized

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of extremely xenophobic mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in th ...

replica A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without ...

in his rehearsal room, which Sumner has called "the sixth member" of New Order. He also owns several

military vehicle A military vehicle is any vehicle for land-based military transport and activity, including combat vehicles, both specifically designed for or significantly used by military. Most military vehicles require Off-road vehicle, off-road capabilities ...

s including a Mark IV Ferret armoured reconnaissance vehicle and several tanks.

Discography

With Joy Division

With New Order

With The Other Two

* ''

The Other Two & You ''The Other Two & You'' is the debut album by the Other Two, an electronic music group composed of Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris, better known as founders of the group New Order. It was recorded in 1991, but its official release was delay ...

'' (1993) * ''

Super Highways ''Super Highways'' is the second album by New Order members Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris under the name the Other Two. It was released in 1999 six years after their début, and a year after New Order reformed. Four tracks were co-written ...

'' (1999)

References

External links

* *
Short bio at JoyDiv.org

Stephen Morris at the IMDb Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Stephen 1957 births 20th-century multi-instrumentalists 21st-century multi-instrumentalists English alternative rock drummers British synth-pop new wave musicians English new wave musicians English rock keyboardists English multi-instrumentalists English record producers Ivor Novello Award winners Joy Division members Living people New Order (band) members People educated at The King's School, Macclesfield Musicians from Macclesfield British post-punk musicians New wave drummers The Other Two (duo) members