‘Joy Division weren’t cold. They were down-to-earth and funny’

Matthew Higgs watches Joy Division rehearse, Manchester, August 1979In late 1978, when I was 13, I started a fanzine called Photophobia, about the independent music scene. It was photocopied and stapled together, and all written by me to begin with. I was a few years too young for punk, but fascinated by what followed, particularly bands from the north, where I lived: the Fall, Human League and Joy Division. The fanzine was a way to get closer to them, and articulate my feelings a