Connect Until Connected
Simon Leonard and David
Baker have been associated with Daniel Miller
and Mute Records since 1984, releasing two albums
under the name I Start Counting (My Translucent
Hands and Fused). They would then move in a more dancefloor-oriented
direction for their next project, Fortran 5, before,
as Komputer, releasing some of the most spine-tinglingly
original retro electronica. Selections from the duo's various Mute
releases have been compiled on Konnecting, released as
part of Mute's new An Introduction To series. This interview
was conducted by email to Baker, but all answers were received in
the third person.
The duo met at Middlesex University when Leonard
overheard Baker singing one of his own songs, 'Playboy Girl'. 'This
led to chats about pop music,' says Baker, 'and soon the two were
DJ'ing at the college disco and doing the pogo occasionally.' Once
a particular selection, 'Incendiary Device' by Johnny Moped, earned
Simon a bottle of Newcastle Brown ale in the mouth and several broken
teeth. I'm not aware of any similar incidents on their future tours.
'The name I Start Counting came from a book by Audrey
Erskine Lindop,' writes Baker. Lindop's novel would be turned into
the 1969 film of the same name which starred a sixteen year old
Jenny Agutter. Agutter's portrayal of a fourteen year old with sexual
fantasies toward her far older stepbrother earned the film a moderate
level of controversy. 'It also relates to the punk habit of introducing
songs with "1, 2, 3,4",' he continues.
Despite their friendship, Baker and Leonard didn't
form I Start Counting until the demise of Leonard's earlier music
project, File Under Pop, who released a solitary
single ('Heathrow') on the Rough Trade label in
1979. 'Daniel Miller had his address on the sleeve of The
Normal's 'Warm Leatherette' single,' Baker continues. 'File
Under Pop contacted Daniel and met up with him in a pub in Hampstead.
Simon and he became friends and Daniel recorded some songs with
them which never saw the light of day. One was called 'Connect Until
Connected'. Another was 'Small Hut'.' The dissolution of File Under
Pop led to Leonard and Baker working together and recording demos
which they passed to Miller; I Start Counting signed to Mute in
1984, producing a small but significant body of work starting with
the subdued joy of 'Letters To A Friend' and concluding with 1989's
'Million Headed Monster'.
As they began to record demos for what may have
become the third I Start Counting album, a growing dancefloor influence
led to forming Fortran 5. Fortran was an even-then defunct programming
language, now more or less lost like vestigial regional dialects.
Over their first two, exceptionally diverse albums, Fortran 5 found
themselves collaborating with all manner of unexpected contributors
to produce quirky club-friendly fodder. 'Rod Slater was one of our
collaborators on Bad Head Park,' Baker tells me when I
ask him about Fortran 5's 'fun' dimension. 'He was originally a
member of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. He's related to a friend of
David's.'
'We did some work with [former Blancmange singer]
Neil Arthur on his solo material, and he did some vocals for us
in return,' explains Baker on Arthur's contribution to the standout
'Persian Blues'. 'Thrash and Colin Faver were introduced to us through
Mute. We wanted Derek Nimmo to do vocals on the Derek And The Dominos
song 'Layla' [on Bad Head Park] as the follow up to Sid
(James) singing Syd (Barrett) and he kindly obliged. Miranda
Sex Garden were going to be our stage dancers but when
the tour fell through we found out that they could also sing.'
I ask Baker about the leftfield move into electronica's
nether regions with Fortran 5's third album, 1995's Avocado
Suite. 'We were given permission to be as experimental as we
liked, so we were,' is Baker's simple response. When I ask about
the dreadful bathroom suite the pair are seen relaxing in he tells
me that was Leonard's bathroom in Muswell Hill. 'It's now in the
London Bathroom Museum,' he quips.
Reacting against the musical Emperor's New Clothes
that was Britpop and its still blander entrails, Leonard and Baker
went back in time to electronic music's pivotal point, namely a
certain ground-breaking band from Dusseldorf in Germany. 'We got
as close as we could to doing Kraftwerk cover versions on The
World Of Tomorrow,' says Baker, referring to the first of Komputer's
three albums. I wax lyrical about 'Looking Down On London', its
almost folksy wistfulness for the city balanced out by the more
icy, clinical electronic backdrop. When asked about the origins
of that track, the response is typically understated. 'We both lived
on hills in London,' says Baker. It makes complete sense when you
think about it.
I ask Baker what's next for the duo following the
release of Konnecting. 'We have a live set ready to go,'
Baker tells me. 'If someone will give us a gig,' he adds. The prospect
of a career-spanning series of concerts similar to their set at
Short Circuit is an exciting prospect to say the least, so if there
are any promoters reading this please, please, please make this
happen.
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