Komputer is a London-based electronic band, composed of Simon Leonard and David Baker.

[1]

Background
Collaborating since 1982, Leonard and Baker were originally signed to Mute Records in 1984
under the name I Start Counting [2] and continued with releases under the moniker Fortran 5[3]
until the release of Komputers debut album, The World of Tomorrow in (1998).

Simon Leonard and David Baker originally met at Middlesex University where they DJed
together and, in 1982 began to collaborate on an electronic pop project, I Start Counting. Both
had an abiding affection for pop music as well as a deep love of music in general, although
Leonard specialised more in technology and David's bias was on the musical side. I Start
Counting released two albums, and, in 1977, supported Erasure on a European tour.

In 1990 the new material they were working on was sounding quite different from their electro
pop roots and it was decided that a new name, Fortran 5, would give the new dance/techno style
a completely fresh start. The duo also began to collaborate with a number of other artists
including DJ Colin Faver, Thrash of The Orb, Rod Slater of the Bonzos and Neil Arthur of
Blancmange. Remixes were provided by the likes of Vince Clarke, Moby, Joey Negro, David
Holmes and Pascal Gabriel, while the duo supplied remixes for other artists including Erasure,
Inspiral Carpets and Laibach.

David and Simon then reacted to the tedium of mid 90's indie guitar music by returning to their
Kraftwerk inspired roots which again provoked a name change.The band takes samples from a
variety of sources: from Russian cosmonauts to rubbish compactors and mobile phone ringtones.

Komputer's first releases, the 'Komputer EP' and the subsequent album 'The World Of
Tomorrow'; were a respectful homage to the duo's German electronic heroes. Later material saw
Komputer absorbing a much wider variety of influences and creating their own unique style of
English electronic pop/folk music.

The duo never performed live as Fortran 5, but from the earliest days as Komputer, live shows
were very important, leading to many performances all over Europe, most recently appearing at
the Short Circuit presents Mute festival at Londons Roundhouse.

For Synthetik, the bands third album, the music gradually evolved over a long period of time,
tracks were tried out in live sets then discarded or reworked in the studio, maturing into a return
to the more traditional electro sound of the first album, The World Of Tomorrow, with the
incorporation of a more experimental and contemporary electronica approach.

External links
Official MySpace
 Official Website

Footnotes
Discogs, Komputer
Discogs, I Start Counting

1 Discogs, Fortran 5

WorldCat Identities

VIAF: 156173440
Authority
ISNI: 0000 0001 0729 5495
control
BNF: cb14070978k (data)

MusicBrainz: fae238d5-6238-4d46-97ee-1ad1a3bfda20

Categories:

English electronic music groups

English new wave musical groups

Mute Records artists

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This page was last edited on 11 December 2016, at 15:55.

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