"I had an original Sega Master System and an Amiga 500+... I was jealous of anyone who owned a Mega Drive with Sonic..."
What have you been up to since you first played for LeftLion back in 2005?
Adam: Releasing a single, aborting a second, touring, recording, losing a member, getting older, figuring out how to work more of our equipment.
Mark: After that gig we released the No More Broken Hearts/Watch More Television double A-side. Touring ensued for that, then we hit turbulence and had to spend a long time stabilising things for various reasons.
You got signed by Must Destroy records. How did that work out?
Mark: It was great. You can’t actually describe in words what it’s like to be on your first night of your tour and see your video on MTV2. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as planned through no fault of anyone and we agreed to call it a day. That’s when we took stock of things and began working on the album.
What was the first computer you ever had?
Paul: I started off with a couple of Spectrums and then the amazing Amiga 500 came along. The only game I can remember playing extensively on the Spectrum 128 was Daley Thompson’s Decathlon.
Adam: I had an original Sega Master System and an Amiga 500+ and I think my favourite games were Action Fighter and Civilization. Although I was jealous of anyone who owned a Mega Drive with Sonic…
What are your favourite places to play?
Adam: I love busy hometown shows, particularly at The Social. Also The Charlotte in Leicester and Koko in Camden.
Paul: I always like to play in Leicester because it’s where we started gigging. Other than that, London is where the magic happens, but we were very warmly welcomed in Liverpool and Newcastle.
If you could get anyone in to play with you, who would you choose?
Mark: Brian May. No contest. The man’s a legend.
Rhys: Phil Collins, because I no longer have any use for my ride cymbal.
Adam: Jean Michael Jarre or Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys… some God of Synth. Perhaps not Keith Emerson though.
Describe your average day...
Adam: Struggle to wake up, work, Hollyoaks, rehearsal, vodka, bed. Repeat. Although yesterday I helped rescue some kittens, specifically so I could name them after Spurs players.
What was the last thing that made you laugh?
Mark: A conversation with some old school friends about The Spit Pit, a set of stairs that led to the entrance of a subterranean boiler house at school. People threw coins down the steps and if you went down there to get any of it you’d get spat upon. You could probably retrieve a couple of quid if you could stay down there long enough and endure the onslaught of child gob. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
Adam: Mark’s recent fancy dress approximation of Salt of Salt ‘N Pepa.What was the last thing that made you cry?
Rhys: Amber, our big orange ex-mobility Transit, going to the grave.
What’s coming up over the next year?
Mark: Album, album, album. We need to get the album finished by end of August. Then once that’s done we are looking to release it, for the meantime we’ll be doing shows as often as possible.”
Adam: Yeah, singles, tours, bits of crap video, T-shirts, badges, hours on the motorway hard shoulder, all that stuff. I miss it. We’ve been in the studio for far too long!
Anything else you want to say to LeftLion readers?
Mark: Computerman is spelt as one word and not Computer Man. That is all.
Adam: If I was writing this interview up, I’d spell it as two words now just to piss us off.
Computer Man (haha) play LeftLion Presents at The Orange Tree on Saturday 4 August 2007
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
