The Utopia Strong

Musicians — UK

01Profile

A The Utopia Strong Photo

03Interview

Name, where are you from?
Steve Davis - Romford, Essex.
Kavus Torabi - Tehran, currently residing in Hackney.
Michael J York - Bromborough, Wirral, currently residing in the Vale of Avalon.

Describe your style in three words?
SD: Medical Grade Music.
KT: Not for everyone.
MJY: Third Eye Bath.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
SD: Magma - Chalk Farm Roundhouse 1974. A moment of true musical enlightenment that took me down a path that I am eternally thankful for.
KT: Sonic Youth at The Forum in London on the Washing Machine tour in 1995. It was the final gig of a three-day residency, the sound was terrific and the set was as if the band had consulted with me previously, everything I wanted to hear was in there. The entire performance was utterly transcendental, but a particularly ecstatic rendition of their psychedelic masterpiece, The Diamond Sea, has stayed with me ever since.
MJY: Magma - Cafe OTO 2016. My first Magma show and they played their masterwork MDK as though it had only been composed yesterday and yet at the same time had existed since the before the dawn of time.

If you could be on the line up with any two bands in history?
SD: 1 - Support band for a This Heat gig, a band so far ahead of their time they are still being discovered by music heads, who are subsequently scratching their skulls and wondering where the band had been all their lives. 2 - Support band for an Alice Coltrane gig. A bona fide psychedelic master.
KT: I could imagine our group, The Utopia Strong, playing at the UFO club between Soft Machine and The Pink Floyd in 1967.
MJY: Yeah or alongside Cluster or Harmonia in the mid-'70s.

Which Subcultures have influenced you?
SD: I was caught up in the Canterbury Jazz-Rock scene as a teenager which introduced me to so much amazing music from Egg to Hatfield and the North to Robert Wyatt to Soft Machine.
KT: When I was a teenager in the '80s I was a bit of a goth, which has never completely left me but even then I never really got why those who identified with any given culture only listened to music that fell inside that particular circle. Music is the most beautiful, profound thing we have, certainly more important than any scene, why on earth anyone would want to limit what they listen to because of what shoes they wear seems ridiculous.
MJY: I have a lot of time for any subcultures that have a preoccupation with peace, love, magic and manipulating perceived reality via music.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
KT: It would be interesting to hang about with Jesus, you know, see what all the fuss is about.
SD: In that case, I’d like to hang out with the committee who wrote the bible and watch them working through a few ideas.
MJY: Steve Reich to see if I can persuade him that Piano Phase on bagpipes really is a good idea.

Of all the venues you’ve played, which is your favourite?
SD: I’ve only just popped my cherry as a band member but as a DJ there is nothing quite like turning up at Glastonbury and walking out to a packed audience... and actually being a part of everyone have a party!
KT: Depending on the audience, sometimes the most utilitarian, out of the way shithole can be transformed into a shimmering temple of light with the right music. My favourite venue is whichever one we’re playing at the time.
MJY: Saal 1 Funkhaus Berlin, built in the '50s as part of a former GDR radio studio, it's just got everything… brilliant acoustic, it's a huge space yet manages to be incredibly intimate, the exquisite design which is consistent throughout the entire building has to be seen to be believed… it's like being on the most stylish film set ever.

Your greatest hero or heroine in music?
SD: Christian Vander. A composer that has influenced me more than any other and has always left me emotionally drained by the end of a performance.
KT: I don’t really have heroes and I’ve been lucky enough to play with most of my favourite musicians but the one who casts the longest shadow is the beautiful Tim Smith from Cardiacs. The man is a genius and his music and friendship have been central to my life since I was sixteen.
MJY: Saint John Coltrane... “I think music is an instrument. It can create the initial thought patterns that can change the thinking of the people".


The Utopia Strong is the synth project comprising snooker legend and, more recently, acclaimed DJ, Steve Davis with Kavus Torabi (Gong, Cardiacs, Knifeworld, Guapo) and Michael J. York (Coil, Teleplasmiste, Guapo). A champion of avant-garde music since the '70s, Steve Davis was renowned as an aficionado of soul, jazz-funk and progressive rock, and single-handedly promoted three nights at the Bloomsbury Theatre for experimental French band Magma.

The Utopia Strong's self-titled debut album will be released on 13th September. The band have already shared two tracks from the album, 'Brainsurgeons 3' and 'Konta Chorus'.

04Playlist Notes

The first track you played on repeat?
SD: 'Heart Of Gold' by Neil Young. It was the only record I owned so what else could I do than to drop the needle time and time again.
KT: In the late '90s my housemates and I became obsessed with a B-side by the sensational Belgian group, Evil Superstars, called 'Sratch' (not Scratch btw). It’s about three minutes long, after a couple of completely lurching verses and a bridge, it drops down into what is a completely righteous, what you could perhaps call a chorus, which goes around a few times. It lights up such a unique circuit in the brain that as soon as it finished, we’d want to hear it again. We decided to see how many times we could take it one evening and had it on repeat for about three hours. At no point did we think ‘Enough already’, in fact, we only turned it off in the end because we had to go to bed.
MJY: 'Market Square Heroes' by Marillion.

A song that defines the teenage you?
SD: 'Sea Song' - Robert Wyatt (from the album Rock Bottom).
KT: 'Orion' - Metallica (from Master Of Puppets).
MJY: 'Last Exit for the Lost' (from Earth Inferno) - Fields of the Nephilim.

One record you would keep forever?
SD: 'MDK' by Magma.
KT: 'On Land And In The Sea' by Cardiacs.
MJY: 'Remain in Light' by Talking Heads (so long as I can borrow Steve’s copy of MDK once in a while).

A song lyric that has inspired you?
KT: "God finds you naked and he leaves you dying, what happens in between is up to you" from 'Luminous Rose' by Robyn Hitchcock.
SD: "IAO ZA-I ZA-O MA-I MA-O TA-I TA-O NOW" from the track 'Master Builder' by Gong from the album ‘You’. An invocation from the heavens!
MJY: "Fill your heart with love today, don’t play the game of time. Things that happened in the past only happened in your mind, only in your mind… Oh, forget your mind." From 'Fill your Heart' by Bowie, what appears at first glance to be a fairly straightforward lyric, in fact, holds the key to the simplicity of achieving some kind of enlightenment and release from the shackles of the human condition.

A song you wished you had written?
SD: 'Speculative Fiction' by Camberwell.
Now, A record we have DJ’d many times that crosses genre boundaries.
KT: 'Travels In Nihilon' by XTC.
MJY: 'New Grass' by Talk Talk.

Best song to turn up loud?
SD: Shameless I know, but, 'Brainsurgeons 3' by The Utopia Strong. It is totally banging!
KT: Melvins - 'Goggles'.
MJY: 'Spellbound (extended mix!)' by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
SD: Abba - 'The Visitors'... ABBA’s finest moment.
KT: Ace Of Bass - 'The Sign'.
MJY: Queen - 'Don’t Stop me Now'.

The song to get you straight on the dance floor?
SD: Dukes Of The Stratosphere - 'You’re My Drug'.
KT: Weidorje - 'Vilna'.
MJY: Julian Cope - 'Upwards at 45 Degrees'.
First time I heard this was the first time I ever heard Steve and Kavus DJ live, we were at Glastonbury festival…time stood still.

Best song to end an all-nighter?
SD: Peter Frohmader - 'Spiral' from the album 'Cycle Of Eternity'.
KT: Ex Girl - 'Deuthe B'.
MJY: Cluster - 'Imtrerion'.

Any new bands you are into at the moment?
KT: Lost Crowns are currently making the most exciting music in Britain at this point, utterly debilitating, through-composed psychedelia.
SD: Haven’t heard the Philadelphia based band Palm put a foot wrong yet (their latest LP Rock Island is wonderful) and also currently really enjoying Vanishing Twin’s latest album ‘The Age Of Immunology’.
MJY: I’m really looking forward to seeing Electric Matthew’s first stage show.

03Interview

Name, where are you from?
Steve Davis - Romford, Essex.
Kavus Torabi - Tehran, currently residing in Hackney.
Michael J York - Bromborough, Wirral, currently residing in the Vale of Avalon.

Describe your style in three words?
SD: Medical Grade Music.
KT: Not for everyone.
MJY: Third Eye Bath.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
SD: Magma - Chalk Farm Roundhouse 1974. A moment of true musical enlightenment that took me down a path that I am eternally thankful for.
KT: Sonic Youth at The Forum in London on the Washing Machine tour in 1995. It was the final gig of a three-day residency, the sound was terrific and the set was as if the band had consulted with me previously, everything I wanted to hear was in there. The entire performance was utterly transcendental, but a particularly ecstatic rendition of their psychedelic masterpiece, The Diamond Sea, has stayed with me ever since.
MJY: Magma - Cafe OTO 2016. My first Magma show and they played their masterwork MDK as though it had only been composed yesterday and yet at the same time had existed since the before the dawn of time.

If you could be on the line up with any two bands in history?
SD: 1 - Support band for a This Heat gig, a band so far ahead of their time they are still being discovered by music heads, who are subsequently scratching their skulls and wondering where the band had been all their lives. 2 - Support band for an Alice Coltrane gig. A bona fide psychedelic master.
KT: I could imagine our group, The Utopia Strong, playing at the UFO club between Soft Machine and The Pink Floyd in 1967.
MJY: Yeah or alongside Cluster or Harmonia in the mid-'70s.

Which Subcultures have influenced you?
SD: I was caught up in the Canterbury Jazz-Rock scene as a teenager which introduced me to so much amazing music from Egg to Hatfield and the North to Robert Wyatt to Soft Machine.
KT: When I was a teenager in the '80s I was a bit of a goth, which has never completely left me but even then I never really got why those who identified with any given culture only listened to music that fell inside that particular circle. Music is the most beautiful, profound thing we have, certainly more important than any scene, why on earth anyone would want to limit what they listen to because of what shoes they wear seems ridiculous.
MJY: I have a lot of time for any subcultures that have a preoccupation with peace, love, magic and manipulating perceived reality via music.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
KT: It would be interesting to hang about with Jesus, you know, see what all the fuss is about.
SD: In that case, I’d like to hang out with the committee who wrote the bible and watch them working through a few ideas.
MJY: Steve Reich to see if I can persuade him that Piano Phase on bagpipes really is a good idea.

Of all the venues you’ve played, which is your favourite?
SD: I’ve only just popped my cherry as a band member but as a DJ there is nothing quite like turning up at Glastonbury and walking out to a packed audience... and actually being a part of everyone have a party!
KT: Depending on the audience, sometimes the most utilitarian, out of the way shithole can be transformed into a shimmering temple of light with the right music. My favourite venue is whichever one we’re playing at the time.
MJY: Saal 1 Funkhaus Berlin, built in the '50s as part of a former GDR radio studio, it's just got everything… brilliant acoustic, it's a huge space yet manages to be incredibly intimate, the exquisite design which is consistent throughout the entire building has to be seen to be believed… it's like being on the most stylish film set ever.

Your greatest hero or heroine in music?
SD: Christian Vander. A composer that has influenced me more than any other and has always left me emotionally drained by the end of a performance.
KT: I don’t really have heroes and I’ve been lucky enough to play with most of my favourite musicians but the one who casts the longest shadow is the beautiful Tim Smith from Cardiacs. The man is a genius and his music and friendship have been central to my life since I was sixteen.
MJY: Saint John Coltrane... “I think music is an instrument. It can create the initial thought patterns that can change the thinking of the people".


The Utopia Strong is the synth project comprising snooker legend and, more recently, acclaimed DJ, Steve Davis with Kavus Torabi (Gong, Cardiacs, Knifeworld, Guapo) and Michael J. York (Coil, Teleplasmiste, Guapo). A champion of avant-garde music since the '70s, Steve Davis was renowned as an aficionado of soul, jazz-funk and progressive rock, and single-handedly promoted three nights at the Bloomsbury Theatre for experimental French band Magma.

The Utopia Strong's self-titled debut album will be released on 13th September. The band have already shared two tracks from the album, 'Brainsurgeons 3' and 'Konta Chorus'.

04Playlist Notes

The first track you played on repeat?
SD: 'Heart Of Gold' by Neil Young. It was the only record I owned so what else could I do than to drop the needle time and time again.
KT: In the late '90s my housemates and I became obsessed with a B-side by the sensational Belgian group, Evil Superstars, called 'Sratch' (not Scratch btw). It’s about three minutes long, after a couple of completely lurching verses and a bridge, it drops down into what is a completely righteous, what you could perhaps call a chorus, which goes around a few times. It lights up such a unique circuit in the brain that as soon as it finished, we’d want to hear it again. We decided to see how many times we could take it one evening and had it on repeat for about three hours. At no point did we think ‘Enough already’, in fact, we only turned it off in the end because we had to go to bed.
MJY: 'Market Square Heroes' by Marillion.

A song that defines the teenage you?
SD: 'Sea Song' - Robert Wyatt (from the album Rock Bottom).
KT: 'Orion' - Metallica (from Master Of Puppets).
MJY: 'Last Exit for the Lost' (from Earth Inferno) - Fields of the Nephilim.

One record you would keep forever?
SD: 'MDK' by Magma.
KT: 'On Land And In The Sea' by Cardiacs.
MJY: 'Remain in Light' by Talking Heads (so long as I can borrow Steve’s copy of MDK once in a while).

A song lyric that has inspired you?
KT: "God finds you naked and he leaves you dying, what happens in between is up to you" from 'Luminous Rose' by Robyn Hitchcock.
SD: "IAO ZA-I ZA-O MA-I MA-O TA-I TA-O NOW" from the track 'Master Builder' by Gong from the album ‘You’. An invocation from the heavens!
MJY: "Fill your heart with love today, don’t play the game of time. Things that happened in the past only happened in your mind, only in your mind… Oh, forget your mind." From 'Fill your Heart' by Bowie, what appears at first glance to be a fairly straightforward lyric, in fact, holds the key to the simplicity of achieving some kind of enlightenment and release from the shackles of the human condition.

A song you wished you had written?
SD: 'Speculative Fiction' by Camberwell.
Now, A record we have DJ’d many times that crosses genre boundaries.
KT: 'Travels In Nihilon' by XTC.
MJY: 'New Grass' by Talk Talk.

Best song to turn up loud?
SD: Shameless I know, but, 'Brainsurgeons 3' by The Utopia Strong. It is totally banging!
KT: Melvins - 'Goggles'.
MJY: 'Spellbound (extended mix!)' by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
SD: Abba - 'The Visitors'... ABBA’s finest moment.
KT: Ace Of Bass - 'The Sign'.
MJY: Queen - 'Don’t Stop me Now'.

The song to get you straight on the dance floor?
SD: Dukes Of The Stratosphere - 'You’re My Drug'.
KT: Weidorje - 'Vilna'.
MJY: Julian Cope - 'Upwards at 45 Degrees'.
First time I heard this was the first time I ever heard Steve and Kavus DJ live, we were at Glastonbury festival…time stood still.

Best song to end an all-nighter?
SD: Peter Frohmader - 'Spiral' from the album 'Cycle Of Eternity'.
KT: Ex Girl - 'Deuthe B'.
MJY: Cluster - 'Imtrerion'.

Any new bands you are into at the moment?
KT: Lost Crowns are currently making the most exciting music in Britain at this point, utterly debilitating, through-composed psychedelia.
SD: Haven’t heard the Philadelphia based band Palm put a foot wrong yet (their latest LP Rock Island is wonderful) and also currently really enjoying Vanishing Twin’s latest album ‘The Age Of Immunology’.
MJY: I’m really looking forward to seeing Electric Matthew’s first stage show.

 

05Videos

The Utopia Strong - 'Konta Chorus'

The Utopia Strong - 'Brainsurgeons 3 (Track Video)'