The Utopia Strong

Event information

Woah yeah, we are bringing The Utopia Strong and Andrew Liles to Oxford on Mon 20th Oct! The Utopia Strong is the collaborative collision of Steve Davis, Kavus Torabi and Mike York heading into unchartered psychic territory, seemingly with nothing but their instincts as co-ordinates.

The band were born on the evening of 2nd January 2018 after what can only be described as an experimental and revelatory improvised session together. Kavus Torabi, Michael York and Steve Davis have fused Modular Synthesisers with conventional and traditional instruments to create a weird and joyous celebration of all that is good about left eld psychedelic music.

Kavus Torabi is an experimental/psychedelic musician with a long history in the eld. He has his own band, Knifeworld and is frontman in the current line up of Gong. He has been a member in various other bands including Guapo and most notably a guitarist in the final line up of Cardiacs. He runs the boutique record label, Believers Roast, has collaborated with a wide range of left- eld artists and co-presents a show on NTS Radio with Steve Davis, a show championing new, experimental, avant-garde, far out, underground, electronic, pop, folk, psych, rock and classical music.

Steve Davis was the most successful professional Snooker player of the 1980s, winning a total of 28 major ranking events including 6 World Championships. In recent years his involvement in snooker has been limited to TV punditry, which has given him more time to indulge in music related activities, namely collecting left eld music from around the globe, presenting a monthly radio show on NTS Radio with Kavus Torabi and now joining forces with Kavus and Michael York to form The Utopia Strong, further cementing his growing interest in playing the Modular Synth.

Michael York is a multi instrumentalist and luthier, working mainly with modular/analogue synths and woodwinds (primarily focusing on bagpipes, reeds and utes of Europe and the Near East). His piping has seen him work not only in the realm of folk, with the likes of Shirley Collins and the 7 piece bagpipe choir Zephyrus, but also with the esoteric avant garde ensembles Coil, Cyclobe, Current 93, Guapo and The Stargazers Assistant.

They are touring with Andrew Liles - a prolific solo artist, producer, remixer and studio engineer. He has worked with many leading lights in experimental and outsider music and is renowned for his extensive contributions to the recordings and live performances of Nurse With Wound and Current 93. Recording since the mid 1980’s his work has been used in Theatre, Film, Radio and T.V. He has appeared on well over 200 releases creating a unique, eclectic and diverse back catalogue that crosses many genres and styles.

On sale now - all ages (u14s with an adult) and wheelchair accessible show - Mon 20th Oct from 7.30pm