8/14/2023 0 Comments Dissonant utopia falls![]() ![]() We didn’t want it to be mean or difficult, we wanted to make something dense and polyrhythmic, but generous as well.”Ī year previously, Davis had been turned on to modular synthesisers while watching Teeth Of The Sea’s Mike Bourne supporting Sly And The Family Drone at Café Oto with his side project Hirvikolari. There are things that The Utopia Strong does that are extremely psychedelic and very engaging, and like Mike said very generous. We really listen to music very intensely, and I think we brought that to. “I think that’s it, all three of us are very ‘active’ listeners, for want of a better word. “We’re all into weird music that immediately seems quite accessible and generous and welcoming, but then when you start scratching beneath the surface there’s an awful lot to keep you engaged,” York describes. In York Davis says he found another kindred spirit, even if the musician hadn’t the faintest knowledge of his snooker career - “Who, the Magma fan?” York jokes – and all three quickly bonded over their shared and intense love of music. “I said ‘My mate Mike’s got a beautiful cottage just up the road, we could go there instead.’ That’s where the three of us met as a unit, and we had such an incredible time.” ![]() “We were getting a bit sick of camping,” Torabi tells it. It was at Glastonbury 2017, where the two were playing records, that they and York first converged. ![]() After striking up a friendship, Davis invited him to guest on his radio show The Interesting Alternative, which then blossomed into a regular double act and subsequently a DJ partnership. York and Torabi knew each other from their time together in experimental rock group Guapo, while Davis met Torabi in the early 2000s at a Magma gig in France. From my perspective I didn’t think I’d get as much enjoyment from anything in my life in a work capacity once I’d retired from playing snooker.” It’s so easy to become tired with life, but the thrill of this has given all of us such a boost. “I’ve just had my 62nd birthday and all I’m looking forward to is when my album comes out! What fun that I can do that. Steve’s girlfriend describes The Utopia Strong as the sound of three guys falling in love!” “Three is a funny number for friends, sometimes you get two people who are always in competition, but we got on so well together. “It really did feel like finding your best mates at school,” Torabi says, beaming. The three are giddy with excitement for the release of their self-titled debut album on September 13, forever interrupting each other to poke gentle fun, constantly in hysterics at each other’s jokes. You’d never guess that Torabi and York are musicians of considerable standing with the likes of Coil, Gong, Current 93, Knifeworld, Teleplasmiste, Guapo, Cardiacs and more on their CVs, or that Davis was the most dominant force in snooker throughout the 1980s, the fourth-greatest player in the sport's history on the all-time rankings and a man who once single-handedly organised and promoted a three night residency for French prog-leviathans Magma just so he could see them play. York and Steve Davis about their band, The Utopia Strong, feels a little bit like talking to three teenagers who’ve just had their first single played on the radio. ![]()
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