Utopian Dreams
HARRY HAWKINS
It’s a Tuesday evening, and someone can’t quite get the Zoom camera working.”I like it when you’re visible!” says one. “I like it when you’re risible,” replies another. The band is The Utopia Strong, a trio who have been making heady (and lysergic) electronica since 2018.
Left to right: York, Davis, Torabi
They have an intriguing lineup. Kavus Torabi is a British-Iranian multi-instrumentalist who currently spearheads British prog institutions like 70s weirdos Gong and the prog-punk-pop of Cardiacs. Michael York, another multi-instrumentalist, has worked in the world of eerie folk and post-rock music with groups and artists such as Current 93, Nurse Without Wound, and Coil among many others.
The third member, Steve Davis, is the many-titled snooker player (famously one of his titles is ‘the most boring player in the world’ – a compliment in the snooker community because of his accuracy, objectivity, and lack of distracting emotion – who now proves himself versatile and, in fact, endlessly interesting.
Currently absorbed by the disciplines of progressive music and modular synthesis, he has long been an enthusiast of outsider music. Davis admits that since his musical ventures began he is far less devoted to snooker, though he has offered the occasional game commentary and been involved with some interesting occasions where sport and music collide. He was last seen potting shots, for example, in a 2021 music video for Newcastle folk songwriter Richard Dawson’s single Lily.
The Utopia Strong formed as a group in 2017, though its members had not necessarily been aware of each other before that. Steve jokes that Michael thought he was a football player. Kavus and Davis met through their love of French progressives Magma, and eventually played radio sets and DJ’d together, until one Glastonbury Festival, where the two were put up at Michael’s house. There an impromptu jam arose, and became a format through which many of the band’s pieces have emerged. York describes their music as “for our future selves sitting on the sofa”, rather than being directed towards a specific audience.
The Strong have already issued several albums with Rocket Recordings. Their newest release on the same label, Doperider (October 2025, digital), is both spacey and industrial. The title track centres on an improvised core of three blissful synths, and is evocative of the ‘Berlin School’ of 70s electronic music, the post-Krautrock of Tangerine Dream, for instance. There are suites of metallic riffing, Aphex-Twin-like bubbles and skitters and morose, ancient melodies.The group’s collaborative approach investigates and interrogates the musical process, probing for depth and democracy.
In their live sets, the group make no attempt to replicate specific recordings. The process, however, is similar: they describe it (with honesty) as “seat of your pants”. The sound engineer often plays along using various effects. Each show is therefore unique. Kavus plays guitar and harmonium; Michael brings synthesisers, percussion, and Armenian duduk. His duduk playing is a particular highlight, moving the group away from a purely electronic sound palette, and providing a haunting voice which he describes as “invoking the apocalyptic”.
Steve describes his setup as a miniature TARDIS. He was looking for an instrument that required no particular musical dexterity but is more curatable. Without a keyboard, he employs filters and sequencers, applying his known skills for calculated objectivity and precision in a wildly different context.
Each member of The Utopia Strong has performed in various different projects locally. Kavus and Steve have returned to St Leonards in the last few years as DJs on solo tours, or with different bands (Kavus with Gong, and Michael with the Witching Tale, an atmospheric folk duo with Katharine Blake). Michael York has worked with musicians now based in Hastings, such as Current 93’s enigmatic leader David Tibet, and legendary folk singer Shirley Collins. He has also played pipes at Jack in The Green.
The Utopia Strong play at The Piper on Sunday 24 May, the last stop of their 2026 tour.
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