Thursday 16 October 2025, 7.30pm
Call it synchronicity, call it happenstance, call it no more than three friends getting together to give their speakers a workout. Yet The Utopia Strong’s formidable conflagration of psychedelic radiance and beatific harmony has evolved way beyond all or any expectations since the band’s inception.. ‘International Treasure’ chronicles 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.
What’s resulted is a step beyond anything either band or audience might have expected - a deeply rewarding voyage into inner space which moves into darker and still more evocative sound-worlds whilst remaining fundamentally off the map. Influences know no bounds in this context, and the listener would be forgiven for locating the atmospheres and soundscapes of this album on some sonic promontory above and between the potent abstractions of Tim Hecker, the improvisatory excursions of The Necks, and the gothic allure of Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore.
‘International Treasure’’ is the next chapter in a story which only grows more rewarding with every stop along the way - one in which three heads travel together deeper into their own musical journeys, and the resulting alchemical power transmutes its origins into gold. As no less a sage than Andrew Weatherall proclaimed, The Utopia Strong are “gnostic sonics in a nutshell”.
Andrew Liles is 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.
He has also worked in some capacity with the following groups and individuals: Darren Tate, Colin Potter, The Hafler Trio, Danielle Dax, David Tibet, Unsong, Band of Pain, Maja Elliott, Current 93, John Murphy, Pantaleimon, Edward Ka-Spel, Årabrot, Steven Stapleton, Nurse With Wound, Cadaverous Condition, Voice of the Seven Thunders, Sakis Tolis, Jonathan Coleclough, Jean-Hervé Peron, Gnod, Slomo, Peter Strickland, Bass Communion, Ernesto Tomasini, Frans De Waard, Freek Kinkelaar, Tony Wakeford, Benjamin Louche, David Janssen, vidnaObmana, Joolie Wood, Jac Berrocal, Kenji Siratori, Freida Abtan, Hush Arbors, Alex Jako, Aranos, Faust, Ruse, Maniac, Lord Bath, Sion Orgon, Nick Mott, Daniel Menche, Black Leather Jesus, Paul Bradley, Aaron Moore, Nigel Ayers, Irr. App (Ext), Rose McDowall, Daniel Padden, Brian Poole, Fovea Hex, Annie Kerr, Elisabeth Oswell, Attila Csihar, Sutekh Hexen, The Sonic Catering Band, Razen, Alex Neilson, Lavinia Blackwall, Bobbie Watson, Michel Faber, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Kommissar Hjuler Und Frau.
