Breaking The Chains
He’s been described as a “psychedelic polymath”, and Gong’s Kavus Torabi lives up to that title on his timely second solo release, The Banishing. Reflecting on the challenges in his personal life and the “heroic dose” of hallucinogens that led to its creation, The Utopia Strong and Mediæval Bæbes member discusses the healing power of music.
Words: Rob Hughes
Kavus Torabi: turning pain into something beautiful.
Images: Layla Burrows
Lockdown meant different things to different people. For Kavus Torabi – ravenous musical polyglot, Gong frontman, Knifeworld leader, solo artist and one third of The Utopia Strong –it became unbearable. Deprived of his various creative outlets, he hit crisis point.
“It made me realise that I do all those things because I go mental if I don’t,” he tells Prog. “And that’s exactly what happened. The interesting thing about going mad is you don’t realise you are. Ultimately, I found that making this record became a way out of the madness.”
The record Torabi is referring to is The Banishing, his second solo album. It covers a lot of deep psychological terrain, from traumatic break-up to self-therapy to healing epiphany, serving as a kind of aural purgation. It is, too, unfailingly spectacular, one of the finest albums he’s ever put his name to.