NEM#249: Kavus Torabi Now Leads Gong

Guitarist Kavus began in dual-guitar bands in the ’90s with his buddy Dan Chudley, most notably Monsoon Bassoon. He joined the Cardiacs for their final lineup in the late ’00s, recorded an unreleased album with The Pogues’ Spider Stacey, and was a guitarist in several other bands. His project Knifeworld released the first of its four albums in 2009, he released solo albums in 2020 and 2024, and since 2014 he has released six albums with legendary prog-rock band Gong, serving as their lead singer since the death of Gong’s founder Daevid Allen in 2015. His other major ongoing project is The Utopia Strong, an electronica collaboration with Steve Davis that has released four studio albums since 2019. We discuss “Stars in Heaven” by Gong (co-written by the whole band) from Bright Spirit Haulix (2026), “Send Him Seaworthy” by Knifeworld from The Unraveling (2014), “You Broke My Fall” by Kavus Torabi from Hip to the Jag (2020), and “Wise Guy” by The Monsoon Bassoon, a 1998 single released on the album I Dig Your Voodoo (1999). Intro: “Ditzy Scene” by The Cardiacs, a 2007 single co-written with Tim Smith, eventually released on the album LSD (2025). Watch a Gong video and see them live in 2017 and last year. Watch a Knifeworld video , and see them live in 2016 . Watch Kavus play solo live in 2021 . Watch Monsoon Bassoon live in 1998 . Watch a Utopia Strong video . Hear The Utopia Strong’s tune “Doperider” that was originally going to be featured at the end of this podcast. Hear all of “Ditzy Scene.” Here’s the same song live recently (with Mike Vinnart covering lead vocals in Tim’s absence). A one-off project Kavus did was Admirals Hard , playing sea chanties. A later project he did with Dan Chudley was Hatchjaw and Bassett . Hear lots of Kavus/Dan songs (including Monsoon Bassoon and Die Laughing) on Dan’s SoundCloud page . Watch a live DJ set with Steve Davis . The two of them also wrote a musical memoir together, Medical Grade Music . Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com . Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic .

You can listen to NEM#249: Kavus Torabi Now Leads Gong online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

NEM#249: Kavus Torabi Now Leads Gong is an episode from Nakedly Examined Music Podcast by Mark Linsenmayer.

This episode is 1:31:57 long.

This episode was published on Mar 27, 2026.

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