Invisible Opera Company Of Tibet

Invisible Opera Company Of Tibet

Invisible Opera Company Of Tibet is a United States group associated with space rock, psychedelic rock, psychedelic, rock and progressive music. It is a code name created by Daevid Allen of Gong, who describes it as an international communications network for artists who share an inclusive, spiritually and aesthetically minded approach to art. The project spans several continents and has more than 50 members and former members, with related bands existing in Australia, Brazil, the UK and the United States.

Origins and concept

The name is linked in mythology to an origin in a Paris café on Easter Sunday 1966, although the first musical manifestation appears in 1986 in an Australian rainforest banana shed under the leadership of Daevid Allen and Ruz Hibbs. That first line-up records the group’s first self-titled album and the single Trial by Headline, then tours in support of Harmonic Convergence and Earthlink with members of the early Kangaroo Moon line-up.

After Daevid Allen moves on to the UK and forms the Invisible’s Goddess manifestation, Ruz Hibbs continues to play healing festivals with the Australian line-up.

Brazilian line-up

Brazilian musician Fabio Golfetti of Violeta de Outono later contacts Daevid Allen and forms Invisible Opera Co. of Tibet (Tropical Version Brazil). This line-up records the single Numa Pessoa Só, which appears on the independent chart of KPFK’s 12 O’Clock Rock programme in Los Angeles as one of the year’s best releases. The first Brazilian album, The Eternal Voice, is based on ancient oriental melodies and features Fabio Golfetti, May East and Renato Mello.

In August, the Brazilian group plays its first live performance at the Atmosferas Electronic Music Festival in São Paulo. Fabio Golfetti later records material based on the “Theory of the Drones”, issued as Cosmic Dance Company. During UNCED-92 and the Omame Festival, Daevid Allen also performs a solo show with IOCT Brazil in Brasília; that performance is recorded as Landing on Takaroa, with Naide Patapas contributing Celtic-inspired vocals.

By 1994, the Brazilian line-up settles as Fabio Golfetti, Renato Mello and Claudio Souza. This trio plays Belo Horizonte Independent Fest and records material released as Live at Britannia Café. A later Brazilian incarnation appears as Tropical Gong Entertainment, with Fabio Golfetti and Renato Mello joined by Arthur Greig on drums and Alge on bass, and plays Gong pieces such as Master Builder, You Can’t Kill Me and Tropical Fish: Selene. In 2005 the Brazilian group re-forms as a quintet with Fabio Golfetti, Renato Mello, Claudio Souza, Gabriel Costa and Fernando Cardoso, and performs at Art Rock Festival with Nektar at Tom Brasil in São Paulo.

UK and later activity

Following the Brazilian lead, Brian Abbott forms an independent acid-punk version of the Opera Company with Jim Viz, Tim Hall and Steve Hickeson, after meeting through Daevid Allen’s Zero Initiation workshops. This band tours the UK supporting Daevid and Ruz’s solo shows and opens for Gong’s 25th Birthday Party at the Forum in London. It releases Live/Studio ’93, Live - Totally Bananas ’94 and Jewel in the Lotus.

Brian later splits from the UK group, and Tim Hall and Jim Viz reform the Invisibles with various line-ups including Stevie P., Maya, Maryjane, Nick Harrison, Brian Gulland and Feliks Tabis. This period broadens the music into mellow funk and world folk grooves as well as experimental material. In 2000 Brian Zero returns and the group records Open For Isness.

In 2002 the UK line-up reconvenes as Indivisible in Glastonbury, with Will Greenwood on guitar, Gem Quinn on drums and Paul O’Reilly on bass, and records Gravity at Glastonbury Studios. Jim Viz later leaves to become a Buddhist monk after ten years as the group’s keyboard player. Tim Hall and Will Greenwood continue as a power trio under the Invisible Opera banner with Greg Seeger on drums, returning to festival punk and jazz-rock roots.

Style and repertoire

The project’s music draws on psychedelic rock, space-rock, acid-punk, jazz-rock, mellow funk and world folk grooves, with some releases also exploring oriental music, drone-based ideas and synthesizers. Across its different manifestations, the group develops shared and compatible songs while operating as a loose international collective rather than a single fixed line-up.