Utah Saints

Utah Saints are a British dance group from Harrogate and Leeds, active since 1991. The group consists of Tim Garbutt and Jez Willis, and they are also joined on stage by other musicians when they perform live. Their recorded output is on Sugarbeat, and their sound sits across dance-pop, electronic and house, while also being associated with techno, rave and British electronic dance music more broadly.

Background and style

Utah Saints emerge from the early 1990s British dance scene and are noted for helping bring sampling technology into mainstream dance and pop music. Their music is not easy to place in a single genre, and they are compared with acts such as Underworld, Fluke and The KLF, as well as, in some discussions, Ministry and Nine Inch Nails. Bill Drummond describes them as the first true stadium house band.

Early singles and sampling

Their first chart success comes with What Can You Do For Me, Something Good and Believe In Me. The band refers to these as a vocal sample trilogy: What Can You Do For Me samples Gwen Guthrie and also includes a sample from Eurythmics, Something Good samples Kate Bush, and Believe In Me samples Human League. Something Good uses a sample from Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting, which is legally cleared before use.

Albums, releases and gaps

Utah Saints release a self-titled debut album, followed by a long gap before their second album, Two, which arrives seven years later. After the first album they release one further single, Ohio, then spend a lengthy period producing the second album and working on remixes and productions for other artists, including Terrorvision. During this period they also make several Utah Saints tracks that remain without a proper release, including Star, Train and Rock.

Later singles and collaborations

The band later return with charting singles Love Song, Funky Music, Power To The Beats and Lost Vagueness. Funky Music features guest vocals from Edwin Starr. They also move away from sample-led singles on tracks such as I Want You and I Still Think Of You, with Jez Willis singing original vocals on both.