White Rabbit acquires joint memoir from Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi

Lee Brackstone, publisher at White Rabbit, has acquired world all-language rights for Medical Grade Music directly from authors Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi.

Medical Grade Music will be a joint autobiography about Davis and Torabi’s adventures as DJs, artists and evangelists on the UK underground music scene.

Davis is a six-time World Snooker Champion, BBC snooker pundit and "enthusiast for out-there music". Torabi has been a member of Gong and Cardiacs as well as other underground psychedelic bands. The pair forged a friendship through a shared love of cult experimental music, says the publisher. They are now part of a band called The Utopia Strong (along with third member Mike J York). 

The synopsis reads: "Part sonic memoir, part Socratic dialogue, part gonzo mission to the heart of what makes music truly psychedelic, this book is the first work of joint autobiography to ever trace the evolution of a life-changing friendship through the discographies of Gentle Giant, Magma and Voivod. From the chip-shops of Plumstead to the wildest shores of the Plymouth thrash underground and the outer-reaches of Glastonbury's underworld, it's a funny and fearless buddy movie of the soul, with a soundtrack that will make your eyes bleed."

The book will be edited with Ben Thompson, who has previously worked with Russell Brand, Steve Jones and Goldie.

Brackstone commented: "Steve and Kavus are heroic figures on the underground music scene and they have written a book that will speak to anyone whose inner teenager ever longed to be on the stage or living the rock 'n' roll life. Medical Grade Music is a 21st-century High Fidelity for the freaks, the stoners and the heads."

Torabi said: "Steve and I have very similar tastes and we have spent the time since first becoming friends turning each other onto the music we know the other will love. We aren’t driven by fashion or perceived coolness. When we DJ at clubs and festivals, we play music that, for the most part, no one has heard before, or ever expected to hear in that context, yet after almost every set we do we will meet one, two, sometimes even more freaks who will come up to us and say, 'That was the best music I've ever heard.'"

Davis said: "It’s a lovely feeling when you’ve brought people something they never knew existed that then becomes a big part of their lives. When I used to write a column for Prog magazine, I would never go down the road of trying to dissect and explain a track. The fun part of it was working out how I could show my passion without explaining it. My highest level of analysis was to say, 'This is one of my favourites' – that was the strength of my writing on the subject. So obviously I’m excited by the idea of building on that at book length."

Medical Grade Music will be published on 1st April 2021 in hardback, e-book and audio