Invisible
The story so far...
The Invisible Opera Company of Tibet first manifested as a musical outfit in 1986 in a banana shed somewhere in the Australian Rainforest under the leadership of Daevid Allen and Ruz Hibbs.
This first band spent a traumatic six months in the studio recording the Invisible Opera Company of Tibet's first eponymous album and a single Trial by Headline before engaging on a tour dedicated to the Harmonic Convergence and Earthlink, which involved members of the nascent Kangaroo Moon.
Daevid split for the UK, forming the Invisible’s Goddess manifestation. Ruz continued playing healing festivals with the Australian lineup. Meanwhile, Fabio Golfetti and Nelson Coelho formed Opera Invisivel (Versao Tropicale) independently in Brazil with releases including gems such as Glissando Spirit (LP & cassette).
The flowering of Invisible Opera Bands in the UK, Australia and Brazil has created the possibility of a new kind of musical collective - an international umbrella group consisting of several bands, with shared or compatible songs and music, developing and promoting themselves simultaneously in different world centres.
Following on from the Brazillians' lead, Brian Abbott, who had guested as an honorary goddess in the ‘88 lineup instigated an independent acid-punk manifestation of the Opera Company out of a bunch of people that had been involved in Daevid Allen's Zero Initiation workshops.
This band toured the UK supporting Daevid and Ruz's solo shows and opened up for Gong's 25th Birthday Party at the Forum in London. They released Live/Studio '93 (Tape), Live - Totally Bananas '94 (Tape), and Jewel in the Lotus(CD).
Brian split to join Global and produce a solo album with Jaki Juno. Tim & Jim reformed the Invisibles involving variously; Stevie P. (Heathens All / Yü / ...Eat This), Maya (Heathens All) , Maryjane, Nick Harrison (Fancabdu) , Brian Gulland (Gryphon, New Scorpions), and Feliks Tabis: This has included an expansion of musical direction to include experimental forays into mellow funk and world folk grooves.
In 2000 Invisible ranks were swelled by Sax ace Paul Hodgeson, and singer Mo Oram, backed up by the psychedelic swirlings of Simon Diamond on synths, loops and FX. We welcomed radioactive guitar maniac Brian Zero back into the fold after a lengthy absence. We kidnapped everyone, and took them to our secret hideout in snowdonia and refused to let them leave until they'd recorded the most stunning psychedelic album ever. Sadly this album has still not been released.
In 2002 the band reconvened as Indivisible in Glastonbury featuring guitar ace Will Greenwood with Gem Quinn on kit and Paul O'Reilly on bass. This line-up recorded Gravity(CD) at Glastonbury Studios.
Jim Viz left to become a Buddhist Monk, after ten years of service as the Invisible's keyboard player. Tim and Will continued as a power trio under the Invisible Opera banner with Greg Seeger stepping in again, this time on kit, the band returned to its festival punk and jazz-rock roots with renewed passion.
The current line-up is:
- Tim Hall - bass & vox
- Will Greenwood - guitar & vox
- Tre Peacock - tenor sax
- Arj - kit
