Mireille Bauer
Mallet Percussion

A Short Bio:

Mireille Bauer earned fame amongst fans of Canterbury music during her 3-year stint with Gong, as part of the band's "all-percussion" line-up. From the early to mid-70's she was Gong drummer Pierre Moerlen's girlfriend, which is how she became involved with Gong, first as a session player (on both Angel's Egg and You), then as full-time member.

Mireille Bauer was born in Barr, in the French Alsace-Lorraine region, in 1951, in a musical family. She learnt piano from 4 to 12 without much enjoyment, and at 13 began classical dance lessons at school - but, as preference for rhythmic music developed, decided percussion was worth a try. Her cousin, by one of those extraordinary strokes of good fortune, taught percussion at Strasbourg Conservatory, so - as advised - she went there to study, subsequently playing in the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Strasbourg Radio Orchestra, and a contemporary music ensemble with fellow students. It was while studying in Strasbourg, in 1967, that she met Pierre Moerlen. In 1974, she graduated with Premier Prix de Percussion, won by Pierre two years before. She joined Gong in September, 1975.

Over the years, starting from a strictly playing role, she became involved in the writing process of Gong, which resulted in two of her pieces being featured on Expresso 2 (1978). She eventually left the band as it changed names to Pierre Moerlen's Gong, feeling the need for a change of musical environment. She then joined Edition Speciale, a progressive/fusion band led by guitarist Mimi Lorenzini and keyboardist Ann Ballester, playing on the Horizon Digital album. During that period, she was living with former Gong and Magma bassist Francis Moze.

In the 1980's, Mireille was less active on the rock scene, becoming more and more involved in theatre projects as well as session work, although she also started working with John Greaves, playing on the Parrot Fashion (1985) album and touring extensively. The guitarist in the band was François Ovide, whom she subsequently married and had two children with. Gradually, she became taken in her family life, and put an end to her professional career in 1990 after a brief stint with Art Zoyd.

She kept playing, however, on an informal basis, with both professional and amateur bands, including John Greaves for some gigs in 1992 and a guest apperance on Songs (1995). In 1996, she decided to resume her career, starting with an all-female neo-classical group, then taking part in drummer/composer Patrick Forgas' new band project, Roue Libre (1997). In the summer of 1997, she rejoined Art Zoyd, this time replacing Thierry Zaboitzeff, and toured extensively with the band until 2000, performing their latest works Haxan and Dangereuses Visions.