Benoît Moerlen
Mallet Percussion

A Short Bio:

Pierre Moerlen's younger brother is equally impressive in his skill on plenty of percussion instruments. Born in Colmar, in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, on Feburary 6th, 1956, Benoit Moerlen largely followed in his brother's footsteps, taking classical percussion lessons at Strasbourg Conservatory. His debut performance was on local progressive band Wapassou's eponymous first album, in 1973. The following year, he guested on Gong's You but didn't become involved in the band as full-time member until the Gazeuse! line-up, in 1976. He then played on Expresso 2 and Downwind, and followed his brother in Mike Oldfield's live band for two European tours, in 1979 and 1980.

In the 80's, Moerlen's activities were more confidential, as he moved on to jazz bands like Abus Dangereux or Bekummernis, and worked in theatre productions, mainly as a drummer. In 1987, he resumed collaboration with his brother, playing on Mike Oldfield's Island, and touring with a re-vamped line-up of Pierre Moerlen's Gong which recorded the Second Wind album the following year. In 1989, he performed with Steel Blue, a band formed by PMG bassist Hansford Rowe and guitarist Jon Catler, also featuring ex-Gong percussionist François Causse. In the early 1990's, he tried to form his own septet, but this failed to get off the ground. He reverted to private lessons.

In 1994, he became a member of Gongzilla, the new band formed by his former PMG colleagues Bon Lozaga and Hansford Rowe.