Anne Gillis has been active in the experimental scene since the 1980s. A hidden secret, an unexplored strip of land, which I had the chance to discover through “Archives Box 1983–2005” (5×CD, Art Into Life, 2015), a complete box set that included many of her early releases… but only up to a point. Because when searching online, you will hardly find traces of her—material from that time, interviews, videos, etc.
On my last trip to Berlin, I was lucky enough to coincide with an Anne Gillis performance at KM28—an opportunity I simply couldn’t miss. Outside the venue, quite a crowd had gathered, with whom I could say I had little in common… perhaps even our reasons for being there were completely different. For me, it was Anne Gillis as a musician; for others, it might have been Anne Gillis as a performer.
The live opened with Auguste Vickunaite and her many reel-to-reel tape machines. When Anne Gillis began her performance, I immediately realized that my previous perspective—having known her only as a listener—was not at all representative. Her choreographed movement in space, her almost theatrical presence, the objects surrounding her, and the sound she produced were all pieces of a puzzle, inseparable from one another, capable of overturning my understanding of what Anne Gillis really is.
This experience became the reason I felt a strong desire to unravel the mystery surrounding Anne Gillis. On the occasion of her new album “Eyry]” as well as the reissue of “Archives Box 1983–2005”, both released by the label Art Into Life, I got in touch with Anne, who was very happy to answer my questions.
But let me give you a basic tip before what follows… even though I had the great honor of asking Anne Gillis my questions, I still feel that I haven’t solved the mystery she carries. Her long, elaborate answers felt like an open door into her world—small manifestos that helped me understand a great deal about how she perceives her art. In other questions, however, I was left thirsty, with her brief responses… perhaps because what she had already said was enough… perhaps because nothing more needed to be said.
Enjoy the read!
Marios Moras: To begin with, could you tell us a little about yourself? How did you first become involved with music, and how did you find your way toward such a personal and experimental practice?
Anne Gillis: Childhood memories …
I lived in Provence, into the scrubland I listened to the cicadas singing, the pine cones crunching, the mistral swirling their needles,
in the coves, the paths were full of sounds
at the little beach I was lying on my back, my ears in the water… perfect for me (!) floating as I dived into the sounds
I listened to the seashells, to the sand, to the pebbles clinking together, …
My discovery of feedback was also a significant moment for me a band was getting ready to play in the evening, when the singer took her microphone, an incredible sound was heard
the few passersby present put their hands over their ears
This wild/inappropriate power, which apparently needed to be tamed, had fascinated me
In an haberdashery, I had been captivated by a color chart for embroidery threads
so I created my own wave chart, my sampling of sounds
Many years later … June 1983, I walk into a recording studio that was looking for a female voice for a music festival announcement
The sound engineer explained to me what I will have to do
In the booth I discover the physical sensation created by soundproofing !!!
Once the recording is finished, I return to the control room, listen to my recorded voice
I go home, still feeling what I have just discovered, and I think about it again and again
Shortly afterward, my decision was taken
obvious fact as when you fall in love, I bought my own recording equipment
to be free at any time to share my life with sounds
I start working right away
MM: Your first project, Devil’s Picnic, and the album “Pomme ou Pas Pomme” were our introduction to your music in 1983. That early material feels quite distinct from the work that followed later — more closely tied to minimal synth and early electronic forms. Looking back, what do you remember from the Devil’s Picnic period? What was it like for you — what were you exploring or trying to create with your first music?
A.G.: At that time, I met André Lombardo Art Director of DMA2 in Bordeaux. He was the first to discover my emerging sounds and gave me the address of some independent labels. I sent each of them my self-released K7 “Angebiguë”
Oct 1983, the dutch label Ding Dong released my first sound work «Pomme ou Pas Pomme»
First release of Ding Dong new series called “Miniatures” : “Our intention is to present music with a strong visual character, in which there is a provocative relationship between the music and its package”
The story of the famous apple/pomme revisited by me as Devil’s Picnic
My text accompanied the recording,
Act 1 : In the vale of shadows the devil proffers the fatal choice, and approaches with a seductive charm; at the touch of his finger tip the apple snaps free from the tree with a crack like splintering crystal; he hesitates momentarily, and Eve mesmerixed reaches forward with lustful craving… Finally the devil gives in to her supplications and jubilantly retreats.
Act 2 : Eve bites into the tantalixing fruit (while Adam sulks, vexed at the lack of interest shown at him). Eve swallows initiating a metamorphosis within her. She becomes a tumultuous liquid flowing over paradise, transforming all habitants at her touch.
From June to October, I had reached a decisive milestone, over the weeks the sounds and I had developed a deep affinity
Since then, I have often spoken of my desire to eat music, another way of experiencing sounds.
With “Devil’s Picnic,” it was precisely a question of ingestion, swallowing, choking…
There is much more to feel sounds than trying to understand/explain/talk about them
MM: From 1984 onward, we begin to see your music take a different direction. Your sound gradually moves away from those early minimal synth forms and toward more noise-based, loop-driven, and textural sound worlds. What was happening for you during that time, and what led you toward this new way of working with sound? And did the way you were performing the music begin to influence how you composed it?
A.G.: My recordings, performances, installations, dive in full body,
and often go back to the sources of the fœtal life, common to each of us, where we start earing sounds
A personal secret garden, but also a universe of sensations shared by all, accessible to everyone
My sounds make listen internal physical mechanisms, and their « manufacturing in engine room »
from among their curves, volutes, roundness, undulations, rolling-ups, rotations, …
This is the epicenter of my multidimensional journey at the heart of the intimate, among the immensity of the little nothings that inspire me
Over time, I took their essence, bodily, in full hands I made them rise,
I twisted, smoothed, stretched, exuded, curled up in a ball, muddled, …, them
My imagination turned into a microscope, I dived inside sounds atoms, into their rustle of possibles
I invented the titles of my recordings, performances and installations, so that they would not need to be translated or explained
I thought, and still think, before trying to understand, why not first allow yourself to feel?
And if you don’t feel anything, well, that’s just the way it is
Ranging from experimental music, via concrete music, harsh noise, …, ?
No, I am heiress of the millions of birdsongs, breaths, last sighs, saliva bubbles, gurgles, raindrops, heartbeats, silences, … and so many sounds/noises that came before me
Enough to keep me humble
Sharing my life with sounds is my way of life
ΜΜ: You return to the idea of foetal listening — a moment before language, before identity, before meaning.
In the work of Pierre Schaeffer, the concept of écoute réduite invites us to listen to sound itself, detached from its origin or explanation. Do you see your work as a way of inviting listeners into that kind of listening — where sound is experienced before it becomes narrative or interpretation?
A.G.: Listening to sounds in the maternal womb interests me because each of us has lived this universal experience.
MM: I had the chance to be in Berlin in May 2024, when you performed at KM28. For me, it was a unique opportunity to connect more closely with your work and to realize how central performance is to your music — the way you move within the space, the use of your body and your voice, and the materials you work with. When you approach a performance, what tends to come first for you? Is it the sound itself, movement, or the underlying idea? How does performance shape the way you think about your work as a whole?
A.G.: I start to dance in my childhood, so it seemed obvious and natural to me to choreograph my sounds, both are closely linked
MM: In 2021, after more than twenty years of absence from discography, you returned with the album «…». Since then, we have seen a steady stream of new recordings and collaborations coming to the surface, leading up to the end of 2025 and the release of your latest solo work, Eyry], by Art-into-life. What was it that made you want to dive back into such an active creative phase after all these years? How do you feel about this new chapter in your work, and what are the main ideas you are exploring in Eyry]? Is there a new element in your motivation today—something different from what moved you in the eighties and nineties?
A.G.: No. Silence is great, and so nourishing, silence is life full & I know nothing else but live with sounds
MM: Today we live in a time when explosions, sirens, drones, and collapsing buildings redefine the global soundscape. When sound itself becomes weapon, warning, and trauma… how do you listen within such a world, and does this reality enter your own sonic universe?
A.G: As I listen to and gather sounds through the microscope of my imagination, the sonic power of a ‘simple’ fingernail rustle, of a breath rising from the throat…, leads me into a boundless sonic adventure.