Elise Mills

I am a composer with a passion for experimentation. My educational background includes media studies, cultural studies, spatial politics, and religious studies, which have all influenced my artistic practice, where I explore the social and ecological impact of sound in community and other forms of relationship-building. I am also a trained vocalist with 19 years of ensemble experience.

My work is inspired by a variety of musical genres and techniques, including musique concrète, drone, opera, and contemporary classical music.

You can follow my badorchid sound art project on Bandcamp.

I'm currently a monthly contributor at White Crate.

September 16, 2023: Dream Radio III submission at Through the Looking Glass Festival at Children's Fairyland, Oakland (Spellling X Atlas Obscura X Sacred Bones)

from Cone Shape Top:

"This coming Saturday we are excited to be part of Spellling @spellling / Atlas Obscura @atlasobscura / Sacred Bones @sacredbones , Through the Looking Glass festival at the iconic Children's Fairyland showcasing an incredible lineup of performances and programming.

We will premiere our third installment of Dream Radio, as part of the many magical offerings taking place that evening.

Dream Radio is a surreal site specific sound installation where guests are invited for a deep listening experience within a unique space.

The first one took place in an abandoned guard booth on a naval base, the second one was inside an inflatable black cube. This year we are thrilled to activate the Fairy Music Farm tunnel at Fairyland and transform the tunnel, emitting 5 hours of sonic exercises, spoken word, field recordings, ambient soundscapes, club tracks, experimental music and more from a local line up (and beyond!) of art practitioners, musicians, producers and sound artists. Come and go as you please, stay as long as you like. We will be providing a program guide with time stamps for every artist and track."

February 17, 2023: burnt toast disintegration reviewed on White Crate 

"White Crate writer appreciation post! Elise, our resident contributor fully dedicated to covering the wide, morphing spheres of Bay Area ambient and experimental, also produces her own music under the name badorchid. This week she released a twisted, infernal ambient work entrusted with two entirely different titles—“burnt toast disintegration” and “troubles from the firmament”—which swirls in a cyclone of reverb and white noise for nearly five minutes. It’s so empty and faceless, you could hear it over and over again on repeat and still not quite grasp it. We can only hope the next disintegration lingers on a little longer." --Ronny Kerr

December 5, 2022: Elise's Second Spectral Hour on The Lost Hour with Tom Marsi

Elise curates an eclectic mix of IDM, contemporary classical, and even some left-field club selections for Tom Marsi's show on SF-based internet radio station BFF.fm. The mix includes favorites from local labels Glowing Dagger and Squirrels on Film, as well as highlights from the CHINABOT collective, the Japanese underground experimental compilation album Seito, and slavic folk music from Kitka Vocal Ensemble.

from Tom Marsi:

"Story-telling sonically complimentary tunes as always, Elise Mills returns to The Lost Hour to drift through aquatic, stratospheric, and apocalyptic altitudes of music. With an array of experimental tunes from a vast pool of artists-- such as locals Feedbag, Billy Bates, choral group Kitka and bay-area labels like Squirrels on Film and Glowing Dagger-- Elise and Tom venture through thoughts of glacial bleep-blop synth-y sounds, urges to hibernate, and their favorite soups. Happy Monday!"

October 3, 2022: Elise's Radio Debut on The Lost Hour with Tom Marsi 

Elise curates an experimental goth, dark ambient, ethereal mix for Tom Marsi's show on SF-based internet radio station BFF.fm. Track listing includes favorites from Klara Lewis, Sunfear, Briana Marela, VCAM, Jerod S. Rivera, and Bergsonist.

from Tom Marsi: 

"This week on TLH, we celebrate one month at BFF.fm by welcoming our first experimental guest Elise Mills! Elise brings what can affectionately be described as ambient ocean-floor goth. Lovely vocals and lovelier chatter, Tom and Elise delve into a fun ethereal 60 minutes. Enjoy!

The Lost Hour is a weekly web of experimental ethereal music fun~ sometimes featuring guests and their funky thoughts and tunes."

September 17-18, 2022: Dream Radio II Submission at Other Places Art Fair

"dreamcycle"  featured on Cone Shape Top's Dream Radio, a site-specific sound art installation taking place at Other Places Art Fair 5 in San Pedro, CA

from @coneshapetop:

"This weekend Cone Shape Top presents the second installment of Dream Radio at Other Places Art Fair. A site specific surreal listening station taking place inside a black cube emitting 6 hours of sonic exercises, ambient soundscapes, drones, original productions, club tracks, experimental music, spoken word and field recordings from an international line up of art practitioners, musicians, producers and sound artists."

July 17, 2022: "crunchy palette in 13 movements" Included on Signal to Noise Broadcast

"crunchy palette in 13 movements"  featured on Signal to Noise, a UK internet radio show hosted by Nick Roseblade and broadcasted through totallyradio

from Nick Roseblade:

"Signal to Noise is a show dedicated to Noise, Drone, Experimentalism, Neo-Classical, Electronica, the plain Weird and the Avant-Garde. Each episode will showcase music made on the fringes not just of mainstream music but also of society. This is fearless music, made by people following their own paths. Hopefully you’ll get lost down as many rabbit holes as we did. This is music to listen to while staring into the void."