Etienne Nillesen is a Cologne based performer, improviser and percussionist. He works internationally as a soloist, and in group and collaborative settings.

Mostly only using a single snare drum, he explores and pushes the limits of the natural acoustics of the instrument using conventional playing techniques as well as extended techniques, especially engaging with materials through horizontal movements and friction to explore their properties.

Being interested in phenomena like temporality, impermanence and minimalism, he creates sonic spaces that convey sincerity, balance, austerity and naturalness, authentically combining imagination, intuition and sensitivity. Etienne uses a minimal approach to the instrument with the maximum outcome of complexity in sound. These complex, detailed, and mostly subtle sonorities require a great deal of concentration for the performer as well as the listener, making the act of listening just as important as the production of the sounds.

He has been gathering international acclaim for his unique snare drum language.

His interest in different forms of music and art has given him the opportunity to work regularly with artists* such as Nate Wooley, Axel Dörner, Christian Wallumrød, Anne La Berge, Rudi Mahall, Carl Ludwig Hübsch, Jeb Bishop, Michael Vorfeld, Katherine Young, Sebastian Gramss, Pascal Niggenkemper, Tomeka Reid, Ingar Zach, Sofia Jernberg, Nick Dunston, Kaja Draksler, Sam Pluta, Weston Olencki, Madison Greenstone, Rie Watanabe, Valentin Garvie, Cao Thanh Lan, Sarah Saviet, Ensemble Modern, as well as composers such as Elena Rykova, Viola Yip, Ruud Roelofsen and Zeynep Toraman, among others.

He is currently on the faculty of the ArtEZ University of the Arts where he teaches improvisation and drums.

The Cologne trio, featuring Matthias Muche (trombone), Etienne Nillesen (snare drum) and Constantin Herzog (double bass) draws a broad spectrum of sound from their instruments, from intimate simplicity to large soundscapes, in which conventions are constantly renegotiated and unmistakably ONE sound emerges. As protagonists of the "Cologne Sound", they are among the most active international players on the scene. The aim is to find a simple abstract language that nevertheless has a narrative character; a visionary, controversial and adventurous music with the highest qualitative demands, at the intersections of new music, jazz and improvisation; original, poetic, with depth and a palpable presentness; exciting for a broad interested audience. The trio released its music on the young Cologne label IMPAKT – Records. The label is currently causing quite a stir on the scene with its current releases. T.ON plays adventurously and their programmes always centre on new musical focal points. They worked together with musicians like Nate Wooley, Anne La Berge, Madison Greenstone, Sam Pluta and Sarah Davachi among others..

One can hardly escape the pull of these sounds...A little like in a trance, the contrasting but closely linked sounds smoulder up and down, creating resonances of immense tension and at the same time a deep inner peace.... It moves finely between refined concept and sensual clarity. - Horst Peter Koll

[...] a homogeneous, compact, very dense, yet audible and clear music...the musicians act as a unit from the very beginning, focusing on the fusion of sounds and dynamics - and at a high level of intensity throughout. This makes the music rousing and immediately comprehensible, but not predictable... - Felix Klopotek

Matthias Muche (trombone), Etienne Nillesen (snare drum) and Constantin Herzog (double bass) play this adventurous music that blurs genre boundaries while pushing the limits of contemporary instrumental techniques of trombone, drums and double bass. The combination of these sound styles creates a wide spectrum, from intimate simplicity to vast soundscapes with a wide variety of expressions of harmony, melody, rhythm, noise and timbre. The result is a homogeneous, compact, very dense, yet audible and clear music, where the focus is not on the individual signature, but on a communal experience, the three instruments merging into one. - Martin Schray FreeJazzBlog