Portrait: Anatomie Bousculaire

By Contributing Writer on Friday, April 17, 2009 - 00:07

Women in rock and grunge are rare. Lesbian and bisexual women in the same musical field are, however, nearly impossible to find. Anatomie Bousculaire definitely didn’t get this memo. The French band, who sing most of their songs in their native language, consists of three women. Two of which identify as gay, while the third identifies as bi. Anatomie Bousculaire came together in 2001, Cécile, who rocks the guitar, and her sister, Anne-Julie, who plays the base guitar, meet Alice, volleyball player of high level, who will soon pick up the drum parts. Their connection is instantaneous, strong and from moment one, they are inseparable.

“We realized right away, three is enough to form a rock band!”

[Image from Anatomiebousculaire.com]

The group speaks out proudly about their sexual preference. “Our songs are about us, what we want. Alice and I are lesbians, Anne-Julie is bisexual. It’s important for us to show who we are. Celine Dion talks about her male lovers in her songs, and I sing about my relationships. When I’m visible to the community, maybe some girls who feel isolated or ‘sick’ because they are homosexual won’t feel like that any longer.”

Even with all these rarities, Anatomie Bousculaire can top it. Cécile, who is the main writer for the group, draws her inspiration from real life affairs, music by other artists like Dead Can Dance, PJ Harvey and Marilyn Manson, but also from poetry and literature. French magazine Têtu spoke to the band about these influences. Cécile says, "Literature is very important to me. Reading Antonin Artaud, Cioran, Hélène Cixous. My writing is a little dark, but it is a way to express the pain that we all have."