Gilli Smyth first started performing with Soft Machine in the sixties when the band played their mixture of poetry/music gigs. Gilli became more active as a performer following the formation of Gong with her partner Daevid Allen following his departure from the aforementioned Soft Machine in 1968. Following her departure with Allen from Paris following the Paris riots of late 1968 Gilli along with Allen decamped to Spain although the duo once again returned to France in 1969 where the second edition of Gong became a reality. Gilli was the only female in the band originally and developed her "Space Whisper" which became an integral part of the Gong sound.

Gilli and Daevid Allen left Gong in 1974 and moved to Spain and spent her time writing material that would find its way onto her debut solo album Mother in 1978. It is with this album the story of Mother Gong begins. From here Gilli began performing concerts as Mother Gong and played many high profile concerts including Glastonbury Festival in 1979 and again in 1981.

The band has been through a number of personnel changes over the years with Gilli at the helm of all the various incarnations of the band. Gilli has also managed to resume working alongside Daevid Allen in various incarnations of Gong including but not limited to Planet Gong, Gongmaison and more recently the Gong Acid mothers line up

There have been a number of releases from Mother Gong and Gilli Smyth over the last twelve months all of which have sold well. The latest of these releases is Live In Amsterdam. The performance took place at the spectacularly successful Gong INCON which took place in November 2006 and reprised the successful appearance of Mother Gong at the previous Gong UNCON in 2005. The band featured Gilli Smyth, Orlando Allen, Didier Malherbe, Gwyo Zepix and Tim Hall and was one of the undoubted hit’s of the 2006 UNCON.