BIO

Raquel Bell

Bell has worked across the United States and Canada touring with music, art, and dance and training with world renowned choreographer, Deborah Hay. Currently living in Los Angeles and other parts of California USA performing vocals, synthesizers, and percussion in the duo Galecstasy. Galecstasy created a dance film with original music which premiered at the Taipei International Convention Center in 2020 as well as many live and studio records. Currently Galecstasy is finishing a record with legendary bassist, Mike Watt and another splendid record as The Galactic Love Orchestra with world renouned djembe/balafon player Aboubacar Sylla from Guinea Africa & phenom-bassist Logan Kane.

Bell composes synthesizer music and video art under the name Leafblower. Multiple Galecstasy and Leafblower albums are available on the Aural Canyon record label. Early 2022 saw the release of Drum Art by Primary Mystical Experience on Mystery Circles label featuring Bell on percussion. In Fall of 2022 Weird Cry Records from Ojai, California released a trio drumming and percussion record with drumming by Primary Mystical Experience and Lisa Cameron and percussion by Raquel Bell titled, Orb Servant. Bell and Cameron also play in the duo, Ganjisland. Bell spent 2020/2021 photographing and filming the wild animals in Joshua Tree, California. With the help of Jared Marshall they produced The Animal Ballet, a multi-media dance performance that aims to reveal the astonishing movements of the animals and explore the movement of dancers as human animals. Bell also assembles, repairs, and makes video-packs for Sleepy Circuits, the creator of the Hypno Video Synthesizer. Bell uses the Hypno for live performances and as a key component of the Animal Ballet. Bell & Galecstasy won Artists of the Year 2021 at the Marfa Open art festival for presenting the Animal Ballet and live music performances.

Bell performed in experimental music and dance in New York City for 11 years before moving to Texas in 2015. She is the vocalist and midi-percussionist for Normal Love (NYC). She worked with Newband and the Harry Partch Institute on Partch's operas Oedipus and Delusion of the Fury, dancing and playing the role of "The Old Goat Woman" in the latter at the Japan Society in Manhattan. She has shown work or performed at The Geffen Contemporary (Los Angeles), Synthplex (Los Angeles), Dance Theatre Workshop (NYC), The New Museum (NYC), Jazz Fest Montreal, Eclectic Electric Festival (Ontario, Canada), The Blanton Museum of Art (Austin, TX), NMASS Festival (Austin, TX), No Idea Festival (Austin, TX), Fusebox Festival (Austin, TX) and more. She composed and recorded music for multiple art installations in NYC and at other galleries across the country. She has performed on many records and toured internationally. Her paintings have been shown at the La Matadora Gallery in Joshua Tree, CA and beyond. Bell also is the creator of the mysteriously helpful Deck Of Embodiment On The Earthly Plane. The cards each have original artwork and a message to help make life as enjoyable as possible.