Galecstasy, the experimental duo out of Los Angeles, has left a trail of untethered creativity in the form of albums and performances since they formed in 2018 – not the least of which was a guerrilla punk happening staged in a laundromat in LA’s Highland Park neighborhood which resulted in an article featured in the LA Times. A new collaboration featuring legendary punk rock bassist mike watt in an improvised trio configuration under the name Galecstasy & mike watt Trio, Wattzotica is out now on Mystery Circles. Galecstasy’s approach is fresh, energizing, and free from constraints. Jared Marshall (Primary Mystical Experience)’s accomplished drumming & Raquel Bell’s uniquely psychedelic sound-design and phrasing create a wonderful environment for Mike Watt’s recognizable bass sound to play around in. It all started in 2018 when experimental musician Raquel Bell released a solo record and was invited by Mike Watt to be interviewed on his radio show – The Watt From Pedro Show. Long story condensed down….The day finally came In June 2022 and Watt & Galecstasy went into the studio. Primary Mystical Experience had spent time in preparation deciding on which microphones to use, where to place the mics and amps, which compressors, everything was perfectly set in anticipation of the recording session. Raquel Bell had been concocting which synthesizer sounds she wanted for the leads, making detailed notes and settings. The idea was to play completely free – no direction – no bandleader – no songs – nothing decided in advance – just to play in one room together for the first time and see what each musician would bring to the sound. The result of this experimental session is what you hear on “Wattzotica”. Very late that same night the three of them listened back to what they had recorded and a celebration under the desert night sky ensued.
I had a chance to catchup with Raquel & Jared about how this project came together. it is quite the tale. One worthy of any great rock -n- roll type story. I found immediately how this music was special as it had me feeling like an inventor lost in a mind museum but checking things out with a boppin’ groove. I just felt it. We talked about having a plan and then taking the blueprint to make sure when it was time to hit record, the only thing left was the music. The duo talked about the connection made, when people who are meant to run across one another, actually meet. We got into some live dates on the calendar, the hope of a more extensive tour, new songs reading to be born soon and they even build a setlist around one song each chooses off the new album.
