Wattzotica

PRE-ORDER: Vinyl ships on or around release date of 1/28/26

Blue vinyl limited to 150 copies worldwide

The origins of Wattzotica trace back to 2018, when experimental musician Raquel Bell was invited by Mike Watt to appear on his long-running radio program, The Watt From Pedro Show.

Bell and Galecstasy collaborator Jared Marshall (Primary Mystical Experience) happened to be in Los Angeles at the time, living nomadically in the early days of the project and touring out of their van. Concerned about finding a reliable internet connection, Bell asked if they could record the interview in person at Watt’s home in San Pedro, an invitation Watt gladly welcomed.

The three musicians gathered on the carpeted floor of Watt’s living room, surrounded by decades of music history. Before the live broadcast began, Watt handed Bell D. Boon’s guitar. Overcome with emotion, she strummed the instrument of one of her musical heroes as the interview unfolded, marking the first on-air meeting between Bell, Marshall, and Watt.

In early 2019, Watt brought his Secondmen Trio to join Galecstasy’s residency at The Grand Star Jazz Club in Los Angeles’ historic Chinatown—an area deeply rooted in early punk and jazz innovation. After the performance, the three agreed they needed to make a record together.

A session was scheduled for April 2020 at Galecstasy’s studio in Joshua Tree, California, but the pandemic forced an indefinite delay. When they finally convened in June 2022, anticipation had only grown. Marshall meticulously prepared microphones, amps, and compressors, while Bell mapped out detailed synthesizer tones. With no songs, no leader, and no plan, the trio entered the room to play completely free—fully present and entirely improvised.

Those sessions became Wattzotica. Late into the desert night, the trio listened back and celebrated under the stars. The next morning, Bell awoke to find a young rattlesnake peacefully coiled near where Watt was sitting - a moment she took as a sign. Later that evening, they performed live as a trio for the first time at the old Firehouse Outpost.

The recordings were later sculpted into tracks and mixed by Primary Mystical Experience, then mastered by Grammy-nominated Joe Lambert Mastering in New York City.