Performing “Serial Monogamist” on AXS Live

Performing “Serial Monogamist” on AXS Live with my funktastic band!

Coquí Sings Presents: Andrée Belle and The Soft Glow of Electric Sex at The Virgil

Coquí Sings is bringing you The Soft Glow of Electric Sex LIVE with musical masterminds Andre de Santanna, Leo Costa, Matthew Haze, DJ BNS, and Daniel Mandelman.

The Soft Glow of Electric Sex is an exploration of the raw, erotic, emotional love aspects of sexuality. Eclectic, sultry, and soulful, with retro-futuristic sounds and wonderland-esque bridges, the record transcends traditional pop.

Come bask in the glow next Saturday 9.29 at 9pm . The Virgil . 4519 Santa Monica Blvd. LA

RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/events/418268578234723/

LOVE and inspiration your way,

Bella

My feet hurt from dancing and my cheeks hurt from smiling!

Thank you to everyone who came out to the show at The Virgil! It was a packed house- filled with love and the Soft Glow of Electric Sex! The band elevated and the audience was captivated. I felt beyond blessed to share such an intimate and powerful musical night with you! A beautiful beginning of the next chapter….

photos and videos coming soon!

BESOS!

The Soft Glow of ELECTRIC Sex LIVE this Thursday night at The Virgil!

Show week has finally arrived! I’m so excited I might COMBUST on stage! We have put an immense amount of work into the show and the band is killin it! I would love for you to come experience The Soft Glow LIVE!

Thursday 9:30pm – The Virgil 4519 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles – $5 cover

DJ BNS will be spinning after the show, keeping the party going!

Thank you for being a part of The Soft Glow of Electric Sex! Looking forward to celebrating with you!

LOVE,

Andrée

The Soft Glow of Electric Sex LIVE!

Come bask in THE SOFT GLOW of ELECTRIC SEX!

This is the World Premiere of us sharing the record LIVE with you.

So excited to explore and get down with you!

8/2/12 9:30pm at The Virgil 4519 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles.

Performing with Andre de Santanna, Leo Costa, Bryan Velasco, Alberto Lopez, Matthew Haze, DJ BNS, and special guests!

http://www.facebook.com/events/466542366707359/

Photo by Piper Ferguson. Album art by Andre de Santanna.

musical variety pack, musical segregation, f*ck demographics, the future of music

i am a self-proclaimed musical variety pack… i love so many genres of music- soul, funk, hip-hop, pop, jazz, latin music, rock, classical, blues, even country (they tell some good stories)! i think it’s interesting that as our world becomes more and more connected and accepting of diversity, more people are branching out to embrace other genres of music.

i remember being in 4th grade and in music class our teacher asked us what radio station we listened to and the class was divided in half… most of the white kids primarily listened to G105 (top 40 pop/rock station), and  most of the black kids primarily listened to K97.5 (r&b, “urban”-i hate that term- station). when i told the class that i listened to 97.5, the kids were all shocked. that was one of my first experiences of segregation in music…. at 14, i remember my boyfriend’s friend making fun of me for wanting to sing r&b music because i wasn’t black.. that was right before Christina Aguilera came out (another 1/2 caucasion, 1/2 latina) singing r&b/pop music. people box each other in by what kind of music they listen to or as musicians we box each other in by what kind of music we play. why does it have to be that way? we live in an eclectic world and we can express our musical diversity in a cohesive and musically tasteful way…. my band is super versatile- they can rock all genres of music. they have played with jazz, latin, reggae, soul and pop… superstars!!

i think that sometimes industry people have a hard time figuring out how they can market me because i blend so many flavors into my music. but i say F*CK DEMOGRAPHICS… just make music that sounds good and feels good and has truth and it will resonate. TRANSCEND DEMOGRAPHICS. when i was in the studio recording last week with KRS ONE, he brought up the subject and how the label will ask him what group of people this record will speak to…. whether it will be targeted towards hip-hop lovers or reggae enthusiasts… i encouraged him to think beyond the boxing in…. why not appeal to both? and he understood what i meant, let’s not sell our audiences short… but it still goes back to the business side, the industry folks being visionaries and taking risks. and when you look at the state of music that isn’t happening. everything is safe. calculated. formulaic. dead.

i look forward to the day when the music industry will not be so focused on how to market to a specific demographic as if the music is a brand of alcohol. but let the music be free to connect with whom it resonates with…. i look at an artist like lauryn hill, or classic artists like bob marley, aretha franklin, etc. etc. and how they transcended being boxed in to only attaining fans from a certain age group, race, or socioeconomic background. their music possesses a truth and authenticity that goes beyond, that hits you at your core. 

i think the next trend in music is integrating these various worldly influences and genres into our sound as we are becoming more globally influenced. i wonder how long it will take for the music industry to catch on….

 

Next show 11/21 @ House of Blues Foundation Room!!!!!!

Join us for a night of ELECTRIC, elevated, soul/latin/funk musical deliciousness! It’s a full moon and it’s going to be a party!

1 year in the making, 3 years in the making, in the zone of elevation and GREAT LOVE

1 year in the making- the 24th marked 1 year since our album release show, my 1st real show EVER with original songs! this year has flown by and i’m in awe of how fortunate i have been to be able to share my M.U.S.I.C. with so many beautiful people, at so many incredible venues (The Troubdour, The Mint, Dakota Lounge, Zanzibar, Nics, Saint Rocke, Harvelle’s, The Bandshell, etc. etc.), with such a brilliant/genius/funktastic/soulicious/amazingly talented/connected/elevated band (Andre De Sant’anna, Bryan Velasco, Leo Costa, DJ BNS, Matthew Haze, and Alberto Lopez) who inspire me to learn and grow and become more!!!! i can say that after this year, i’m 1000% in my skin on stage and am committed to every moment… i embrace even my imperfections… i am in a zone of elevation and i take this job seriously… it’s beyond entertaining folks, i want to create a movement. i want to inspire people to be the best version of themselves. i want to cover the audience in a blanket of love! i want open peoples minds and hearts and make them feel and move and sing and celebrate mmmmm! yes!

and i know where i wanna go from here. even if i don’t know the exact details of the unfolding, i trust in the universe and i trust in myself that it will happen, that i am destined to heal the world, change the world, give to the world, inspire the world through music on a massive scale! the world tour is in the makings!

—-

3 years in the making- this past week also was my 3 year anniversary with the love of my life. i consider this relationship sacred so i can’t say everything. but i do want to say something to give others HOPE of GREAT LOVE or to open ones eyes to the love that is already there… i am amazed and honored by the man in my world. he teaches me so much by who he is. i have never met a man with so much integrity, so much heart, so much intelligence, or sexiness for that matter! he’s deep and grounded and genuine and spiritual. and i realize that we will have a forever love because we are committed to growing… to always rediscovering each other. to seeing things and feeling things and knowing each other in new ways. we are committed to a new level of honesty, that can be difficult but is so liberating! i would do anything for that man.  he is a part of my soul. he inspires me to be the best version of myself. and when u find that soul to explore this world with, the one that inspires u to be the best u, if u commit to grow together, ur love will be infinite!

wishing u MANY adventures in LOVE and inspiration through M.U.S.I.C.,

Bella

ANDREE BELLE LIVE @ The Mint!

detours to our dreams and lessons learned

our dreams often don’t unfold the way we planned… we can envision our dream becoming a reality, work towards our dream diligently, and trust that the universe (or God) will make everything align and still the dream doesn’t SEEM to come into fruition… but i believe we should dare to adjust our perception and think perhaps this is just a detour, a lesson to be learned before our dream comes true… and perhaps our dream might come true in an even grander way… there are INFINITE POSSIBILITES!!!!…   

now that the album is in the completion phase, i can reflect and see the detours to my dreams and the lessons i’ve learned…. here’s the cliffs notes version on the reflection of how i’ve arrived to where i am today…..i grew up singing, knowing this is what i wanted to do… i loved growing up in North Carolina but was super focused on going to NYC after high school to pursue music. unfortunately, i was discouraged by many to go to a place so big where i would be swallowed up by heathens or something like that…so i ended up staying in NC and going to study opera for 2 years at UNCG… (detour: Greensboro, NC) (lesson learned: don’t let anyone tell you where/how you should live your life)… my music education was valuable and i made some great friendships yet i didn’t really get a sense of the music business in the small town of Greensboro… fortunately, my uncle mario heard me sing at my mom’s wedding and encouraged me to come to LA to sing and live with him there. so july 4, 2001, i left to drive across country to explore this other world (because it IS another world)… the first year here i sang back up gigs, made a pop demo (that was supposed to consist of  music i wrote but ended up being butchered, over processed, and unauthentic) (lesson learned: make music that truly represents who you are and what you’re about)… also, my dad stopped talking to me i think (i’m still not sure) because he was upset that i was dropping out of school-though i never said i was dropping out it was more of a break really- after a year of adjustment to LA, i ended up going to USC’s School of Music and studying jazz (much more fitting for my love of freedom and improvisation in music)… unfortunately, because i had a jealous, insecure boyfriend i didn’t gig that much- he was very threatened by me collaborating with others (lesson learned: don’t let others hold you back from living your dream- it they’re trying to hold you back they don’t really know how to love you)… also, i was working in a burlesque / gentleman’s club to pay for the other half of my tuition that wasn’t covered with grants…(so many lessons learned there – see my blog on empowerment through our sexuality)… not a very healthy environment… after school i took yet another 2 year detour (i didn’t know how to really go for it… and i was scared)… (detour: The William Morris Agency). after learning a ridiculous amount about the music business (my boss was amazing enough to let me sit in on all the meetings with these music biz geniuses), i still found myself unhappy on the business side of things and not doing what i was meant to be doing- SINGING damn it! (lesson learned: sometimes we have to take detours to gain information that will later help us excel in our dreams!!!). so i did some spiritual work (i need many blogs to express the spiritual work i did and am still doing), i read countless books one called “feel the fear and do it anyway” (i know -bad title but good book for me at the time), i reread “the alchemist” (the book that made me believe in signs and influenced my big move to LA in the first place), also took in “the power of the subconscious mind” and absorbed many, many other books… i’m a queen of inspirational reads- i can send you a list just email me … things shifted. i transformed. (well i’m still transforming!) then i just went for it! i even reached out to musicians way beyond my echelon for advice, guidance, and connections. why not? what did i have to lose? (lesson learned: always aim to surround yourself with people that know more than you do in order to grow)… and from reaching out to Prince’s keyboard player, who didn’t have time to produce my record as he was on tour with Prince, i was connected with the super talented Andre De Sant’anna who produced and co-wrote M.U.S.I.C. with me  (a dream come true), which has been the last 2 years of my life (along with way too much for this blog – that’s more bio material 40 years from now)… And out of our musical collaboration a deep love flourished… (lessons learned: our dreams sometimes are intertwined (a dream of love and music), sometimes they don’t come true in the way we expect them to, and sometimes they unfold grander than we imagined)…

now to dream a bigger dream