Ellahy Amen Records

Ellahy Amen Records is an independent record label associated with Iranian-born American artist Leila Bela. The label was launched in 2002 and has been described as operating across Paris, France, and Austin, Texas. Its stated or documented focus is avant-garde and experimental music, reflecting Bela's own work as a multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, writer, photographer, and performer. Bela established the label after receiving offers from other record companies that she considered unsuitable. Accounts associated with her career describe a desire to create a more permanent and artistically controlled home for her music, rather than joining a label structure she viewed as male-run or oriented toward a short-term arrangement. Ellahy Amen Records therefore appears to have functioned not only as a release imprint but also as an extension of Bela's broader artistic practice, which combines experimental sound, theatrical presentation, visual work, and unconventional instruments. The label's documented roster includes Bela herself, Maya Bond, described as an eight-year-old singer-songwriter at the time of the cited account, and Lexion Blacklord, a musician from Switzerland. Publicly available reference material does not provide a complete catalogue, release chronology, distribution structure, staffing list, or financial information, so the scale of the label's operations cannot be established reliably. Its association with artists from different backgrounds nevertheless indicates an openness to unconventional or cross-cultural projects rather than a narrowly commercial genre strategy. Ellahy Amen Records is closely connected to Bela's experimental musical identity. Bela began developing concept-oriented experimental music after studying theatre and other disciplines, and she later created the Beltar, a custom instrument designed to produce either noise or melody in acoustic or electric form. Her label activities formed part of the same artistic approach, in which music, performance, visual imagery, and dramatic ideas were treated as interconnected. Bela's appearances and projects around the label included promotion of her music at the 2004 South by Southwest festival and later collaborations such as a 2010 rearrangement of the Persian folk song “To Beya.” The available sources do not establish whether Ellahy Amen Records remains actively releasing music, whether its website is currently maintained, or whether its roster and ownership have changed. It is therefore best characterized as an independent avant-garde imprint founded by Leila Bela, with an incompletely documented public catalogue and uncertain current status.

Ellahy Amen Records was launched in 2002 by Leila Bela, an Iranian-born American avant-garde musician and multidisciplinary artist associated with Austin, Texas. The label was based in Paris and Austin, giving it an international rather than exclusively local identity. Bela's decision to create the imprint followed dissatisfaction with offers from existing record companies. Accounts of her career frame the label as an attempt to retain artistic control and to avoid dependence on a male-led industry structure. The label emerged from Bela's transition from theatre, journalism, and visual arts into experimental music. After studying theatre, physics, literature, photography, and playwriting at the University of Houston, Bela began writing and recording a concept album with a theatrical dimension. She recorded her first album at home using a small recording device and subsequently performed live. This background shaped Ellahy Amen Records as an artist-centered venture rather than a conventional commercial label. Documented artists connected with the imprint include Bela, Maya Bond, and Swiss musician Lexion Blacklord. The available reference material does not identify a full release catalogue or specify the commercial arrangements under which these artists worked. It does, however, portray the label as a platform for unusual performers and experimental material. Bela's own work included the Beltar, a custom acoustic and electric instrument with sympathetic strings that could be used for melodic or noise-based performance. The instrument's weapon-like design was linked to an artistic idea that instruments could be understood as the weapons of angels. The label's activities intersected with Bela's public career. In 2004 she was invited to perform at South by Southwest while promoting her album. In 2010 she collaborated with Eric Tessmer on “To Beya,” a Persian folk song for which Bela wrote a rearrangement and directed a video that appeared through a Persian film-festival website. She was also featured by Dazed among artists contributing alternative anthems and created the experimental track “Bitten Reformer” for streaming. These projects demonstrate the broader network of music, performance, film, and independent media surrounding her work, although the sources do not establish that every project was released directly through Ellahy Amen Records. No reliable public material in the supplied references documents the label's later corporate structure, catalogue expansion, distribution partners, financial performance, or continuing activity. The current condition of its website and operations is likewise not established. Ellahy Amen Records should therefore be understood as a historically documented independent imprint founded in 2002, with a focus on avant-garde music and a public profile closely tied to Leila Bela.

• 2010

  Persian folk-song collaboration

  [1]Leila Belaen.wikipedia.org

  Bela collaborated with Eric Tessmer on a rearrangement of the Persian folk song “To Beya” and directed a related video.

• 2004

  South by Southwest appearance

  [1]Leila Belaen.wikipedia.org

  Bela was invited to perform at the South by Southwest music festival while promoting her album, extending the public reach of the artist and label associated with her work.

• 2002

  Label established

  [1]Leila Belaen.wikipedia.org

  Leila Bela launched Ellahy Amen Records as an independent label based in Paris and Austin, focusing on avant-garde musicians and maintaining greater control over her music.

An artist-led independent imprint centered on avant-garde, experimental, and theatrically informed music, with an emphasis on creative autonomy rather than mainstream label conventions.

• Music releases · 2002

  Avant-garde and experimental recordings

  The label's documented purpose was to release or support avant-garde music. The available reference material does not provide a complete discography, catalogue numbers, formats, or distribution history, but associates the imprint with Leila Bela's experimental and concept-driven recordings and with other unconventional artists.

• 2002

  Creation of an artist-controlled labelStrategy

  Background

  Bela was dissatisfied with offers from existing record companies and did not want to place her work with a male-run label, according to accounts associated with her biography.

  Action taken

  She established Ellahy Amen Records as an independent imprint operating between Paris and Austin.

  Aftermath

  The label became the platform connected with Bela's experimental music and with a small number of documented artists, although its subsequent scale and activity are not publicly clear.

  Source

1. 1Leila Belaen.wikipedia.org