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Artist
Leila Bela
1+ albums
noiseexperimentalavant gardeelectronicfemale
about
Leila Bela (Persian: ليلى بلا) (born in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian-born American avant-garde musician, writer, photographer, actress, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, and recording artist from Austin, Texas. Bela was born in Tehran, Iran, to a family of Persian aristocrats. In her teens she began writing freelance articles about underground music for various local papers. Her first major job was an interview with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. She had been told by the paper only cover the show, but when Reznor saw her, he introduced himself and offered her an interview, allowing her to use his recording device to record it. She accepted, and he later invited her to the opening of the very first Lollapalooza as his guest and a reporter. She started her first magazine in 1998 while attending college at The University of Houston, where she majored in theatre and minored in literature, as well as taking independent studies in photography and playwriting. She was one of five students chosen out of thousands, all of whom had submitted original plays, to study with Edward Albee, an award-winning playwright known for his dark themes. Her Shakespeare audition in her second year at university also landed her in a class taught by master Shakespearean director Sir Peter Hall, who chose four people for the semester class in Houston. She performed such roles as Natalia in Three Sisters in 2001, Lady Nijo in Top Girls in 2002, Regan in King Lear, Phoebe in As You Like It, and Antigo
