Dean's music, among other of his mediums, is the result of his will to tie an essential common thread together between opposing genres and mentalities, as well as draw from them a natural sense of emotion, expanse, and mystery. This Southern California-based producer / performer / musician / visual and conceptual artist (otherwise known as SURFACE 10) has
always utilized his interest in a variety of styles and cultures to enrich the quality of his musical expression. Beginning his deep exploration of music in the 80's, De Benedictis covered a wide gamut of musical training and experience; moving through many jazz fusion and progressive rock bands, music theory classes, and producing/performing source music for network television over 12 years of his career.
Like many other artists, much of De Benedictis's non-commercial (personal) music was composed as a dedication and utility for his own life experiences: one example is how many of his pieces were actually created to take with him and listen to at specific outdoor locations (deserts, canyons, mountain summits, coastal regions, and unpopular-unpopulated areas),
thus perminently marking the place with the music in his memory. He dedicates his work to people, places, memories, etc., and aspires to communicate and suggest a similar functionality for the experiences of his audience.
Apart from releases under the name SURFACE 10 Dean has released some powerful albums under his own name. Here's some information on a couple ...
- SALVAGING THE PAST -
A freak of nature, a freak of technology, a freak of industry, a freak of ecology, regret and opportunity, continuing in conflict, they remain separate, and the children remain orphaned... Salvage the past, thus the present, thus the future
To the listener:
Our physical realm is comprised of drastically separate entities mix-matching and ambiguously aligning into one harmonious collage, such was the underlying principal behind my CD Salvaging The Past (a philosophy I've based more then one project on). A large multitude of my unreleased music had accumulated through the years, inspired by a variety of
"traditional" ambient music sub-genres. Eventually I was drawn to compile-and-release the best of this work, especially focusing on the music created around the period of my innitial Surface 10 CD in 96. From this huge reservoir of material came both Borrowed Time 2000 (the Surface 10 CD on Space For Music Records) and Salvaging The Past (a slightly more
crafted CD under my real name). It was obvious to me that the music had hints of icons like Mark Isham, Tangerine Dream, Ian Boddy, Manuel Gottsching, Robert Rich, R. Carlos Nakai, Klaus Schulze, Michael Stearns, and Patrick O'Hearn, so I gave them all credit for
having had that influence on me. With some songs containing an intense electronic base and others a pure acoustic base, creating the mood for Salvaging The Past was tricky, but I do feel that we brought the music together as best as it could be done. And, as usual, it is all from the same soul.
- A LONE REPLY -
If it is difficult to believe in worlds that exist beyond the physical realm, consider at first your own mind and all it holds. One of the countless vessels for that which lies unseen, yet one that remains alone, in this vast sea of material being.
For Dean De Benedictis, known to the electronic music world as Surface 10, A lone reply is a new turn, yet not unfamiliar territory. After accumulating an expansive sense of place from his travels, connecting with the land and native people of the West, Dean was moved to pay a solitary homage to these earth-based
values by creating a full-length CD of tribal ambient music. Such instruments as American Indian flutes (Mayan style), ocarina, Balinese flutes, piano, synth, hand drums, slit drums, and Dean's voice can be heard throughout "A lone reply", ninety percent of which was
played by hand. Some of these instruments were accumulated during Dean's travels through the American West and abroad. Field recordings and various samples were also utilized to create slowly evolving layers of sound, merging into a blissful, yet deep and chasmic
sound-setting. Dean states, "In a time of overwhelming technological advancement, this is simply a lone reply to it all. One with deep serenity, and attonment."
The album Salvaging The Past is reviewed at Morpheus HERE
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