L. Felipe Benites

On music, videos and other stuff

I am a self-taught musician, having played in many band iterations when I was younger in my home state. For many years, I was away from my music gear, but I rediscovered my passion for music during my PhD, investing in new gear, instruments, and expanding my musical interests.

In recent years, I’ve collaborated with various science projects as in the podcast “Tiny Living Beings”, from the scientist Julia Van Etten, also know as “Couch Microscopy”, and also making my own music for my literary and science outreach projects.

My influences mostly come from loud, experimental and heavy guitar-driven music, from My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Planning for Burial. I also draw inspiration from classic minimalist composers such as Philip Glass, William Basinski, Brian Eno, and Steve Reich, as well as electronic musicians like Aphex Twin. Additionally, the works of film score composers John Williams and Hans Zimmer have influenced me. A recent source of inspiration is a guitar pedal YouTuber and multimedia creative musician called “Knobs”.

Together with music it came also the idea of making videos and short documentaries about the natural world. My first directed short film in collaboration with Julia Van Etten is about the search for a photosynthetic amoeba filmed during a field trip in North Carolina with colleagues from Rutgers University. This short is in post-production already, and will present the microscopic cosmos that this amoeba exists. I composed the original score using mostly guitars, layered with reverb, choruses and other time bending effects. Soon I will share more information here.

With this diverse musical and video landscape, I want to create new pieces that captures imagery from nature and science, whether discovered or invented, and blending through sonic experimentation, I seek to expand the language of videos about science, offering a modern and radical perspective combined with immersive experiences.