Meet Benny Sanches | Electronic Music Producer, Recording Engineer, and Remix Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Benny Sanches and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Benny, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am from Houston, Texas. My Father was a well-established Country & Western singer, songwriter and guitar player. My very first memory as a child was sitting on stage with him at a concert. I was still in diapers. I remember the sound of his very deep resonating voice and the thousands of people in the audience. I was too young to understand what was going on but the memory is still very clear. Music was always a part of my family’s life growing up, especially Country & Western music from the 60’s and 70’s. Motorcycle gangs and playing pool in “beer joints” where a big part of the fabric of my life back then and the music of the time was the perfect soundtrack. When the 1980’s arrived and I was then a teenager, I got my first big boom box and I discovered cassette tapes. “I Love Rock & Roll” by Joan Jett & The Black Hearts was the very first cassette I ever purchased, and then I was hooked. Then Duran Duran came along and I fell instantly in love with everything they represented. Their music, their look, the girls that came along with the whole Duran Duran movement – I was instantly and still am a true “Duranie”. I had every album, poster, sticker, button and piece of clothing I could get my hands on to be just like them. During the mid to late 80’s bands like Depeche Mode starting gaining huge popularity and I was then drawn to their darker sound which then led me to “Industrial” music, and the beginning of my love affair with vinyl records. When I heard bands like Nitzer Ebb, I was blown away by the energy, the new sounds and the message in their words – the rebelliousness and power that it all represented. Around 1992, I started a job with the infamous Enron Oil & Gas Company in Houston. I was suddenly making good money, of course to afford buying more records and going to dance clubs. And around that time I discovered the band Meat Beat Manifesto, and soon after, the band Orbital. Meat Beat was the pinnacle, their debut album 99% was so different and unlike a lot of electronic music, their music had words that I could relate to – it was the perfect sound for that time in my life. I couldn’t get enough of this new sound, this new music movement. I bought all the records, went to all the dance clubs, all the concerts, bought all the t-shirts and it still wasn’t enough – so I decided to buy my own gear and follow in the footsteps of my heroes. In 1994, and with $10,000 worth of drum machines and samplers in hand, my music partner and I quit our jobs and moved to San Francisco, CA. to pursue a career in music. About 2 years after landing in San Francisco, I got a job at Haight-Ashbury Music Center, where I learned a lot about music technology and networking. From there, I went on to work for Digidesign / Avid, makers of Pro Tools recording software. I’m still in the business today and have released a record and CD, and many singles over the years. And the best part of it all, I’ve met most of my peers and music influences, a few I’ve become friends with.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started out writing Experimental Electronic Music on drum machines and synthesizers, 30 years ago. And although I still do that today, over the years I’ve added guitar, bass, drums and just about any other noise-making device to my palette. I enjoy being a little weird and trying things that are not so popular. That’s a tough place to be in though, as an artist in the music business, because popular music does have a formula. My art represents what I think, feel and believe in the moment. What comes out is what comes out, and it’s taken me many, many years to become comfortable with my art. It takes immense courage, in my experience and opinion, to accept my art for what it is and to be truly grateful and happy with what I create. It’s that simple but important. I don’t necessarily set myself apart, but I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished, learned and the simple fact that I am still able to create music – that I really enjoy the process and the end results. In less than one year after writing my first song (30 years ago), I received my first paycheck for my music. So on that day, I became a Professional Musician. But it’s really taken 29 more years to become truly professional. It’s what I’ve learned by taking chances, making bad choices, making good choices, trying different partnerships, spending more money in some areas, spending less money – all these experiences add up over time which is the real beauty behind success. I never wanted to be rich and famous from my music. In the beginning, all I wanted was for other kids to be out on the dance floor on a Saturday night, dancing and feeling all those amazing things that I was feeling in those days. I just wanted people to like my music. But, as soon as I got my first paycheck, I realized there could be other built-in rewards for making art, and I was ready to reap those benefits. Although I’ve had my fair share of commercial success, and there are many people I’d love to thank for that, the most important thing to me is that art is healing. I don’t plan on giving up any time soon in my pursuit of commercial success, but to be in a place of peace and acceptance, to leave a legacy and to hopefully inspire younger artists – this is good enough.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First, we would go for lunch at Gingergrass in Silverlake for some yummy Vietnamese food. Then we’d be off to Sick City Records in Echo Park, to pick up some punk rock, hip hop, and 80’s vinyl records and cassettes. Then we would head to Chantry Flats in Pasadena. Just a short drive north into the mountains of Pasadena, there is a pack station and general store. From there, an easy 1.5 mile hike and you’ll find a waterfall. Half-day hikes and camping locations will take you to other even more amazing waterfalls. After a good hike, we’ll need some down time and rest, so we’d head over to Spa Palace in Westlake. For a reasonable fee, we get to soak in a hot tub, sit in a steam room, take a relaxing shower and head to the quiet room where we can lay down in comfortable chairs and rest. If we’re really feeling sore, we would get massages and sit in their many rooms that offer different varieties of healing temperatures and atmospheres. By now we’ve worked up an appetite so we’d head over to the El Coyote Mexican Restaurant on Beverly Blvd. This place is the only place in Los Angeles that serves something close to TexMex, which is the variety and flavor of Mexican food in Texas (very different than CalMex). And the margaritas there are the best I’ve ever had. The very next morning we would pack up and head to Mammoth Lakes, California. Mammoth is about 5 hours North East of LA. There we would hit Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort. This mountain is almost 12,000 feet high and some of the best snowboarding in California can be found here. We would stay in Mammoth at least 3 days. From there we’d head directly West to San Francisco – about 5 hours journey. We’d do more record shopping at Vinyl Dreams in the Lower Haight, to fill in our House records, maybe a little old school Techno and some local sounds from local SF musicians. We’d stay at the William Westerfeld house in Alamo Square, owned by my long-time friend and brother, Jim Siegel. Jim’s house was built in 1889 and is a 28 room Victorian Mansion. It’s one of the many Historical Landmarks in San Francisco and a real treat if you can ever get in on a tour. On our journey back to Los Angeles we would stop in Paso Robles. Paso Robles is a small winery town. It’s well kept and has lots of shopping, restaurants and of course wineries. Whatever your favorite wine might be, you’ll find some of the best in California, and fresh right from the source. We’ve arrived back in Los Angeles and to round out our week-long journey, we’ll go to the EchoPlex in Echo Park for the Part-Time-Punks “Depeche Mode Night”. We’d dance all night to one of our favorite bands, then catch some yummy pizza almost next door at Triple Beam Pizza.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This question is so multi-faceted, I could go on forever on this one. But to keep it simple, I have to give mad shout-outs to my original music partner from back in 1992, my Brother from another Mother, Steven Tune. Steven is brilliant with it comes to technology and I couldn’t have asked for a better music partner in my life back then. We never had a problem with learning new gear because Steven could figure it out and make it work. The juxtoposition of our childhoods and influences helped create some of my most cherished songs ever written. Our comradery helped us both grow immensely in our travels thru life. He was instrumental in our move to San Francisco. It was his idea and encouragement to take music creation seriously and make a huge life decision, to leave Houston. What came after our move to SF is nothing short of amazing, huge success on many levels, and Steven was the driving force that kept things going during the good times and the bad.

Website: https://www.emrmusic.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/electric.meter.room.music

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Image Credits
Marissa Gomez