"Robert Rich: A Music Icon's Time On Earth is a short documentary film representing my friend, Robert Rich, an established ambient musician, composer, producer and sound designer. Robert's art and his noticeably enlightened personality have made an impact on the lives of many people, including myself. I've always known him to be an exceptionally gentle and articulate soul, so I wanted the public to know both he and his art better, and hopefully understand the ambient music genre more in the process. As a friend, Robert even supported my own music through the years, selflessly, as well as been an influence on that work. It was time for me to give something back. A handful of musicians, including Robert, were the first on the West Coast to add significantly to the ambient music genre, and yet they have somehow remained a tad under the radar ever since. These are fairly unsung heroes, and I suppose I would like to draw some attention to that as much as I can for now and/or in the future, at least whenever possible. In relation to this particular film, the interview with Robert took place in 2011. I had planned on cutting it into a film shortly afterward. It ended up taking me 7 years to complete, after juggling it with several other projects. I'm happy it's done. I was worried for a moment. I supposed I'm a bit more established as a musician than anything else, but I've actually been painfully sitting on other talents for a long time, so Robert was the perfect inspiration for me to bridge that gap and start a new chapter in my artistic life. I truly feel that we should all face our hidden and forsaken talents sooner than later, for the betterment of ourselves and our important relationships. There must be others out there who resonate with this same point of view, and my heart warms at such a thought."
- Dean De Benedictis
You can find Dean De Benedictis' music on Spotify both as Surface 10 and under his own name.