This 5-episode series, released by Tiger Eyes Media, goes deep into the underground subculture of the experimental electronic performance scene, with the first season focusing on Los Angeles.
The series offers viewers an inside look into the lives, struggles, and triumphs of a diverse group of circuit benders, audio-visual and noise artists as they perform in venues, galleries, and pop-up events outside the boundaries of the mainstream music world.
The Benders Circuit immerses the viewer by exploring the hidden world of these alternative performers. The experimental electronic scene in LA has developed since the early 2000s into one of the most important art movements of this millennium. The series captures art history as it happens, with a mercurial mix of artists, events, and venues that are committed to this art form.
Genres covered include experimental electronic, circuit bending, noise, modular electronic, glitch, IDM, video bending, and live electronic film scores. The series features appearances by key performers on the scene like Baseck, Igor Amokian, Elaine Carey, Pulsating Cyst, univac, and Rain Lucien Matheke; as well as interviews with electronic music innovators like Gerald Casale of Devo and Bon Harris of Nitzer Ebb.
The docu-series is directed and produced by Eric A. Zimmerman and Angela Izzo, both filmmakers with notable music industry experience. Zimmerman has directed award-winning music videos for major bands like NIN, Ministry, Living Color, and Soundgarden. He directed sci-fi feature Caller ID: Entity. He has edited docu-series and videos for Snoop Dogg, Eminem, DMX, Big Freedia, and edited the documentary Better Living Through Circuitry on the origins of rave and EDM. Angela Izzo has directed music videos and filmed for Dolly Parton, Linda Perry, Natasha Bedingfield, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, and many others. Her documentary We Heart the Art Barn was featured in the 2009 Ventura Film Festival. In 2012 she won 1st place experimental film for The Messages We Give at the My Hero International Film Festival.
Director’s statement: “This is an important art movement that needs to be known to the rest of the world. We embedded ourselves in the noise scene to be able to tell the story from the inside out. This series is not just about circuit-bending and noise, but about creativity, pursuing art for art’s sake, and the power of community. We are looking to expand awareness of these artists and
this scene to audiences outside of LA who are curious about what lies beyond the mainstream. This series is an inside look into an ultra-creative subculture where outsider artists are the stars.”
In a time when Hollywood studios and streamers and are scrambling to create content, this unique series profiles a DIY scene that is vibrant, alive, and self-sustaining.
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