Aaron Benevides

Aaron Benavides is an artist and musician based in Austin, TX. He's a founding member of Touch Collective and a creative technologist with Cymantix Design. He produces and performs under the moniker Shadowsweat. Like his alias suggests, his process is rooted in exploring his shadow. He relies on chance and intuition to reach into his subconscious and draw new connections between genres and concepts he discovers through mediation, books, podcasts and anything he can get his hands on. The "Sweat" part of his name comes from his visceral somatic experience of music. Driven by his love of dance and huge interest in the science of perception, he creates tracks that are designed to be felt on many different levels, highlighting the multi-sensory aspect inherent in our experience of music. Textures and samples whiz past you and flutter around your head, while beats and bass slam right into your chest, creating an experience that is equally rewarding on a dancefloor and especially on headphones.

Outside of music, Aaron is passionate about Spirituality, Consciousness, Creativity and Sustainability. He's obsessed with the liminal space in which our conscious perceptions and experiences transform into Culture. Through his work with Touch Collective (an art Collective he helped found), he designs events and installations that reimagine social events that are more inclusive and sustainable; not only environmentally, but physically, emotionally, mentally, and financially. He's especially focused on exploring new economic and mental models which would help creatives sustain themselves in this current climate of automation and technological reproducibility. His main focus outside of music right now, is developing a modular haptic dancefloor that vibrates with the sound of the music. And beyond just creating a much more immersive environment for experiencing music, it would also create a more inclusive space in the Austin music scene for the Deaf and hard of hearing communities, as well as applications for meditation, and as a therapeutic tool for those with Autism and more. So be on the lookout for that in the coming months.

His mission is to radically improve the relationships we have with ourselves, our communities and our environments through the creation of sublime artistic experiences. Shadowsweat - Touch Collective - https://www.instagram.com/touchcollective/