Meet Lofitic: The Chilean Composer Turning Melodies, Memories, and Imagined Scenes Into Music
Elizabeth Music Group Publishing is proud to represent Patricio Menis, a producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist from Santiago, Chile, whose musical projects include Lofitic, Patiotic, Pianotic, and Peripheral Light.
For Patricio, music has always been connected to storytelling. From a childhood surrounded by tango and theater to hearing his work on Tyler Perry’s Sistas on BET, his journey reflects a lasting fascination with how sound can bring images, emotions, and scenes to life.
We spoke with Lofitic about his musical background, influences, proudest accomplishments, creative process, and experience with Elizabeth Music Group Publishing.
Tell us a little about yourself. Who is Lofitic, and how did your journey into music production begin?
Lofitic: “I’m Patricio Menis, a producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist from Santiago, Chile, and Lofitic is one of my musical projects.”
His introduction to music began within a family deeply connected to the arts.
“Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father used to sing, my grandfather was a theater actor in Argentina, and later, here in Chile, my family ran a theater and café-concert agency. So somehow I was always surrounded by music, theater, and that whole artistic world.”
His grandfather’s home provided some of his earliest musical memories, including a stereo that remains part of his life today.
“There was always music playing at my grandfather’s house, especially tango. He also had this old Grundig stereo from the 1960s that I used to play with as a kid. I still have it today, it still works, and it’s actually become the heart of how we listen to music at home.”
One record in particular helped introduce him to the connection between sound and storytelling.
“I also remember one particular vinyl record he had that was made entirely of sound effects for film. I loved putting it on and making up stories in my head while listening to all those sounds.”
“Looking back, I think that influenced me much more than I realized at the time, because even today I tend to connect music with images, scenes, atmospheres, and stories.”
That curiosity eventually developed into playing instruments, composing, and producing original music.
“I’ve been making music since the late ’90s, and Lofitic is, in a way, the result of all those years, different influences, and my own way of experiencing music.”
How would you describe your production style, and what artists, genres, or life experiences have influenced your sound the most?
Lofitic: “It’s difficult for me to describe my production style as one specific thing, because Lofitic is only one part of what I do as a composer and producer. I’ve always had very different musical interests, and over time I ended up creating different aliases to separate those different sides of my music.”
His first artist project, Patiotic, gave him room to explore a broad range of genres.
“Patiotic was my first artist project and is probably the most eclectic one. I made everything from deep house, tropical house, and trance to lo-fi and rock. At some point I realized it didn’t make much sense to put everything under the same name, so the other projects started to appear naturally.”
Those projects now give different parts of his musical identity their own space.
“Lofitic became mainly focused on lo-fi. Pianotic is just piano. Peripheral Light is where I’m currently exploring ambient and more experimental music. And under my own name, Patricio Menis, I make more cinematic and orchestral music, which is another kind of composition and arranging that I really enjoy.”
Even with those stylistic differences, his work shares a consistent focus.
“Even though all of these projects can sound quite different, they all come from the same person and the same musical personality. I’m very focused on melody and atmosphere, and I tend to imagine stories when I’m making music.”
“Blues is also very present in the way I play and compose. Blues scales and phrasing find their way into a lot of what I do, even when the song has absolutely nothing to do with blues.”
His approach incorporates guitar, bass, piano, Rhodes, synthesizers, charango, ukulele, field recordings, and textures.
“I like the music to start from a performance and a musical idea rather than from a formula dictated by a particular genre.”
His influences reflect that same range.
“Pink Floyd and David Gilmour have been very important to me, especially in terms of guitar, space, and atmosphere. Radiohead, Tricky, and Kid Loco have also influenced the way I think about textures and production.”
“On the cinematic side, James Horner and Joe Hisaishi are major influences because of the way they use melody and emotion to tell a story through music.”
Patricio also listens to contemporary lo-fi artists, while drawing on everything he has absorbed throughout his life.
“I think my sound ultimately comes from everything I’ve listened to throughout my life: jazz, soul, blues, bossa nova, rock, electronic music, ambient, cinematic music, and lo-fi. The different aliases simply give me a place to explore different sides of that musical personality.”
What project, placement, or accomplishment are you most proud of so far, and why does it stand out in your career?
Lofitic: “I think one of my biggest accomplishments, beyond any numbers, playlists, or streams, is simply being able to dedicate myself 100% to music.”
For Patricio, the opportunity to make music every day represents an achievement built over many years.
“I spent many years working in things that I didn’t necessarily enjoy, or simply doing what I needed to do because I had to work. Today, being able to wake up and spend my day making music is probably one of the most important achievements for me.”
He also credits his wife’s support as an essential part of that journey.
“And I couldn’t do this without my wife. Her support has been absolutely fundamental in allowing me to do what I do today.”
When choosing a specific moment involving his music, one television placement stands out.
“If I had to choose one specific moment related to my music, though, it would definitely be hearing my work on Tyler Perry’s Sistas on BET.”
“It wasn’t really about the money or the numbers. It was simply the feeling of seeing something I created become part of a scene on screen. That means a lot to me because that’s actually how I make music.”
The experience connected directly with the way he approaches composition.
“When I’m composing, I imagine scenes. Sometimes it might be a movie, a trailer, or just a situation or an image in my head, and then I start developing the music around that.”
“So after spending so many years imagining images while making music, actually seeing my music accompanying a scene was very exciting.”
“Of course it’s great to see streaming numbers grow or to get playlist placements, but seeing my music on screen connects much more directly with what really motivates me to make music.”
What made you decide to join Elizabeth Music Group, and what has your experience with the publishing roster been like so far?
Lofitic: “One of the main reasons I decided to join Elizabeth Music Group was the sync opportunities. That’s very important to me because, as I mentioned before, the way I make music is closely connected to images, scenes, film, and television.”
For a composer who naturally imagines scenes while creating, access to relevant briefs was an important part of choosing publishing representation.
“There are constantly new sync opportunities and briefs coming in, almost every day.”
After joining Elizabeth Music Group Publishing, another part of the experience became equally meaningful.
“But after joining, I found something else that became just as important to me: the human contact.”
“Being able to actually talk directly to people and get a response almost immediately is a huge difference. It sounds like something very basic, but in this industry it can sometimes be surprisingly difficult to actually reach someone. My previous experiences also made me appreciate that kind of communication much more.”
That combination of communication and creative opportunities has helped strengthen the relationship.
“With EMG, I feel there are real people behind everything, there’s communication, and at the same time they’re constantly creating opportunities for their writers.”
“That combination of human contact and being a genuinely active publisher is exactly what I was looking for, and it’s one of the reasons I’m gradually moving more of my catalog to EMG.”
What does your creative process look like when you're starting a new beat or song?
Lofitic: “I usually start with either a guitar or a piano. First I need to find one main idea. It could be a melody, a chord progression, or even just a very small phrase. Once I have that, I start imagining a story around it, and everything else grows from there.”
Sometimes that starting point arrives as soon as he wakes up.
“It also happens quite often that I wake up with a melody in my head. When that happens, I try to go straight to the studio and record it before I forget it.”
From there, a simple performance becomes the foundation for a fuller arrangement.
“It can be something very simple at first, just guitar or piano, but once I have the idea recorded, I start developing it and building everything around it: bass, Rhodes, synthesizers, textures, field recordings, the beat, the arrangement, and so on.”
Patricio prefers to focus on one song at a time.
“I’m not someone who has a thousand unfinished projects sitting around. Usually, when I start a song, I keep working on that song until it’s finished. I like to completely immerse myself in one idea, finish it, and then move on to something else.”
Experience has also taught him when to stop making changes.
“And I think over the years I’ve learned something that’s really important to me: knowing when a song is finished.”
“That can be difficult because you can always keep changing things. You can add something, remove something, change a sound, go back and redo a section, and keep doing that forever.”
“But I think I’ve become pretty good at recognizing the point where the song has already said what it needs to say. When I reach that point, it’s finished, and I leave it alone.”
From his grandfather’s sound-effects record to his own music appearing on television, Patricio continues to build a catalog rooted in melody, atmosphere, and imagination. Elizabeth Music Group Publishing is proud to support him as he develops his musical projects and explores new creative opportunities.
