Apashe Brings His Brass Orchestra On The Road

John De Buck, better known by his moniker Apashe, is gearing up to head to Europe after wrapping up the North American leg of his “Antagonist Tour” featuring his brass orchestra on Dec. 16 at Showbox SoDo in Seattle. The Belgian-born, Montreal-based electronic music producer released his second album, Antagonist, on Nov. 24, 2023. The 23-date European run starts Feb. 2 at London’s Koko, followed by shows in Amsterdam, his hometown in Brussels, Paris and more before concluding with a March 3 performance in Poznan, Poland.

His latest release continued the classical-meets-dance music sound that first appeared on his Requiem EP in 2018 and his sophomore LP, 2020’s Renaissance, where De Buck enlisted an entire orchestra to play on the record. The “Antagonist Tour” included stops in clubs and small theaters such as the Knitting Factory Concert House in Boise, Idaho (517 tickets sold, $18,790 grossed) and The Elm in Bozeman, Montana (938 tickets sold, $28,302 grossed), along with gigs in Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and more. Last summer, he performed at Bonnaroo, Electric Forest (where he first brought out the brass orchestra in the United States) and more.

The 31-year-old music producer – whose tour dates are booked in North America by United Talent Agency and the rest of the world by Primary Talent International – moved to Montreal to study music and orchestra at Concordia University for two years. Despite his current career, De Buck notes that he wasn’t at the top of his class. After leaving university, he worked in studios and made music for advertisements, with advertising still fueling a substantial sum of his income. His music has appeared in movie trailers for “Fast and Furious” and Marvel’s “Iron Fist,” and bits of his songs can be heard during NFL and MLB games, along with ads for major brands such as Budweiser and Apple.

“We don’t make money with the tour right now,” De Buck admits. “It’s not really in our vision, either. It’s too expensive with the amount of people we have. But, we are growing. For now, it’s still licensing and advertisements that pay the bills. The touring part is really expensive, but then we kind of recover at the festivals.”

Though a tight budget has forced De Buck to only bring along the brass section of the orchestra, he’s still able to complete his vision with a limited number of musicians – and there’s a benefit with the sound during the show. He explains that string instruments need to be more carefully mic’d, leaving room for error during the show if they have to sit around for a while, whereas brass instruments are loud enough to be heard with fewer microphones.

“The show is a mix, obviously, because there are live instruments and some electronic parts,” De Buck says. “I build a show with how I play my loops with my machines, and then I give everything to the musicians I work with. We try to find which part could be fun to play live, which part doesn’t work, and then we write sheets for the brass section to play along.”

Tour lighting director Benoit Gromko also collaborates with De Buck and the brass section to determine which moments should be heavier on the electronic compared to the brass orchestra to ensure everyone on stage is properly lit.

De Buck describes touring with a brass orchestra to be a logistical nightmare, with 16 people on the road in total at all times. For the “Antagonist Tour,” they forwent planes and instead traveled across North America by bus.

“Because we’re 16 people, we needed a big bus, because most are only for 12 or so people. We found these double-deckers, there are only 25 of those in the U.S. right now, so it’s very rare. It’s more of a European thing, I’ve heard. We had eight musicians, two vocalists that opened the night – one rapper who sings [Waisu] and another singer [YMIR], a tour manager, two tech, one lighting and one in charge of all the LED panels and visuals, so it’s a big team.”

Two different teams of musicians tour with De Buck, one team joining him in North America, and the other in Europe. De Buck performed 30 shows with the team in North America during the 2023 “Antagonist Tour.” When he travels to Europe in February for his next trek, he’ll pick up with his other team, who also played with him during festivals last summer.

When searching for musicians to bring along with him on tour, De Buck aims to find those who are less unconventional. He says he doesn’t want artists who primarily work with an orchestra and are more classically trained, as the audience for a dance music show is very different from those who attend an orchestra.

“For me, it was important to have people that played in bands rather than classical people, although I am pushing the whole classical thing,” De Buck says. “My music is really hectic. I didn’t want people that are too classical, but rather a bit more funky people that feel comfortable around loud music. People who would feel comfortable in venues with a younger audience that raves and are more hectic. It’s not the usual classical experience.”