Written by Ted Abeyta
John De Buck, professionally known as Apashe, the Belgian electronic artist based in Montreal known for blending dark classical music with multi-genre dance beats and baselines has returned with another album documentary. Together with award-winning Canadian director, cinematographer, and friend, Adrian Villagomez, Apashe provides us a half-serious, tongue-and-cheek look at the making of his latest album, Antagonist, which he just recently completed.
For several years now, Apashe and Villagomez have been a dynamic duo, collaborating on all of Apashe’s music videos and short films, including Uebok and RIP. Villagomez, renowned for his visually stunning work with major artists like Denzel Curry, Jean-Michel Blais, and The Kid Laroi, brings a unique cinematic flair to all of his projects. Apashe and Villagomez’s partnership is characterized by a seamless fusion of Apashe’s musical ingenuity and Villagomez’s prowess in creating breathtaking visuals. Together, they create deep and captivating experiences that transcend typical music videos.
In their titular film, Antagonist, Apashe and Villagomez take us on a humorous and sometimes absurd journey through the final steps of finishing Apashe’s sophomore album. They debuted the film to an intimate crowd of friends at United Talent Agency’s Beverly Hills screening room. Similar to the short documentary Apashe and Villagomez released after the 2020 debut of Renaissance, we once again follow Apashe and his team in their recording studio with his orchestra. We get Villagomez’s cinematic shots set in beautiful locations: wide open fields, abandoned Soviet-looking fortresses, and lush forests. We also get interviews with Apashe and his crew, only this time Apashe is no longer concerned if his music will be accepted by the orchestra like in his previous making-of film. He’s no longer that nervous young artist from before.
Instead, Apashe is portrayed like a party-animal, megalomaniac and his team is concerned. Long-time collaborators and friends, Wasiu and Lia, can’t stand him. He’s become like Ziggy Stardust: “Making love with his ego.” He’s working on multiple songs a day (often ignoring the input of his colleagues), he’s doing all of his own social media, and he’s even starting to take on some of his management’s accounting responsibilities. The film concludes with an interview in which both Apashe and the interviewer are adorned in ridiculously, overly-posh and over-sized 16th Century clothing. Wearing two to three Elizabethan collars, a bicorne, and carrying a scepter, Apashe carries on with the questions unfazed by the absurdity of the situation.
Apashe’s ironic portrayal of himself as a relentless, tyrannical artist as he wraps up his second album suggests that he’s not only grown significantly as an artist since his last album, but that he’s also grown as a person. Despite his incredible talent and great success, he can still laugh at himself and take criticism. While some artists try to edit and spin every bit of news or information that comes out about themselves, Apashe is intentionally putting out a version of himself that is false and a joke. Why do that? That behavior is indicative of someone that doesn’t take themselves too seriously, and it’s refreshing.
Apashe begins the European half of his Antagonist World Tour with his live orchestra February 2nd in London at Koko.