Producer Mike Dean Launches Apex Sound Label, Announces Sash as First Signing

A.D. Amorosi
·5 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Producer Mike Dean (pictured at left), known for his work with the Weeknd, Beyoncé and Travis Scott, is launching a new record label, Apex Sound, with longtime collaborator Apex Martin. Its first signing is New York-based singer, composer and producer Sash. The SoundCloud regular releases the noir-ish single and its equally dusky video, “Lemon Sorbet,” today, ahead of a debut project called “Bittersweet” scheduled for release on December 2.

“Apex has been telling me for years about Sash, but then again, he’s been telling me about a lot artists who are popping now,” Dean tells Variety. Acknowledging that he has long appreciated Martin’s music and beats (he’s been signed to Dean’s M.W.A. Records since 2017), Dean believes that his partner in Apex Sound has his ears finely “tuned to the culture.”

More from Variety

For his part, Martin — who produced and co-produced records by Future, Ty Dolla $ign and the late PNB Rock — calls meeting Dean “some crazy shit. I used to hit him up every day on Twitter to the point that he started replying. Then, I began DM-ing Mike for him to give me his email address so I could send him some beats. He would give me feedback for a number of years until we met. When we did hook up, we chilled, we smoked… Our relationship was organic. Never forced or industry.”

Though Martin has plans to produce projects and release music through Apex Sound in the future, his and Dean’s focus, at present, is on Sash. “The first time I heard Sash’s music, it sounded like something I had heard before, but also sounded fresh and new,” says Martin. “There was something there already, a potential for him to find his own way and his own style. He writes and records his own music, and has total say, even down to the beats. He’s intuitive and hands-on.”

To that end, Sash co-produced each of his six tracks on the upcoming “Bittersweet” with Martin, while Dean has a hand in three. “Sash influenced the whole project down to the sound choices that I made… the beats and the synths,” says Martin. “No matter what song you pick on the project, you’re going to understand why we use the word ‘bittersweet’ as the title. Some of the song’s notions may be sad and delicate, but the beat is hard. Or we’ll be saying brasher things, softly. That’s the duality of Sash.”

“It’s all a vibe… lots of layers, all delicate, all tied together,” adds Dean.

Sash
Sash

The initial result of their collaboration, Sash’s “Lemon Sorbet,” is darkly luxurious with a sweet vocal melody contrasting a gloomy undertone — a noir sound matched by the after-hours look of its video, one shot on film by director Diego Andrade. “Sam Levinson told us we should shoot it on film” says Dean of Levinson, the creator of HBO’s “Euphoria.” Levinson is also producer behind The Weeknd’s upcoming HBO series “The Idol,” in which Dean co-stars.

When Variety spoke to Dean in August, it was on occasion of him having curated the compilation “See You Next Year” in collaboration with Pigeons & Planes, Big.Ass.Kids and Warner/ADA. One of the comp’s artists was Sash, and his track, “Oz,” stuck out to Dean. “Sash is a real crooner,” Dean said during that August interview. “I believe he has growth potential as an artist and I’m going to continue working with him for some upcoming records.”

Apex Sound’s business model centers on “fast cycles” and “small packages of six songs-or-under,” says Dean. “We’ll get more attention putting out six great songs, than say, 18 good tracks.”

Martin calls these Apex Sound releases, “little packets, so that we don’t lose you. People have really short attention spans now.” (Ingrooves provides distribution for the label.)

For his part, Sash, an artist who’s long had his own notion of sound (with 28 songs on SoundCloud to show for it), is delighted to be collaborating with Dean and Martin in the production booth. “You’re right, but I wouldn’t say that I came to the table with a fully developed sound,” Sash says. “I did come fully knowing myself and my character. And I want to cooperate with Mike and Apex as much as I can to form that sound. Working with them is only the beginning of where I think I can take my sound.”

Sash credits the grit of having forever lived in New York as abetting the darkest vibes and shadowy nuances of his coolly seductive music, with its sotto voce quietude and beautiful melodicism coming from an early appreciation of jazz.

“I grew up with a love of Chet Baker and jazz musicians, and, from an artist’s perspective, that inspired me more than, say, hip-hop coming up,” says Sash. Eventually, however, Travis Scott and The Weeknd became part of his steady diet – both of whom happen to have been produced by Mike Dean.

“That medium…. I listened to rap and was influenced by their music, but in the back of my head, I always had something smoother in mind than brash hip-hop,” he says. “Plus, my dad was a hip-hop production head who would always point out how and what producers like J Dilla would sample past the lyrics atop the songs. So hip-hop became my north star.”

The co-founders also point to the label’s sonic profile as a key factor in its future signings. “We’re trying to make music that doesn’t emphasize money, misogyny, violence or shit like that,” says Martin. “We influence the culture, whether we know it or not. The less that I can add to that fire, I’m good on it. I just want to make clean, quality music. Trust me, bro. We’re bringing the real shit back, because so much of it now is so un-organic.”

Adds Dean: “Too many people are getting killed. We’re definitely not trying to make violent music. All that is played out.”

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.