Apex (musician)

Robert Dickeson, (16 August 1981 – 30 September 2017) known by his stage names Apex and Robert Oaks was a British drum and bass music producer and DJ from Kent, England.

Early life

Dickeson was born on 16 August 1981 in Dartford, England, and raised in Maidstone, Kent, England. Dickeson was a multi-instrumentalist with the guitar as his primary instrument which he had played since the age of 12.

Career

2005–07: Unknown Error

Prior to his solo career, Dickeson was a producer and DJing member of drum and bass duo Unknown Error. Their 2005 first release, "Shadows", entered the BBC 1Xtra D&B charts at the 8th place, and was featured on the ''Hardware Chronicles (Volume 4)'' EP and the Guerrilla Warfare compilation.

This was followed by releases on the labels Renegade Hardware, Horizons, and the Moving Shadow EP ''Heaven and Hell'' which was selected as Mixmag's D&B release of the month.

2007–16: Apex

After departing from Unknown Error he started up his solo alias Apex, with the first release, "Space Between" (featuring Ayah), released in April 2007 on Hospital Records, immediately hitting the BBC Radio 1 D&B Top Ten. It was included in the Andy C's mix CD ''D&B Arena Mix'' and Hospital Records' ''Weapons of Mass Creation 3''.

In the same year Apex was part of establishing the label Lifted Music with Chris Renegade, Spor, Evol Intent, and Ewun. In the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 he toured around the world with a series of parties from the label Lifted Music Recordings. In February 2008, he released his solo EP ''Wall of Sound'' on Lifted Music which was extremely well received. In 2008 he won the Beatport D&B track of the year with his remix of Bachelors of Science's "Strings Track".

In June 2009 his remix of "Just One Second" from London Elektricity's Syncopated City album was released to great acclaim and was also featured on the ''Hospitality Drum & Bass'' 2010 compilation by Hospital Records. This track was very well received and even a few years after its release, in 2016, it was chosen by record breaking explorer Ben Saunders on the BBC radio show ''Desert Island Discs'' as one of his favourite tracks to listen to on his expeditions. This track was also used to promote and feature on the soundtrack of ''Gran Turismo 5''.

2016–17: Robert Oaks

In December 2016 and early 2017 he released four tracks through mau5trap under his new alias Robert Oaks which focuses on techno and house. His track "On The Run" was played by deadmau5 on his BBC Radio 1 residency show and also featured on the ''Mau5trap '16'' compilation.

He released under the name Robert Oaks and also another experimental alias Midnight Lamp, through which he released a debut album, ''Coming Home'', on 20 July 2017. His debut EP as Robert Oaks, ''My Shadow'', was also released in July 2017. A posthumous release, ''The Beating Heart'' EP, was released on his Bandcamp account on 5 January 2018.

Death

Dickeson died on 30 September 2017. The cause of his death is not certain, however sources close to Dickeson, have alleged that his death was the result of suicide.

Discography

As Apex

Extended plays
* ''Wall of Sound'' (2008)
* ''Omega Point'' (2012)

Singles
* "Falling" / "Weeping Willow" (2008)
* "By the Way" / "The Yearning" (VIP) (2008)
* "Breathe" / "Emo Funk" (2008)
* "Entrapment" (2010)
* "Inner Space" / "Energy Lines" (2010)
* "Disconnected" (2011)
* "Echoes" (2018)

As Robert Oaks

Extended plays
* ''My Shadow'' (2017)
* ''The Beating Heart'' (2018)

As Midnight Lamp

Studio albums
* ''Coming Home'' (2017)

References

External links

*
*
*

Robert Oaks
on SoundCloud
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apex
1981 births
2017 deaths
English record producers
English DJs
English drum and bass musicians
Musicians from Kent
British electronic dance music DJs
British remixers
Suicides in the United Kingdom
Place of birth missing
Place of death missing