Apse (pronounced "apps") was an American rock band signed to the UK label ATP Recording

and Spain, Spanish labe
Acuarela Discos
The band moved through many different musical styles since its inception, weaving together at various times shoegazer, Heavy Metal,

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

prog-rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the ...

, industrial, and

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

influences; while at the same time working in

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

, ambient and ethereal atmospheres. The most common lyrical themes had to do with

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

, relationships with others (human as well as

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of co ...

, power, and control.

Biography

Apse was formed in 1999 in Newtown,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

by high school friends Robert Toher (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

), Ezer Lichtenstein (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

), and Ryan Todd (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) as an instrumental, experimental ambient rock grou

After the group recorded its first Extended play, EP in 2001, friend Aaron Piccirillo joined as an additional guitarist. This lineup recorded several more EPs, and eventually Toher's vocals entered the mix. In the spring of 2003, friend Michael Gundlach (

) joined the band. The band's gigs were often performed in low light with the members seated, surrounded by antique electronic equipment. By the end of 2004, Apse was signed to Acuarela Discos, based in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Apse (a self-titled, 34 minute Extended play, EP), was released internationally in the spring of 2005. A second drummer, Matthew Wick, was added to the band for live performances during this period. The group underwent another lineup change in the late summer of 2005, when Todd and Wick left the band; Piccirillo switched to bass, and Albert Gray recruited to play guitar. With this lineup, their tribal and darkly atmospheric debut album, Spirit, was recorded, and was released internationally on November 21, 2006. The group toured

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in support of it that fall, most notably appearing at the Tanned Tin festival in Castellon, Spai

Gray and Piccirillo left the band in early 2007, and friends Austin Stawiarz (guitar) and John Mordecai (bass) were taken on as new members for that year's European tours, which included a stop at Belgium's

Pukkelpop Pukkelpop is an annual music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium in mid- to late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—adjacent to a dual carriageway called ''Kempische Steenweg''—in the v ...

festival. Toher and Gundlach relocated to Cape Cod, Mass., later that year, and by January 2008, creative and personal differences led to Lichtenstein and Stawiarz parting ways with the group. Brandon Collins (drums) and Jed Armour (guitar) joined the band, and Piccirillo rejoined soon after as a keyboardist/guitarist/percussionist for that spring's European tour. The band made its UK debut on that tour at the ATP v. Pitchfork Festival in Camber Sands, England, and would go on to play several more ATP festivals in the UK and US over the next two years. A re-release of Spirit with alternate packaging and a bonus track (a version of the Eras track "Ark," which here features an alternate ending) was released on London-based ATP Recordings in July (UK) and August (US), 2008. An album titled Eras was released in a limited run of 425 vinyl copies on Feb. 14, 2009, o
Equation Records
Recorded during 2007 (various production issues delayed its release), it primarily features songs written by Toher and Lichtenstein, with an individual track each from Piccirillo and Gundlach. Eras, while similar to Spirit for its dark, experimental nature, ambient passages and heavy rhythms, marked the beginning of a stylistic shift, particularly for the occasional use of major-key chords and overall shorter song lengths. The album notably features performances from almost all of Apse's former and current members (as of 2007). There are no plans to officially release the album in any other format, but with few remaining physical copies, the band is offering it as a free download on its official site. Numerous new songs for the follow-up to Spirit were written, demoed, performed and discarded since 2007. Recording commenced in autumn of 2008 and continued through the spring. The album, Climb Up, was finally released Oct. 20, 2009 in the UK and Nov. 10 in the US on ATP Recordings. The album marked another departure for the band; the songs are noticeably less dark, shorter, and sometimes adhere to more common rock song structures. Members have attributed the change in sound to the long time spent touring for Spirit, after which a stark contrast to the dark atmospheres was desired. The album was featured in Under the Radar magazine's Best Albums of 2009 list at No. 25. By the time of its release, Piccirillo was no longer a member of the group, though he was present for the initial writing process and is thus credited with co-writing several songs on the album ("Rook," "The Age," and "The Whip"). In 2009, the band added Daniel Sobo as a touring keyboardist/auxiliary musician for tours and live performances through 2010. Sobo, a longtime friend, produced one of the band's early EPs. The group disbanded in early 2011, with some members moving on to form the band ERAAS.

Discography

Albums

*''Spirit'' (2006) Acuarela Discos / (2008) ATP Recordings *''Eras'' (2009) Equation Records *''Climb Up'' (2009) ATP Recordings

Extended plays

*''Untitled'' (2001) self-released *''Cloud'' (2002) self-released *''Three Dialogues'' (2003) self-released *''Apse'' (2005) Acuarela Discos

Singles

*''Dornier'' (from ''Three Dialogues'', 2003) self-released *''Marrer'' (from ''Apse'', 2004) self-released *''3.1'' / ''The Whip'' (Double A-side, 2009) ATP Recordings

Related Projects

Besides their work in Apse, members Robert Toher and Aaron Piccirillo have projects outside of the band. Robert wrote solo material under the monike
Goldfall
and currentl
Public Memory
https://interlocutorinterviews.com/new-blog/2018/11/24/music-public-memory and Aaron wrote under the moniker Somnolent. In 2005, Somnolent released two tracks on a sampler CD titled Nothing Concret

o
99xoutof10
records, a label created by Roger O'Donnell

keyboardist for

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

. Aaron has also written for Ultraculture, Clavis Journal, Aeon Sophia Press, and Appalachia Journal, and was included in , an anthology of nature writing released in July 2017 by the University Press of New England. He has also recorded under the name
Synesect
an
D. H. Grey
Following the break-up of Apse, Robert Toher and Austin Stawiarz started a new project and released music under the name ERAAS.

References

External links

* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apse American experimental musical groups Musical groups established in 1999 Alternative rock groups from Connecticut 1999 establishments in Connecticut ATP Recordings artists