(Photo by Phil Kline)
Note: This article by Ear Traffic’s Joey Berlin originally appeared in the inaugural issue of Hornmag, a new Texas art and lifestyle magazine, in September 2024. The magazine can be found online at Hornmag.com.
Between becoming the target of online vitriol and nearly drowning in his car, Caleb De Casper endured a jarring spring of 2023, bringing the eclectic Austin dance-pop artist and LGBTQ+ activist to the realization that he needed a break from making music.
Now he’s back, with a new song shining a pointed, jaundiced light on every toxic and odious aspect of online culture – phone zombieism, isolation, misinformation. And when you talk to him, it’s clear that his disgust with the internet isn’t just a mere inspiration for his new single; it’s the impetus for a personal journey.
“What we need is to learn how to exist around each other as people again; I feel like everyone’s just a reaction to other people’s reactions at this point,” De Casper said. “That’s what I am trying to do for myself.”
With pop, glam, rock and dance turns and amalgams peppering his recordings, and LGBTQ+ themes often fueling his lyrics, De Casper has made a dent in the Austin scene with the likes of 2019 EP De Casper and his 2022 debut full-length, Femme Boy. In March 2023, De Casper testified before a Texas Senate committee against the controversial Senate Bill 12, the measure that aimed to criminalize some drag shows and other “sexually oriented performances” occurring in front of minors.
From there, he says, “I [got] swooped up into the just terrible, far right, extreme side of the internet using my image to be transphobic and hateful to people that don’t even understand who I am, what my identity is, none of that.” He saw himself implicated in “horrible conspiracy theories and things” and received threats.
Less than a month after his testimony came his April 2023 drive through a flash flood, an ordeal he survived to recount for one of Austin’s local news stations: The runaway waters smashed a concrete barrier into the back of his vehicle.
“I almost died in my car,” he says now. “Water went up, up, up, up, up, up, up, and then thank God it went down.” Once he was safe, “my nervous system was fucking shot,” and he took it as a divine sign to take it easy for a bit.
“It was like, [playing] all these music festivals, big things, big things, big things, Texas Senate, people threatening you, conspiracy theories, drowning. And I was like, ‘I’m done,’” he said. “‘I need a therapist, because I have to figure out what I think and believe, and to be able to protect my energy from all this stuff.’ That was so necessary to be able to be meaningful in my art again.”
The 31-year-old’s return came in late July in the form of a single that could be called disco-pian: “Sik Culture,” co-written with Jonathan Horstmann of fellow Austin act Urban Heat, is a danceable but moody darkwave assessment of a society that’s losing its soul to electronic communication, image-crafting and tastemaking.
De Casper’s original inspiration for “Sik Culture” was the venerable LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr and his dissatisfaction with today’s dating culture, before the track became focused on society as a whole.
“People don’t know how to connect with each other anymore. People don’t care to connect with you,” he said. “It’s like that part of us has atrophied because everything’s just a swipe or a click away. And then you can yell at people, and you don’t have to face repercussions over it because you never see them ever again – you know, just [hit] ‘Block.’”
His view of the distorting power of the internet even extends to the image of his home state: “The propaganda they put out about who lives here is very monolithic. But there are so many people here who are creative and different and diverse, and really they appreciate art and creativity.” When it comes to perception of how members of the queer community are received in certain locales, he recalls walking into a convenience store in remote West Virginia while on tour, wearing huge acrylic nails and smeared makeup.
“This weathered old woman inside was looking me up and down, like she was going to say something nasty or spit on me,” De Casper remembers. “And she says, ‘Are those your nails?’ I was like, ‘Yes.’ And she goes, ‘I can’t get mine to grow that long.’” He laughs. “But a lot of people are like that, and we don’t see that, because the internet is so extreme.”
For his next moves, De Casper’s work with his “Sik Culture” producer, Ribongia, is ongoing, and he plans to continue his re-emergence with more singles and hopefully a new tour.
“I’m on my way to doing some pretty amazing things soon. I can feel it,” he said. “I’m really grateful to everyone who has said, ‘Welcome back from your hiatus. We are totally here for it.’”