Casual Male finds a way to recall recent memories and come to grips with a depth and gratitude that is, I don’t know, it’s just so casual.
Casual Male, who recently dropped a new EP “Raise The Dead” in November, is the project of Tim Lappin, a Brooklyn-based musician and bassist from Haddon Township, NJ who has spent the last few years making exceptionally groovin’ tunes (check out 2018’s debut “EP“), touring with Nick Murphy, and playing in his Brooklyn-based bands Goodbye Picasso and boybandband. And in this here COVID-era, you can find him in his living room “Shred Shed” working on tunes and recording live sessions with a boombox
or probably at, wait for it, the beach surfing and “Taking it Easy” (I could do this all day, really).
The latest release, Raise The Dead EP, dropped on November 20th and as soon as that guitar hits on Don’t Want Me Around you feel something that is noticeably outstanding from its indie rock peers, certainly in terms of arrangement, and RE: 2020, the whole EP tracks lyrically, starting with the opening “One day I might look down, swan dive”
…through the forewarning “Beware you late bloomers”
Oh, and then there’s Laughter from The Beach
It’s all kind of this existential heartbreak that gives you permission to sit with it, let it bourgeon, melt, permeate, and, in time, let it go.
We caught up with Tim about Raise the Dead, what he’s up to next, and, of course, what he’s listening to.
ID: Tell us about the process of making this EP. Love the recent video you posted on IG sharing the shred shed, by the way.
Thank you, and thank you for having me! This EP started by making demos at home (see: Shred Shed), and trying to get them as far along on my own as I possibly can. Then, with a lot of these songs, I would bring them into the band so we could play them live. They would take my ideas in the demos and evolve the parts. When we finally got into Transmitter Park Studios with producer Abe Seiferth, the demos would act as a skeleton, and we would replace a lot of what I had with live drums, or guitars, but sometimes keep parts that still felt really good. Half of the vocals came from the demos themselves, only because they had a certain vibe, or emotional weight to them that was hard to reproduce.
ID: What’s the next thing you’ll probably do, eat, drink?
It all depends on the time of day, but most likely the next thing I’m doing/drinking is coffee, or beer. As I write this, the next thing will be coffee (pre-noon).
ID: Anything else you’d like us to know?
I’ll be putting out a song in January that was supposed to go on the first EP, but we never finished called “The Universe”. It includes Kirk Schoenherr, Dave Burnett, and Nathan Terry, who all recorded their parts four years ago, but I rearranged it, and re-did everything I had originally recorded. I produced it in my apartment and then brought it to Abe Seiferth to mix, and master.
ID: What tracks / albums have been on loop for you this year?
A friend introduced me to Prefab Sprout earlier this year, and although it took me a minute to dig into it, I got a bit obsessed with them. Their record Steve McQueen from 1985 being my favorite.
Harrington/Gustin/Zahn put out a beautiful instrumental record Tura Lura that I love.
The track I’ve listened to a 1000 times is, On The Floor by Perfume Genius.
FIND / SUPPORT CASUAL MALE: https://casualmaleband.bandcamp.com
Listen to New Digs featuring “Raise the Dead” on Apple Music and Spotify.
IndieDigs 
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