Thundercat talks Kendrick collaborations and new album Drunk in exclusive interview

Qver the past decade, Los Angeles has produced some of the most exciting and forward thinking music of the age. Whether it be the subversive hip-hop crew Odd Future, the audacious electronica purveyed by Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder label, or the rap scene spearheaded by superstar Kendrick Lamar, the City Of Angels has been conspicuously awash with some devilishly good music.
There has been considerable cross-pollination across the various sub-sectors, with one of the most notable names to repeatedly appear being that of Stephen Bruner, aka electro-jazz adventurer and bass virtuoso Thundercat. Like Flying Lotus – who is a nephew of jazz great Alice Coltrane – Bruner was born into a family of musicians. However, given his current status as avant-garde guru and bass master du jour, he has had a somewhat unlikely musical journey.
Starting out as a member of boy band No Curfew, who enjoyed a minor hit in Germany, he ultimately joined his brother Ronald Jr as a member of of metal legends Suicidal Tendencies. But it was as part of FlyLo’s crew – a scene that crystallised not just around Brainfeedeer, but also the Low End Theory night in LA club Airliner – that Thundercat first came to wider attention.
Initially contributing to 2010 Lotus opus Cosmogramma, he has also appeared on the groove technician’s albums Until The Quiet Comes and You’re Dead! In parallel, he has developed a significant artistic relationship with Kendrick Lamar, appearing on K-Dot’s 2015 masterpiece To Pimp A Butterfly – for which he won a Grammy – and his new effort Damn. Returning the favour, Lamar guests on Bruner’s latest LP Drunk, which is his third solo album to date.
But first things first. Given that he is renowned as such a bass specialist, how does Bruner approach songwriting?
“Honestly, it’s one of those things where it just comes out the way it does,” reflects the laconic Bruner. “But it has always stemmed from the bass. I do a lot of my compositions from the instrument – when it comes to writing, that’s usually where it starts and ends. I’m not one of those guys who has to say I play every instrument; I’m not like that. The bass has been a very interesting double-edged sword – it’s been my one handicap and also my one advantage. It’s created obstacles that have forced me to explore different musical territory.”
Drunk is one of the most musically and sonically dazzling albums you will hear this year. Though the tracks are concise – with only a handful clocking in over the three-minute mark – they pack more ideas into their short running time than the most artists’ actual albums, mixing elements of jazz, electro, R&B and hip-hop to awesome effect. Again, the influence of Flying Lotus is notable. Aside from the fact that Drunk is released on Brainfeeder, the man born Steven Ellison also co-produces.
Does Bruno feel that FlyLo accentuates the electronic element of his work?
“I feel like Flying Lotus definitely amplifies it, but it’s always been there,” he suggests. “I’m definitely a child of the internet age, so I understand what it means to get through the idea you’re trying to express. A lot of the time, I don’t discriminate in the area of live versus electronic. If it feels right, it is right.”
Given that Thundercat released his debut solo album, The Golden Age Of Apocalypse, the year after appearing on Cosmogramma, would he say Ellison was influential on him opting to take the leap to record his own material?
“Well, I was already working on things before we met,” explains Bruner. “It was just that it then became a real option – it was like, ‘Why not give it a try?’ Lotus was the person who told me I should sing more, so I took his advice and it opened a new door for me.”
Does Thundercat see Drunk as a new departure or a continuation of the style of The Golden Age… and its successor, Apocalypse?
“Well, I’m singing a lot more and there are features on this album that it make it very distinct,” he considers. “But at the same time, I do feel like it’s part of the same sentence.”
Drunk also features several notable guest appearances, including the unlikely duo of soft-rock heroes Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald. But undoubtedly the most high-profile contributors are the trio of hip-hop godheads, Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar (see panel) and Pharrell Williams, who all guest on different tracks. Bruner is glowing in his praise of the latter, whom he describes as a key formative influence.
“Working with these different people, they all felt like really natural choices to me,” he notes. “There was nothing forced about it. In the case of Pharrell, he is one of my musical heroes, and it was great to get a chance to collaborate with him and express how important his work was to me, and also to the world.
“I didn’t expect him to jump at the idea of writing with me, but at the same time, I felt I had to express how influential he was on my musical development. When he recorded his verse for the song, it just moved me to tears, because he understood what I was talking about.”
Was it Williams’ work as part of production super-team The Neptunes that really appealed to Bruner? “It was every part of his output,” he responds. “Certainly The Neptunes, but also NERD and Pharrell as a producer and artist. It’s the consistent boldness of his approach over the years that I’m a fan of. He’s unapologetically Pharrell – he’s very much a creative powerhouse and I always aspired to be like that growing up. I wouldn’t have that example if he wasn’t there.”
Of course, Williams has enjoyed massive commercial success, producing an endless stream of smashes with The Neptunes, before finally attaining lift-off in his faltering solo career on the back of ‘Get Lucky’ and ‘Happy’, which led to his international hit album, Girl. Undoubtedly, Bruner’s musical approach is of a more esoteric nature, but has he ever considered the possibility of achieving mainstream acceptance?
“Sometimes I think about it, but I just try to look at the music for what it is,” he replies. “It’s a very personal thing in that sense. Maybe the time will come to do that one day, but it’s not how I feel right now.”
As mentioned earlier, Bruner’s unusual musical trajectory has seen travel from the extremes of hardcore to the avant garde experimentation he currently favours. Presumably, metal must have been a real love of his growing up.
“Yeah, I love the genre man – I’m definitely a metal head,” he enthuses. “I grew up listening to different stuff, like Sepultura for example. Playing with Suicidal Tendencies, it gave me a chance to be well-rounded and be exposed to stuff I wouldn’t normally be exposed to. I’m talking about things like DRI, Madball, Death By Stereo, the New York hardcore scene… Just different forms of rock, you know? That’s all definitely part of my upbringing, even if I would never have considered forming a band like that myself.”
Given his eclectic output to date, it will certainly be fascinating to see what Bruner does next. He has kept his hand in on the hardcore scene, and even contributed to Suicidal Tendencies’ 2013 album 13. Another significant association has come with his work with soul siren Erykah Badu (also a prominent figure on the LA scene who has worked with the ubiquitous Flying Lotus), with Bruner contributing to the singer’s New Amerykah brace of albums.
Still, the projects he appears on are sometimes shrouded in secrecy until release – Lamar’s Damn being a good example – and Bruner is keeping his cards close to his chest with regard to future plans (“There’s different things in the works but I prefer not to talk about them. I rather people just see them.”)
One subject Thundercat is happier to address is his dynamic live performances, with the musician recently turning in a blinding show in Vicar Street. “In terms of the live set-up, I have a trio,” he says. “It’s bass, drums and piano. The tour has been fantastic; I’ve been getting my assed whipped so far, in a very good way. I’ve always enjoyed Ireland, I love it there.”
As we wrap up, I ask Bruner to reflect on the amazingly vibrant nature of LA’s musical scene in recent years. Clearly, it has been an example of a city producing a like-minded community at a particular moment in time, who have pushed each other to produce better and more daring material. For an artist such as Thundercat, it would appear to be an ideal location to live and work.
“I would think anywhere people care about what they’re doing would be healthy,” he chuckles. “That can happen anywhere at any point in time, and it’s not just specifically LA. But having said that, I am very aware of what I grew up with.”

Thundercat & Kendrick Lamar

Following the recent release of his superb new album Damn, the international music press has become a giant orchestra playing just one tune: Kendrick Lamar. While surfing the positive response to the record, Lamar also turned in an acclaimed headlining performance at Coachella.
For good measure, Don Cheadle has been doing the rounds enthusing about his appearance in the video for ‘DNA’, while Vince Staples weighed in on the best rapper alive debate by saying simply, “It’s Kendrick. Easy. Not Even Close.”
Thundercat had a significant input on To Pimp A Butterfly, and he and Lamar’s fruitful creative relationship has continued this year. The bassist appears on the Damn track ‘Feel’, while Kendrick returned the favour by guesting on Drunk.
“The relationship me and Kendrick have musically, people have been able to see it develop,” says Bruner, “especially on To Pimp A Butterfly. Again, as with the other people on the record, he felt like a very natural choice of collaborator.”
The Drunk track on which Lamar appears, ‘Walk On By’, has a narrative based around revenge.
“A lot of the time, you’re making music for the person’s interpretation,” observes Bruner. “I look at it like a conversation – me and Kendrick, we’re having an open discussion. That’s immediately what I took from what we did with that song. The lines of communication were wide open, to the point where he might have opened himself up even more, and he would feel comfortable talking about a subject like revenge.”
Did Bruner have any input into the lyrics?
“Oh no, I would never dare write a fucking song for Kendrick!” he laughs. “That’s like asking Magic Johnson to throw the ball.”
Was Bruner surprised by the massive success of To Pimp A Butterfly?
“Yeah, absolutely,” he nods. “It was a bit a shocking, because you never know what the reaction will be. Some people pretend to know, and others have a better concept in their mind of what might make for huge success. But as an artist, I go for what feels right and after that, you’re never sure how it will be received. So when people’s reaction was so stark, it blew me away.”

Drunk is out now on Brainfeeder.