Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thundercat – “Daylight”

Growing up in a musical family, Stephen Bruner took up the bass after his older brother Ronald Bruner, Jr. took up the drums. Both brothers later joined the thrash punk band Suicidal Tendencies as teenagers. Over the years, Stephen has shaped his technique around jazz greats Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius, although he is of his own generation with his love for hip-hop, eighties cartoons and video games. Under his stage name Thundercat, Stephen has collaborated with Erykah Badu, Sa-Ra and, most recently, Flying Lotus. He is the bassist behind Flying Lotus’ “Mmmhmm” and performs as part of the latter’s live act Infinity. The two worked together on and released this past summer Stephen’s first solo record, The Golden Age of the Apocalypse. The album is full of his virtuosic bass playing, but his voice lends a soft touch to the music. Taking place in a futurist cosmos, it’s also quite simply a record about love. Before his performance at the Getty tomorrow, Stephen spoke with us about jazz, fatherhood and his quest to find a Saiyan battle suit.

Now that you’ve released your first album, has that given you the confidence to work on more music by yourself?

Well, I definitely feel like it’s a stepping stone to build from. It’s a new territory for me, absolutely. Part of me is kind of like– [laughs] It doesn’t seem like it’s real. At the same time, another part of me is like “Next, keep moving forward.”

I heard that you and your brother Ron [Bruner, Jr.] are working on a collaboration. Can we expect to hear that soon?

Absolutely, sometime soon. Probably by the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

Tell me a little about some of the upcoming projects you have going on with people like Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus and Taz Arnold.

Taz’s album, I’ve been working with him for quite some time on it. It’s something that’s been in the works for awhile. Me and Flying Lotus, the creative ball is still rolling between me and that guy. With Erykah, there’s work we’ve been doing on a couple of ideas that hopefully everybody will enjoy.

You’ve played in jazz and punk bands regularly throughout your life. What’s it like switching between different sounds and audiences?

Honestly, a lot of it just has to do with the energy. It’s one of those things where there’s not a lot of separation between those frequencies. Everywhere you go, people just want to see it go to the next level. Everybody has the same type of energy to me. It’s just fun across the board. I don’t look at it as something difficult. It does take a lot of effort, but I try to be as connected as I can to everything I’m doing. It’s not too difficult for me to connect. A lot of the time, my heart’s in it.

You’ve mentioned in the past that you believe that hip-hop can be the new jazz. Can you clarify what you meant by that?

People have gotten away from the essentials of drawing musically. A lot of the time, jazz is a scary thing to a lot of people. It’s either something old that your grandfather listened to and that you can’t really relate to or something you can only take in so many doses. Jazz is a big element to what’s going on right now. I’m trying to get people to see that it’s imperative to listen to jazz and understand that this is where it’s coming from. I’ve been a jazz musician my whole life and that’s where my abilities come from.

You’re a big fan of video games and anime. Have you ever attended Anime Expo?

No, throughout the years, I’ve traveled so much I haven’t been in town whenever they’ve done it. I would love to go, especially nowadays since it’s becoming harder to find good anime.

You’ve traveled to Japan while touring with Erykah Badu. What was that experience like?

It was freaking awesome, man. [laughs] It was like no other. It was amazing to me. The respect that the Japanese people had for Erykah and being allowed to be myself on stage with her–that was pretty awesome.

What was most surprising about Japan for you?

The most surprising experience was seeing the Gundam that they build every four years. They only build it every four years, a Gundam Wing ZERO the size of a skyscraper. It towers over everything and it’s almost as big as the Tokyo Tower. One time, we were driving and I could see it from so far away. I thought, “That’s what a Gundam would look like if it was real.” You never get to see something that grand a scale. That was very surprising. And also the seven-year cicadas. Cicadas that are louder than car horns out there.

When performing on stage, you’ve dressed as an Indian chief and Dragon Ball Z Saiyan. Do you make the costumes yourself?

No, actually, I have a friend who is a very important designer. His name is Danny Persod, and he runs a company called Lavish. He’s the guy that makes all my clothes, all the masterpieces you see, like the Saiyan suit. He’s the one helping me come up with these concepts and materialize them. He’s the most amazing guy in LA, period.

Does he also make those cool sunglasses you wear on stage?

No, those are actually mine. [laughs] I made those by hand myself. I’m a guy that likes to create things. I create things for myself all the time because it just comes with the territory. I’m also a visual artist. I’ve been drawing almost longer than I’ve been playing bass. I love more than just about anything to create. It becomes very fun when you get on the trail of something and you get a chance to do it yourself. Sometimes you want people to experience it with you, things like those glasses or the Saiyan suit. The truth is, about the Saiyan suit. Nobody has that Saiyan suit. They don’t even have them in Japan. [laughs]

That was also surprising about Japan. When I went out there a few times and looking for certain things, they have very costume-y things that are more for child’s play than for adults. You would think that because Dragon Ball Z is one of their biggest cultural [exports], they would have a real master replica version of a Saiyan suit. I was blown away; I couldn’t find one. I got so pissed off that I just went home and made my own. [laughs] I called up my boy Danny, who’s designed things for many people, like the Black Eyed Peas and Kanye West. I said, “Man, this is what I need,” and he said “Oh, this is going to be fun” and just went to work. And he came up with this suit. I wish I could wear it to bed, but it would be pretty difficult to toss and turn around.

You have a young daughter. What has it been like being a father?

Yeah, it’s one of the most amazing things in my life. Seriously, I couldn’t be more thankful for my daughter. My daughter–other than my mom–is the first girl in our family. I come from a house of basically all guys. I’ve got my brothers and my dad and then my mom, who’s used to beating us. [laughs] She’s got a team of buffalo that she has to train around the house. Having a daughter is like “Wow.” To see my influence on her and watch her throw things back at me that I would never expect–I think, “Is that how I talk?” She’s my little mirror. I’m thankful to God that she’s here. At first, I was nervous about it. I thought, “Oh gosh, I’m not ready to have a kid,” but that all went away when she got here.

Will you be bringing her up with music like your father did for you and your brothers?

Well, it’s a weird area because these are the most important years when it comes to stuff like that. I want her to gravitate to what she wants but at the same time, the truth is, kids at this age want to do everything. They want to do this and that, they want to play piano, or they want to tap dance. It’s coming to that time where I’m going to put her in music classes. She needs to have that as a reference. That’s something my brother and I did. Even if she doesn’t choose to do music–which I would never be mad at because everyone in my family’s a musician–I want her to have that as an option, of course, and let her know that it’s at her fingertips and that it’s what I spent my life doing. Hopefully, she can take advantage of that herself.

***

Thundercat will be performing at the Getty Center tomorrow evening, Oct. 15, as part of the Getty’s Saturdays Off the 405 series. The Golden Age of the Apocalypse is out now on vinyl, CD and MP3 through the Brainfeeder record label.

http://thundercattheamazing.tumblr.com/