Thundercat – Being There

Stephen Bruner AKA Thundercat’s new record marks a transition in many ways; not just in terms of subject matter, but in terms of how we perceive him. The ebullient dress sense and the generosity of spirit remains, but there’s an added layer to him, a sense of contrast which adds nuance to an already established artist, and it’s fascinating to see.

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own necklaces

Talking about grief in 2020 is a layered thing. Collectively, we’re all reeling from the loss of “normal life” but for anyone experiencing something deeper, this is a time to reset and reflect. The themes in Thundercat’s new record, It Is What It Is couldn’t be more prescient. Part of the reason is that the record was painful to make; 2018 saw Bruner lose his best friend Mac Miller and the shockwaves of that have rippled through not only what he’s created, but also his being. Our interview finds him fresh from a phase of self discovery, having become vegan, quit drinking and adopting a new health regime. Physically, he’s the healthiest he’s ever been and it shows: during a long day of shooting, he effortlessly whips between outfit changes and props without losing energy or enthusiasm.

It’s when we finally sit down to talk that the shift between his exuberance is palpable; he’s immediately very composed and thoughtful but doesn’t shy away from the motivation for this record and how for him it was “very, very painful” and created during “some of the most turbulent moments in my whole 30 some odd years of living.” In its own way though, the album serves as the perfect accompaniment to this grief or as he puts it, “Narrates what was happening in real time for me”. He says making albums typically feels like “you’re going through a moment that you’ll look back on from the other end.” And when I ask what his reflection at the end of this one was, he says, “It kinda messed me up a bit”. With this record, his whole life had changed. “I lost a hundred pounds. I stopped drinking alcohol. I became vegan. The woman that I was going to marry left me, my best friend died.”

A huge amount of transition for anyone, this has clearly left its mark, both physically and artistically. When listening to the record, there’s a haunting tenderness which underlies its overall groove, suggesting sadness and reflection along the way. That’s not to say the music is melancholy, it’s more inherently sensitive and mature in how it unfolds. We discuss the huge changes to the landscape for an artist and the lack of opportunities to perform – something he feels keenly because “genuinely, the thing that always snaps me back into reality is touring”. We talk about why this is, when many artists can find the chaos of touring stressful. Given Bruner’s deep heritage in that world, he says: “I’ve always been a playing, touring musician. 

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So there’s a part of it where it’s a bit of solace for me. It’s like the chance to put blinders on and consistently focus on sharpening the sword. That’s what it’s always felt like, working towards something, the chance to learn something new about the something that you know. So it becomes a bit cathartic to play on stage a lot.”

A long-time collaborator, Bruner is a born team player and one who gets off on the team dynamic. “I like playing and like getting the chance to play with other individuals and create a bit of a synergy between each other growing together. Like you start getting in each other’s minds on stage, nothing makes up for that.” There’s more to his art as a conduit for emotion. A long-time collaborator with Flying Lotus, he joins a long dynasty of hyper- spiritual music makers touched by the legacy of Alice Coltrane. We talk about how this manifests in his work and he has a beautifully simple way of putting it: “Somewhere between connecting to the instrument, you are always trying to be connected with God. And at the same time trying to connect to each other, there’s a bit of it that your heart’s really there. And you know, all these little things we always talk about, we only use 10% of our brains. This is the part where we’re trying to use our whole heads to go somewhere else. Like where can we take this? Where are we going? Where can we go with this? I feel Mac Miller was like that. You know, Kamasi [Washington] is like that, you know, Robert Glasper is like that. There’s a few people that are like that, you know? And you just want to see it, keep moving, and bring life.”

This collective celebration is inherent in his work, and one which reflects why he’s always been such a significant collaborator prior to releasing his own material. Bruner is someone who’s generous enough to celebrate someone else’s artistry but also brings the very best of his own to enhance their work. I ask him what he thinks it is that unites him and his collaborators. “I think there is something very spiritual to it, something about it being very connected to your soul, and wanting to connect, you know? And I think that we’re all searching for that in one form or another, some people try to act like they aren’t, but the people that I’ve spent time working with are definitely people that have the same type of emotion or sentiment.” We discuss if he seeks this out or if it’s a by-product of focusing on his art. He believes it’s more subtle than either. “We gravitate towards each other. We tend to find each other, it just happens like that. 

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Growing up, like the part where I grew up with Kamasi Washington, at the time I didn’t know it but the older I get and the more I look at these moments in life, I’m realising how blessed and fortunate we were to even be able to exist together.” I ask if he has any other talents he enjoys and he reveals he’s also an illustrator. “I’ve been drawing just as long as I played bass and I’m always freezing my fans and my friends out whenever they see me draw like the human shape or something. And it really looks like things that I’ve been drawing for a long time, but it’s just something that is a bit temperamental, more temperamental than the music. And I’m working on it.” His main challenge with art is finding patience. “I have a couple of friends that spend their time doing it. And I look at them and I’m just like, golden, because you can sit there and be patient with yourself and all that stuff. For me, I get antsy, all my emotions start flying and I’ll be halfway there and then I’ll be like ‘ah, I need to go outside.’ It’s so weird, it’s a different temperament for me.” We talk about why he doesn’t see the patience he has with music in the same light and he says it all comes down to focus, “Interestingly enough, I think that it’s also because I chose music as where that goes. So a lot of my energy, I tend to save it or exude it in the music.”

In the end, focus is an integral theme of the times and his world. The music, when he’s playing, is an outlet for those emotions and not a spotlight on them as with his art. I ask if there’s any parting things he’d like to share and his answer is deceptively simple and tender. “I’ve been trying to have less to say, and be more observant. I don’t really have anything else, just try to be there for somebody.” Which on a grander scale is exactly what he’s doing for us all with this record.

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No Sesso longsleeve, trousers & hat, Thundercat’s own trainers

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