AOTD: Thundercat

Artist Of The Day is the electronic funk, r&b artist, Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner. Born in Los Angeles, California, Bruner grew up surrounded by music. His mother, Pam Bruner, plays flute and percussion. His father, Ronald Bruner Sr., is a drummer who played and recorded alongside artists like Diana Ross, Gladys Knight and the Temptations. Stephen began as a bass player in the early 2000s for an ‘80s hardcore punk band called Suicidal Tendencies together with his brother, Ronald Jr, as the drummer. Currently, Bruner puts out music under the alias 'Thundercat'. The majority of his sound channels two of his favorite musicians, Daryl Hall & John Oates, who together, were two of the most successful rock-infused soul artists of the late ‘70s and ‘80s. Since beginning his solo career, Thundercat has appeared on Kendrick Lamar’s third studio album To Pimp A Butterfly on the popular song “These Walls” which Lamar says is his favorite song on the album. Thundercat has released a total of four albums. His most recent is the critically acclaimed It Is What It Is, that he put out with his producer Flying Lotus this past April 2020. It highlights life struggles and features artists such as Childish Gambino, Steve Lacy, Ty Dolla $ign and more. Bruner dedicated the work to his late friend, artist Mac Miller, who he had collaborated heavily with on many works, including his Tiny Desk Concert where he performed his bassline in “What’s The Use”, a song from Miller’s 2018 album, Swimming. Bruner has opened up many times about how much the passing of Mac Miller impacted him. In an interview with Complex Networks, he recalls a moment shared with Mac the night he passed away. “[Mac] was excited, we were talking about tour. What it was going to be, making jokes, as we would, and saying good night to him, and not knowing what was coming next. It traumatized me, and it almost haunts me a bit, because I told him I loved him. That doesn't specifically haunt me, but it was literally like I never missed the chance to tell the guy I loved him, and I'm thankful I did. ... As he was going to bed, I said, ‘I love you,’ and he said it back the next day, to wake up to, and like, it scarred the hell out of me. And not to make this such a dark moment like that, but from that moment it's like I was changed forever, even if I didn't want to, it just changed me, and that's just one example of the thing of It Is What It Is.” Dealing with the loss of such a close friend caused Bruner to slip in and out of sobriety but he eventually understood that “[He] couldn’t drink [his] way through it.” Bruner went on to tell The Washington Post, “I sat with it, let the pain in, and accepted that this would be a roller coaster. I needed to feel every part of it, and I still don’t know how to feel.” But for Thundercat, even in the midst of tragedy, lies the opportunity for artistic expression. In The Washington Post interview Thundercat also makes the connection between life and the movie, “The Big Lebowski” saying that “It’s all strikes and gutters.” (Click the pics to learn more)