Altered Zones

By Samantha Cornwell

Thundercat: "Daylight"

Most talented artists fall into one of two camps: those with interesting ideas, and those with exemplary technical skills. Although the idea people sometimes make the more compelling work, the virtuosic are consistent points of fascination. Their work can't really be accessed by the human intellect, and that is both terrifying and beautiful. When listening to Stephen Bruner (aka Thundercat) have his way with the electric bass, it is natural to place him into the technique category. But the retro-futurist brew of African American popular musics on his debut LP, the Flying Lotus-produced The Golden Age of the Apocalypse-- ranging from the buttery, '70s soul of Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers to the funkified, often psychedelic jazz fusion sounds of The Weather Report-- proves that he can't be overlooked as an idea man.

I caught up with the soft-spoken Cat at his apartment on Crenshaw boulevard in Los Angeles. The Hollywood sign was visible through an obligatory layer of smog, and the scene around the box-like building included signs in Korean and English, black bikers buzzing by on choppers, and an orange building housing a martial arts school. A voice from within the building's front gate called my name. This was none other than Bruner, looming in the stairwell with a stick of incense tucked behind his ear and a tall, green, felt hat that made him look like he had just stepped out of the cover photo for Dylan's The Basement Tapes. His living room contained barely any furniture, with the majority of his belongings-- mainly video games, anime, and musical artifacts-- pushed neatly against the walls. An older gray cat, Mishka, was being followed around by a brown-and-white kitten named Tron. Bruner unfolded a card table and and we sat down to talk, beginning with a discussion of Thundercat’s upcoming tour to one of his favorite places in the world: Japan.