Thundercat Holds Our Attention in Distracting Times

Bass virtuoso Thundercat arrives in town on Oct. 31, but the eccentric purveyor of fusion-schooled pop and more says it’s always Halloween for him. You can spot him in press photos and performances wearing colorful outfits, including fuzzy cat ears and accessories depicting characters from video games or anime like Dragonball Z. “I don’t need a holiday to be creepy,” he says, speaking to the Scene via video call.

The Los Angeles-based bassist is touring behind his latest release Distracted. While the title points to the phone-addicted, information-overloaded state of the world, the tracks are grounded in personal struggles: relationship troubles, loneliness and being subsumed by feelings of overstimulation. The sounds are often atmospheric with obvious influences in vintage soul and pop, with Thundercat’s at-times absurdist lyrics adding to the dreamlike quality of many songs. “What Is Left to Say,” a cut with retro rockers The Lemon Twigs, could pass for a polished ’60s jam if not for the Star Wars reference.

Released in April, the album is full of features from hitmakers like Flying Lotus and Lil Yachty (the funky, psychedelic-tinged “I Did This to Myself”) and Tame Impala (the spacey R&B jam “No More Lies”). There’s also an appearance from Thundercat’s close friend Mac Miller on “She Knows Too Much,” recorded before the rapper’s death in 2018. 

One of the album’s collaborators is even opening for him on Halloween. Channel Tres, who appears on “This Thing We Called Love” and whose house-influenced Enigma POV was released in August, kicks off the show with a DJ set. 

Thundercat says that according to Channel Tres the two originally met at Mac Miller’s house, but the bassist’s memory is hazy: “I was probably underwater like Bill Murray,” he says. The two reconnected years later and got along well, says Thundercat, and their California roots probably helped.

“Us dudes from Compton are built different,” he says, referring to the city they grew up in. He says it feels like a “running gag” how many talented musicians he meets that turn out to be from Compton.

“It’s like Libras,” he says, referring to his Zodiac sign. “We just gravitate towards each other.”

He notes legions of music luminaries come from not just his hometown but from South Central California at large — a diverse array stretching from Roy Ayers to Dr. Dre. His own orbit of talented Angelinos is full of some of music’s most exciting names. There are childhood friends like star saxophonist Kamasi Washington and superproducer Flying Lotus and god MCs like fellow Compton native Kendrick Lamar. (Thundercat was a crucial part of K.Dot’s funky, political opus To Pimp a Butterfly.)

The prestigious company hasn’t hampered the musician’s playfulness. Thundercat is well known for his love of geeky culture, referencing anime, comics and video games throughout his work, even when plunging the deepest emotional pains or navigating complicated jazz jams.

In September he released a song as part of Sega’s commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series with video-game inspired electronic artist Jake “Button Masher” Silverman. “Moving at Light Speed” features Thundercat’s rapid-fire bass lines and signature falsetto voice over a collage of sampled sounds from the Sega Genesis era — not for the first time in Thundercat’s discography. The whirlwind song isn’t even two minutes long. Thundercat says he and Button Masher had already been exploring ways to work together, and that Sega’s Sonic Team was excited about the idea.

“I think it translates very well because the reality is, me and Jake are full-blown Sonic bros,” he says. Thundercat even has a jewel-encrusted Sonic chain and a Sonic-themed bass.

“I’ve always drawn inspiration from the things I’ve loved, from video games and things like that,” he says, but also points out how “video game company greed” keeps causing tumultuous shifts in that industry. Musicians are of course also feeling the pressure of corporate tech interests.

“I’m happy to see people’s pushback on the new standards of things because art is already a complex thing to navigate,” says Thundercat. “And you’ve got some billionaire stepping on your neck to make sure you don’t get any money out of your work that you do.”

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On top of that, the proliferation of AI companies training their products on books, blogs, music and art without permission also poses further threat to the well-being of artists. We already see companies pushing AI-generated music into the world. But Thundercat isn’t worried about the bots replacing him anytime soon.

“I’m not scared of fucking AI,” says Thundercat. “Fuck AI! … If you’re just trying to find ways to not pay artists, you’re a piece of shit anyways.”

His full-throated defiance doesn’t necessarily reflect optimism, though. “As we’ve seen with The Terminator and The Matrix, we’re screwed,” he says. “As soon as AI found out about itself it was like ‘We gotta get rid of these humans.’ Good luck to us, I guess.”

At least we’ll still have a good soundtrack for the end times, and to close out the spooky season.