About this Artist

Bassist/songwriter/vocalist Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, has music deeply rooted within. His father, Ronald Bruner, Sr., is an internationally renowned jazz drummer who played with the Temptations, Diana Ross, Gary Bartz and Gladys Knight. His brother Ronald Bruner, Jr., a Grammy-winning drummer, has played with the likes of Roy Hargrove, Stanley Clarke, and Wayne Shorter. Stephen joined his brother as a member of West Coast punk vets Suicidal Tendencies, playing bass on their worldwide tours while still in high school. He also toured through Japan with Stanley Clarke at the age of 16.

As Thundercat, Bruner takes his jazz roots and works with a mix of artists that suit his wildly experimental sensibilities – ranging from Flying Lotus, Erykah Badu, and Stanley Clarke, as well as collaborations with Wiz Khalifa and Earl Sweatshirt, to name but a few. After meeting and touring with Flying Lotus, the two artists collaborated on Flying Lotus’ 2010 LP Cosmogramma on the track “MmmHmm.” Their kindred sense of musicality led to Thundercat’s 2011 solo debut The Golden Age of Apocalypse, co-produced by Flying Lotus and released on his Brainfeeder label. Thundercat has since released three more records on on Brainfeeder: 2013’s Apocalypse; 2015’s EP The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam; and 2017’s Drunk, a 23-track journey featuring Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell, Michael MacDonald, Kenny Loggins, Wiz Khalifa, Kamasi Washington, Flying Lotus and more. Thundercat also earned a 2015 Grammy® Award for his work on the track “These Walls” from Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly.