Stephen Lee Bruner, better known by his stage name Thundercat, is an American bass guitarist, singer, producer, and songwriter from Los Angeles.
Why is Thundercat named Thundercat?
It was as he was being introduced to the otherworldly soul singer Erykah Badu in a Los Angeles studio that Bruner, a little bit obsessed with the Thundercat cartoon, and usually wearing Thundercat T-shirts, got his stage name.
Session musician Stephen Bruner has played bass in other people’s bands for more than a decade. He can play metal, R&B, hip-hop, and jazz. And he’s been folding all that into his own music, which he puts out under the name Thundercat.
One of the things Peralta and Thundercat had in common was a refusal to abide by the restrictions of genre. “Austin said this in an interview one time,” says Thundercat. “He says, ‘There’s only good music and bad music, and the truth is it’s for you to decide what’s good and bad for you.’”