Superstar funk/R&B bassist Thundercat rejoined his former metal band Suicidal Tendencies onstage at Coachella last weekend.
On Sunday, April 12, the Venice, California crossover thrash veterans played an eight-song set at the famed Indio festival. For the last three – Cyco Vision, Institutionalized and Pledge Your Allegiance – Thundercat returned to the lineup, following his exit from the lineup to focus on his solo career in 2011.
Video of the performance can be seen below.
Coachella was a busy weekend for Thundercat (real name Stephen Bruner), who didn’t just return to the Suicidal fold for one night only; he also manned the low end for UK dance-pop sensation PinkPantheress during her set, taking the stage for Break it Off.
Thundercat first joined Suicidal in 2002, replacing ex-bassist Josh Paul, and playing alongside his brother Ron Bruner until Ron left in 2008. He looked back on his time in the lineup during a recent interview with The Guardian.
“My main memory is thinking if I stood still for too long, I’d get hit with a beer can,” the 41-year-old said. “Actually, I think that principle applies to every stage of life: stand still too long, somebody’s going to hit you with something.
“Whatever brain disposition that lets you know you’re in a dangerous situation, I don’t think I have. I think constantly performing has allowed that to not be such a problematic thing to me.”
In 2018, the bassist spoke about how playing with the thrashers pushed him as a player.
“From the day I joined the band, Mike Muir [vocals] always pushed me to do better,” he remembered to Australian radio station Double J. “There’d be a bass solo in Send Me Your Money or the intro line to Possessed To Skate, he'd say, ‘If you don’t play it right, someone’s gonna pelt you with a full bottle of beer.’”
Suicidal’s current bassist is Tye Trujillo, the son of Metallica bassist (and the band’s own former member from 1989 to 1995) Robert Trujillo. The band released their latest album, Still Cyco After All These Years, via their vanity label Suicidal in 2018. Last April, they released their first new song in seven years, Adrenaline Addict, and Muir has said that a new album will likely come out this year.
“If we do a new record, it’s gonna be for the right reason,” the singer told Wall Of Sound in September. “So we’re always recording, but whether there will be a new record – I actually, at this point, think there probably will [be] next year.”
Suicidal will play a standalone show at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California on Thursday (April 16) and will play the European and North American festival circuits later this year. See details via their website.
As for Thundercat, he released his fifth solo album, Distracted, to positive reviews in March. It went on to top the UK R&B Albums chart.
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