'They're Psychopathic': I Regretfully Let ChatGPT Write My Questions for Thundercat

Thundercat is inarguably one of the most talented bassists and avid musical collaborators on the planet.

So why would I use an interview opportunity with someone consistently described as a virtuoso to ask stupid, mind-numbing ChatGPT questions?

I could have asked him about his early days in the adolescent boy band, No Curfew, that found minor success in Germany, or about his many collaborations, from his latest with Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, to Kendrick Lamar, to Flying Lotus. Maybe I could have asked about the next album and what life changes have occurred since the titular release of It Is What It Is in 2021, which preceded the death of two close friends and delved into the trivial nature of life. I could have even asked if he thought himself to be a nepo baby, considering his dad was a drummer for Gladys Knight, The Supremes and The Temptations. I could’ve, probably should’ve. I didn’t.

And there are a couple of reasons. It’s because you clicked on this. Right? And also sometimes you just want to keep things light, ya know? Or maybe you don’t. 

Though the interview was pierced by ChatGPT’s programmed nature – that makes it seem like a disingenuously relatable and overenthusiastic middle-aged khaki pants, polo shirt wearing Dad – every now and then, underneath Thundercat’s answers to questions surrounding cats (which he has), anime (which he loves) and beards having superpowers (he has a beard), come moments of insightful ponderment.

I get the impression that Thundercat is in a moment of life pierced by introspection. That maybe in the right environment, he’d openly be willing to elaborate on. He gives you moments that allude to something bigger that he’s obviously, truly been thinking about, but doesn’t quite want to share. Especially with someone like me, an interviewer, a stranger, who came into the interview with weird, fucking ChatGPT questions.

But we’re getting a bit deep now. 

So the prompts were:

“Questions to ask Thundercat in an interview with VICE magazine”. 

That first prompt brought up a lot of questions about cats, and considering Thundercat has written multiple songs about his feline friend, Tron, it’s not surprising. Then “Make more specific” was added multiple times. Then the prompt “Make these questions more meaningful.” While some of the ChatGPT questions were okay, most of them were really truly, astronomically shit. And I have to admit, relief washed over me as I realized AI wouldn’t be taking my job anytime soon.

Here’s how it went.

VICE: I wanted to ask you the questions that AI gave me…

Thundercat: Okay. 

But…the first time I put it into ChatGPT, it gave me a lot of questions about cats…

Ah yes, AI pushing the envelope [laughs], asking the serious questions.

Here we go: In a parallel universe, where cats rule the world and you're their esteemed musical adviser, what would be your first decree to ensure a harmonious feline society?

My first decree would be…stay off the counter. Yes, stay off of the counter. Stop looking for things to knock over on the counter. Stay off the counter. That would be my first decree as lord of the cats.

If you were granted the power to talk to cats for a day, what deep philosophical conversations do you think you’d have with them? 

Hm, show me your ways. Show me how to punch so fast. I would like this Bruce Lee-like speed that you guys have, you know? Because I was watching Bruce Lee one day and I was like, now what the hell was he doing with all this weird screaming? And then I had this realisation that Bruce Lee was making cat noises. I was like, it makes sense now, he moves like a cat. So he makes noise like a cat. It’s like a cat about to fight.

But it's all voiceovers added at the end, right?

Oh yeah, the voiceovers are hilarious, but it's just him making cat noises.

The third question was: if you had to write a catchy theme song about your favourite feline superhero, what would it sound like?

What will my theme song about my cat be? Like I mean, I think. I don't know. I feel like I've written that song, what was it?

I wish I had nine lives, I bet it feels nice [“A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song Suite II)”]

Because I don't land on my feet every time I do anything and it'd be nice to land on my feet sometimes. I think I do land on my feet sometimes, technically, psychologically. 

I don't like to think of cats as superheroes as compared to an arch nemesis or a villain. They're more like gangbangers that are on a work release program that are assigned to live with you for house arrest because every time you open the door they make a break for it and you can't tell what's been peed on. 

It's more like a bad college roommate. It's not a superhero – more like an asshole. 

It sounds like you have a love-hate relationship with them.

Yeah. I can't leave anything important out [laughs]. I could leave things out with Tron, in her old age she is definitely like, “I know that you don't want me to touch that. I know that that's something very special. So I will wait till you're gone to touch it.” Like, that's what they do. 

Tron probably knows that she has her own song. 

Yeah, pretty sure she knows.

Okay, so the second batch of questions is about anime and manga. Which is an obvious one. Imagine you're a voice actor for an anime character. Which type of character would your smooth soulful voice be perfect for?

Ooooh, Hamtaro [laughs]. Hamtaro or Spike…I would like to think of myself as suave as Spike from Cowboy Bepop, but not the live action. I don't care what anybody says. I don't care how much work they put into it.

I heard that was bad.

I didn't have to hear to know it. I was like, “Oh, you guys are going to repaint the Mona Lisa. Oh, yeah. Let's do that. Let's do just that. We're just going to update her and give her a Fubu jersey or something. It's like, wow, nobody asked for that.

At lease AI thinks you have a smooth, soulful voice.

I knew that this computer was flirting with me. I'll be in Australia in a couple of days. Let her know that.

Yeah, I mean, she's global. You could reach out to her right now. 

Like Blade Runner?

What would your signature catchphrase in an anime series be? And then it gave some examples specifically for you. “Let the bass drop” or “groove to the rhythm of the cosmos.”

I think my catch line in an anime would be “Damn, that’s crazy”. [Laughs] And it's like the conclusion. Like no matter what the case was. It's like, Akira-level insanity could happen and at the end of it all, where they have this epiphany or this climactic moment, it's just like, “Damn, that's crazy”. And that's when the credits roll.

I was gonna say a bad joke. I'm not gonna say that.

Well, I'm happy you stopped yourself.

Even at the end of Graveyard Of The Fireflies?

Yeah, like the guy getting off the train and they're sitting there and it's kids just laying there and then “Damn, that’s crazy”.

Last one: If you were to create your own manga series, what would the storyline be? And then ChatGPT said: Thundercat would probably like “a bass player travelling through different dimensions, spreading groovy vibes and defeating villains with funky bass solos”.

If I had an anime, what would my anime be?

What would the storyline be?

I've actually thought about this a few times. I feel like I don’t want to give it up, that's a personal one.

I might steal the rights and take it to Netflix or something.

Yeah, exactly. 

Can you give a little snippet?

No, you are using AI questions. They're listening to every move we make. You saw the Terminator [laughs] “I've been sent back in time to kill John Connor”.

Damn…Now we're getting into the meaningful questions. And these ones, I actually liked these ones. I think they did a good job [Note: they didn’t]. 

Nice. 

But in your song ‘Bus in These Streets’ you touch upon the impact of technology on our lives. Could you elaborate on your personal experiences and observations that inspired you to explore that theme? And how do you navigate the delicate balance between embracing technology and maintaining genuine human connection?

Good Lord, these are like college-level questions about me fartin’ in the wind with my music. Good Lord. I don't know, life has a way of life-ing, you know? A funny way of doing what it does and like, you're gonna sit there and you're going to live it or it's going to be lived. Your life will have a way of teaching you things. 

Maturity is something that happens over time. So I think that in this song, watching technology become more of a wild experience for everybody from social media, to downloading to – I don't know – just about every aspect of it has been completely from space, literally and figuratively. It's about as spastic as things can get, if not worse. So there's a part of it, where the whole idea of it is like a constant narrative for us, you know, it's like, “Oh, when should kids have the internet?” And to be honest, “Should we have had the internet?” But at this point? Is that even a question? Is that even a thing? That's not a real piece of conversation at this point. At this point, the internet is everything and everywhere. And it’s part of the conversation now. 

So for the kids that grew up without the internet as compared to the kids that are growing up in the internet, it's just different shades and inflections of what you still have to navigate, which is life. Life can be lived on the internet, which is why there's such a double-edged sword for such a weird reality, but at the same time, it's here to stay. So our job is to navigate it.

Hence Netscape Navigator [laughs].

Like a constant new reality with every technological advancement.

Every new nuance and every newfound thing is always like some ridiculous thing to have to navigate through.

Okay, next: your music often incorporates elements of Japanese culture and aesthetics evident in album titles like “The Golden Age of the Apocalypse”? Could you discuss the significance of Japanese culture in your life and artistry and how it influences your music and style? 

I love Japanese culture in many aspects. Again, the art part of it is very prominent in developmental stages for me as a kid and from the art to the pop culture. It's one of those things for me where it's like some people have Disneyland for me, it's Japan.

Were Studio Ghibli films your favourites growing up?

Studio Ghibli didn't come into my life until later. But a lot of the cartoons I grew up with were Dragonball Z and Fist of the North Star. A lot of our cartoons on American TV were Japanese animators, so it was like the He-Man and Thundercats to Silverhawks to G.I. Joe.

[Back to ChatGPT] It’s got a question about ‘Them changes’. But you pointedly address the experiences of heartbreak and its aftermath? Can you delve into the personal experiences or emotions that fueled the creation of that track? And how you translated those feelings?

Not at all. I will not go into those feelings because heartbreak is a motherfucker. That's just what it is. It is one of the most painful experiences. But also if you don't die from it, it’s a learning experience. At the end of it all you can go, “what did you learn?” That's it. That's all.

Sometimes you don't have to learn anything, though. And you can just be like, “That was bad”.

Yeah, sometimes it just doesn't work out. You know?

Okay, I've got one more question from AI, but this was just a really weird miscellaneous question, but it was: If your beard had magical powers, what kind of magical spells or tricks do you think it would be capable of?

Staying moisturised, number one. If my beard had magical powers? To never grow ingrown hairs. I don't fucking know, not be as dry underneath? I don't know, I've never thought about that. I would always look groomed. I don't know, hide your weed in there?

That's a good one. 

Hiding stuff. Yeah. Little kittens. I’m kind of at a loss for words here because I don’t really think of my beard having superpowers as a thing. It’s more so an annoyance. And the ingrown hairs. It also kind of naturally has powers. If it's padded enough, it'll keep you from getting knocked out smooth onto the concrete. And you know, maybe not attract mosquitoes and gnats all the time. That would be a great superpower.

I mean, at least it's not lice.

If my beard had a superpower, it would be keeping security from asking for your fucking ID going into the club like you're not a grown ass man. That would be a great superpower.

Okay, so what would you rate the AI questions out of 10?

I barely can hang on to trusting humans so I definitely don't trust computers. Every one of those computer questions to me sounded like it came from a psychopath who’s neurotic and had very weird…like asking me if my beard had a superpower? Does it seem like I like my beard more than most people? I was like, Uh, is it just looking at generating beard questions because I have a beard. Would you ask Kenny Loggins how his beard felt when he wrote “Heart To Heart?” [laughs]. 

“What were you using on your beard when you and Michael McDonald met for the first time?” He’d probably shoot the club up but uh, no, it feels fit to ask questions about my beard. And psoriasis. So rather interesting.

Damn the beard question really got you. What about the cat questions? Did you like the cat questions?

Like the cat questions? No.

All right. I'll take that as a note to never do this again.

Thundercat will be playing VIVID LIVE in Sydney on Sunday 4th. You can grab tickets here.

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