Hey readers! This past Saturday, I got in touch with Buffalo band Thundercloud Kid for a quick get-to-know-you interview! All of the answers you see here are direct quotes from Sean, as we did the interview over email. I absolutely loved all of their answers, because I didn't even realize how in-depth their project is! It's so much more than just their music. If you live in the area, go check out one of their shows, you won't be disappointed! If you're not in the area, you can still check out their music via their social networks, which I'll link at the bottom of this post.
When were you founded?
The four of us came together exactly a year ago to the day actually, this is our anniversary! But I started writing and creating the vision for this project about 4-5 years ago, and spent the remaining time honing the sound and brand that we have today.
How would you describe your sound?
We are very pop punk, our stuff probably bears the closest resemblance to Fall Out Boy's "From Under the Cork Tree", or Taking Back Sunday's "Where You Want To Be". We do not sound like most of the big pop punk bands of today, such as Neck Deep, Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, etc. We are in a whole separate vein from those guys, and we are working to revive the importance of melody and lyricism to go along with the honesty and aggression of the genre.
Who are your influences?
Definitely Fall Out Boy and Taking Back Sunday as mentioned, as well as My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, and locals Cute Is What We Aim For, and Goo Goo Dolls.
Where did the name come from?
The name is actually a reference to the skeleton in our logo, McKinley, who is the Thundercloud Kid. This project is much more than just a band writing songs; we have created an entire world that we are filling with art, including characters, lyrics, imagery, and of course music. The first installment of our graphic novel series comes out in October, which tells the story of McKinley, and delves into this universe of ours, so that should give people a better idea of what we are all about. We call what we do "pop punk art" because it is more than simply pop punk.
What’s coming up for you guys?
Next Saturday, 9/13, is the Music Is Art festival in Buffalo in Delaware Park, so we are stoked to be playing on that, and we are planning our fall and winter touring schedule at the moment. As was stated, the first graphic novel is coming out in October, and we are also currently in the process of recording an acoustic EP that will feature acoustic versions of some of the songs from "Overcast Hearts", and will also have a new, previously unreleased track. We are also developing our next music video, so lots coming up for us!
Are there any other local bands that you guys find you play shows with a lot or you collaborate with?
We've made a ton of friends here in the Buffalo scene in the past year that we love playing with: Breckenwood, Forever the Athlete, A Failed Apology, Avidd, and many more. We have also been working with Mike Hansen from Pentimento, and he is actually producing the acoustic stuff that we are recording. There are definitely a lot of great bands here in the 716.
Are any of you involved in other projects at the moment?
The coolest part about Thundercloud Kid is how many projects that are encompassed within it under the same umbrella, so working on this totally consumes all of our time. And we love it!
Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about you?
We would like to echo the usual pop punk sentiment of SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SCENE! There is so much amazing music right under peoples noses around here, they just have to take a moment to look. We also want to encourage everyone to create art, in any form. A world full of art is a better world for sure, and that is part of what drives us to do what we do.
As a side note, the band consists of Sean Caputi, Brendan Caputi, Frank Zanti and Jim Ciambor. You can find them on Facebook or their Twitter.
xx
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