Influences: Thunder Tillman

Thunder listened a lot to the Lord Quas’ Unseen album back in 2001, maybe even too much.
It was the perfect soundtrack to an uncommonly warm and long summer in Sweden. Back then he was living in a comune of potheads on the island Lidingö and even the far gone hippies, the kind that made their own soap, would come around to enjoy Lord Quas. The haunting melody of Come on feet, sampled from the La planète sauvage soundtrack, was definitely the inspiration for Night School of Universal Wisdom.

As Thunder’s shaman and drummer, I laid down the drums on Night School of Universal Wisdom and Hey Jah Children was what I was aiming for. Aswad took a lot of heat in the later 80’s and 90’s for their bland vacation Reggae but they sure could lay down some stone cold grooves before that.

You can hear the influence on the intro of Night School of Universal Wisdom here.
Thunder loves those quirky groove box drum-sounds, unlike the ones on his track, which were made with the Roland Rhythm 77, Herbie kept one white guy in his otherwise black ensemble, most likely because the guy owned a modular synth.
Herbie and his band took Swahili names during this period. Herbie became Mwandishi, Eddie Henderson was Mgaganga while the white guy kept his but added doctor to it, Doctor Patrick Gleeson.
This was before the success of the Headhunters record, so the very beginning of the 70’s.
They decided to spread their message of blackness and spirituality by touring mainly outside the usual jazz circuit of clubs and concert halls; instead performing their mind-expanding improvisations at diners and dives, the nail in the coffin was an opening slot for the Pointer Sisters.

Thunder and his shaman both love african music, whether traditional or experimental. Thunder remembers prowling record stores for the occasional well worn copy of some Fela record that these days, as people have started taking notice and labels are re-issuing more and more titles, would have been called mainstream Upper East Side Afro Funk.
The Balafon on New Track made Pony go buy one immediately.

Having a great name usually mean you have a great voice, Dixie is living proof. This is one of the most relaxing songs ever made. When we’re in the studio for final mixing and our ears can’t take another run, we put on some Dixie Kwankwa, open a bottle of wine and call it quits.

If there’s one thing Thunder loves, and I mean really loves – it’s harmony guitar leads. He just can’t get enough. Life-affirmative guitar lines like these inspired Thunder to write the four-part harmony guitars for Oceanic. Which is named after my newly purchased italian drumkit btw.
And remember, Thin Lizzy’s always right: You really can do anything you wanna to do.

You’re probably familiar the deep correlation between wordless song and it’s inherent powers to invoke the wisdom of those who came before us. Starlight Serenaders have an open hot line to these mythical ancestors.

We spend a lot of time on the New Age cassette blog Sounds of the Dawn. Just browsing around this vast archive is incredible; the 80’s DIY ambient / relaxation / meditation scene was vibrant and a lot of these cassettes are still unavailable for streaming. The music is great of course, but the art work is just out of hand! Well recommended!
Constance Demby made tons of music, still does. She made her own instruments, metal structures she would attack with hammers, sticks and violin bows, creating otherworldly sounds of extreme beauty. She also used synths in the 80’s, creating really lush landscapes of divinity. A true force of nature and an important inspiration.