EXCLUSIVE: Meet The Characters Behind Thundamentals' 'Everyone We Know'

"Created as the centre-piece for the album cover and the first single, she is definitely the most detailed of all the characters. This track is very funky and has a great party vibe with lots of live horns — a real throw-back record. I was inspired by Parliament Funkadelic’s stage costumes but also New Orleans Mardi-Gras and other random stuff. We either photographed the elements ourselves or chopped from various sources to make the final composition — my favourite part of this is the exposed brain and lightning bolts."

 

- April77

 

"I really like the Ignorance Is Bliss [artwork] which is the white privilege one which is like this weird, fucked up Illuminati eye, that’s the kid, and behind him is like this Donald Trump business dude with skull, and it’s just fuckin’ dark, and I like that shit."

 

- Tuka

"For me this track has an '80s teenage love vibe. I was inspired by a lot of the films and movie posters from that era — nothing specific but a general vibe. The four-eyed battle cat represents the girl they’re talking about in the song. The armour is her self-defence against being hurt emotionally — and the cat’s paw logo on the armour symbolises her possession of a lover’s heart."

 

- April77

 

"I really like the Think About It one, because it’s about a powerful woman who always called herself a cat. So she’s a cat in armour and she has a sword."

 

- Tuka

 

"Wyle Out Year which is basically about getting really turnt and partying, we’ve made it as a dude with a flame head. He looks like a bit of a fuck boy really, you can imagine all these dudes that turn up every weekend who just have hot heads. We’re talking subjectively in that song, but you could easily appropriate that to one of your homies who turns up too much, or the type of guy who likes partying too much. It was important to have this broad stroke, using symbolism more than actual identity, and the surrealism and abstract approach helped us give you as the viewer or the listener more engagement with your own imagination."

 

- Tuka

"Sally is an upbeat, lighthearted track that’s essentially about a cute girl with limited rhythm and dancing ability. This was one of the last songs to be added to the album and she wasn’t on the original cover concept we presented at all. I instantly pictured a goofy (but strangely attractive) android girl doing the robot dance. Hopefully we’ll get to see her animated in a video at some stage."

 

- April77

 

"Blue Balloons is obviously blue balloons — obviously that’s one without a character because we didn’t want to draw Jarrod*, his name was… Blue Balloons was the personified spirit of him, we kinda see him as inside the blue balloons."

 

- Tuka

* Blue Balloons is about a Blue Mountains fan who passed away. Thundamentals attended a memorial service at the local skate park in which they and his friends and family released blue balloons into the sky. Jeswon was so touched by the event he approached Tuka to write this song about Jarrod.

"This is one of my favourite tracks and characters on the album. To me its about not letting negative people hold you down or block your progress. The middle fingers are a direct reference to the lyrics in the hook, and the third eye is something Jes mentions in his verse. The hands covering the eyes are a nod to the artwork on the previous Thundamentals album, So We Can Remember. There’s more symbolism going on with the emergence of the character from the sewer — representing the underground foundations of hip hop in Australia."

 

- April77