THUNDERCLAP!

This week I continue my best music picks of 2015.

2015 was the kind of year that experienced some of the best music in years. Music lovers of every genre have never found it easier to access and devour their fill of the “musical drug “they crave.

One of my “drugs” of choice was the new album by Holly Golightly, “Slowtown Now”. Holly was quite prolific this year releasing two brilliant albums, one solo and one with her partner Lawyer Dave aka The Brokeoffs.

Her solo effort “Slowtown Now” makes my list due to the album’s cohesiveness. The way Holly presents her 12 tracks of vintage ‘60’s twang mixed with blues, twisted pop and R&B is nothing short of genius. She molds her various styles of music into a complete unit that flows from start to a wonderful leave me wanting more so I put the needle back on track one finish. Get it now.

Laura Marling’s new album, “Short Stories”, released earlier this, was a surprising departure for her. With the addition of a muted electric sound, Marling continues to produce groundbreaking music that just gets better and better. With a generous mix of acoustic and electric tunes, Marling never disappoints those of us that enjoy intelligent lyrics, painting mental pictures that walk hand in hand with a musical soundtrack that is unequalled.

Metal heads rejoiced this year with the many, I mean, many, top quality heavy metal releases that were unleashed upon the world.

One of my picks that blasts above the rest is the new one by Motorhead. To celebrate their 40th anniversary, Motorhead released the album “Bad Magic” that fittingly sounds the same as any other Motorhead album. Is that bad? Nope, far from it. I would not expect anything else. One of the years best for sure.

When people ask me what my favourite album of 2015 is I say, people it was tough choice.

These next two are tops for me because of their originality and overall musical quality.

Buffy Saint Marie’s “Power In The Blood” is by far the best album of her amazing career. The winner of the prestigious 2015 Polaris Music Prize, “Power In The Blood” contains some of the most powerful, thought provoking music of the year. Buffy’s voice is as powerful today, both in volume and content, as it was earlier in her life. With a mix of reworked Buffy classics and newly composed tunes, Buffy shows she still has lots to say about subjects that are important to us all.

I recommend that everyone listen to this album, it is that good.

This next guy, what can I say, was a pleasant surprise to say the least. The indescribable Adam Buller, aka Thunderclap, released his three-year in the making musical masterpiece, “Hellbent On Success”. Hailing from Niagara Falls Ontario, this young man is about to conquer the country with this critically acclaimed new album.

Buller describes the songs on the album, on his Indiegogo crowd funding page, as a “concept album of a mishmash of socioeconomic commentary, flashes of pop media, and surreal narrative brilliance.”

Buller mixes together twisted to the point just below insane music, along with short narratives, to create a musical feast that takes your ears and brain on a culinary journey of epic proportions. I couldn’t get enough of this album. “Hellbent On Success” is one of those albums that get better after every listen, as you are immersed deeper and deeper into the murky, foggy conscience that is Thunderclap.

Thunderclap “Hellbent On Success” is by far my favourite album of 2015, and I look forward to seeing the brilliant lad perform live in the near future.

There were many honorable mentions too numerous to list here so please search my past reviews and please continue to listen to and experience interesting new music throughout 2016. - See more at: http://www.yorktonthisweek.com/opinion/columnists/music-reviews-thunderclap-tops-2016-list-of-music-1.2141210#sthash.UwteVDwl.dpuf - Doug Kerr (Yorktown this Week)

“I prefer playing alone, it’s such a different experience. It took me a long time to wrap my head around that and finally get up on stage alone and realize only one person can entertain an audience,” the well-dressed Niagara Falls artist said.

“It sounds so boring, but I’m getting better at it. You just try and bring the audience along for the ride with you. There’s more of a personal connection because there’s nothing to hide.”

Thunderclap! has been operating as Buller’s solo project for nearly seven years, and yet, just this past October, he released his debut album, the sprawling, 14-song, concept album Hellbent on Success.

Without giving too much away, the album chronicles Buller’s story of rising from the ashes of his past band the E-O Show Schematics, and arriving at a place of self realization and ultimate confidence.

Hellbent on Success comes across as something a bit larger-than-life. It can be read as a daring, extravagant, exploration of the self. The first 30-second interlude on the album, “Back at Square One” states: “I’m getting stronger… I’m here to repair the broken parts of my psyche and wonder where sickness and death once loomed, I now feel it.” And as he closes out the interlude he whispers to himself, “I’m getting better and better and better.”

As Buller explained, self-help books and recordings have had a profound influence on his life for the past 15 years, as explained in the title track “Hellbent on Success”. It starts with the line: “People think I’m crazy when I read these books, on motivational masters of psychology, there’s so many ways to see the world.”

“[That song] is sort of a love song to Tony Robbins and Wayne Dyer specifically (two very influential motivational speakers). Motivational speakers get a bad rep though, they are actually modern day philosophers,” he said.

Hellbent on Success was produced by Spookey Rueuben and Gene Hughes, and three songs were mixed by Mark Plati. It features Dave Clark (Rheostatics, The Woodshed Orchestra) on drums, and special appearances from Bob Wiseman (former member of Blue Rodeo) and singer Margaret O’hara. Two separate choirs, Hamilton Trading Co. and The Spandettes performed on the album, and more than a handful of other instrumentalists aided in the production of the album.

After looking at the credits on the album, it’s no wonder that the album was two-and-a-half years in the making. The precision and expertise displayed on Hellbent on Success really drives home the fact that Buller wanted to “treat the album like it was the last album [he] was ever going to make. [They] didn’t pull any punches with the quality along the way.” As he sings in the final track “Newsflash” – “it’s my way or the highway”.

The album took a prolonged amount of time and energy and the process took its toll on Buller. He was embarrassed that it was taking so long to finish and bring it out in the open. After working on it for two-and-a-half years, he was filled with self-doubt. “I was embarrassed,” he explained. “Maybe to myself, maybe for other people, that it took so long. I thought, ‘Does anyone care that I’m making an album?’”

Hellbent on Success initially was supposed to be a “simple folk album”, something he could record quickly, but it eventually took hold as a multi-dimensional concept album. Buller recalled the moment that he said to producer Spookey Ruben, “how am I supposed to perform these songs if I don’t want to put a band together? Some of these songs would require a 15 person band. But, he said ‘Don’t worry about that, the audience is forgiving and you can do stripped down versions of the songs and people won’t judge you.”

Without a doubt, the wait has paid dividends, on both his psyche and on the ears of those that have listened to the album.

“It seems like people care, and I’m happy and proud of it. Now I just have to bring it out into the world and justify how much time and money were spent by bringing it to as many people as I can,” he said.

The first single, “The Future is Here” is being serviced to radio, and Bullar has been working with an Theo Chapman, an animation student at the Pratt Institute from Brooklyn NY, on his first music video.

Though “The Future is Here” may be the first single from Hellbent on Success, Thunderclap! also received some commercial radio play for his 2013 holiday song, “The Ghost of Christmas Past”, which was supposed part of the marketing plan for Hellbent on Success. Buller wrote and recorded the song and it played all over Canada and did well. “Was it on any charts? I don’t know. I never looked into it that far. But it was pretty cool that it got picked up. It’s hard to get on commercial radio.”

Now, with the release of Hellbent on Success, Buller can put the last few years behind him and start moving forward, getting his music out there to as many people as he can.

“I really haven’t gotten that deep into how the record industry works, but I want to. I don’t care about making money. I just want to own my art, break even, and develop my reputation as a musician. That’s all I care about.”

Thunderclap! is currently planning record release shows in both Niagara Falls and St. Catharines. For more information on these dates, visit thunderclap.caNaked and alone Adam Buller stands on the stage performing as Thunderclap! his unique solo project, surrounded by his audience. While he’s not naked in the proverbial sense of the word, instead he’s raw, stripped down and intimate as he attempts to entertain his audience all by his lonesome. - Chris Illich (The Sound STC)

Thunderclap! aka Adam Buller, took a long time to make his new album — much longer than he hoped — but he did it his way and on his own terms
As Adam Buller sits down for this interview, he appears to be a man who has had a tremendous weight lifted off of his shoulders.
The Niagara Falls artist/actor/musician has finally seen his latest work, a music collection under his performing name, Thunderclap!, come to fruition. Luckily he seems to be a patient man.
The new work, Hellbent on Success, has been earning praise from critics and bringing Buller perhaps a few steps closer to fulfilling that dream.
It is a follow up to a long-forgotten record Buller released many moons ago. Not wanting to give away his age, Buller declined to say just when exactly when that was.
Even then, that record came 10 years after the breakup of his longtime band, E-O Show Schematics.
“I was in that band for seven years,” Buller says. “It was a family that came to a heart-wrenching collapse. After that I told myself that never again will I put my fate into the hands of others.”
It took a long time before he considered returning to music.
“It took me a good 10 years after that to wrap my head around the idea of finally playing solo,” Buller says. “When you're in a band even when people are throwing beer bottle at you, you're with your buddies.”
It was insecurity that led him to adopt the Thunderclap! persona.
“I'm not Adam Buller anymore. I'm a guy that can be veiled and I'm a different person altogether. It's also for putting on a show.”
Hellbent on Success took Buller more than two years to complete and it's something that didn't necessarily always sit well with him. He would rather have seen the process go much quicker.
“That's why the music of the 60s was so great,” he says. “Done in a day, primal, let's do it! I don't want to be nitpicky. Art should happen faster. The Beatles made an album in a day. Most of those people made an album in a day. It's awesome.”
For Hellbent, Buller enlisted the help of Spookey Ruben and Gene Hughes to produce and play
on the album.
“I learned a lot from those guys,” Buller says. “They both have their different methods when I got them alone in the room, which didn't happen very often. Most of all, at the end of the day they're very encouraging. They weren't trying to get a watered-down Thunderclap! They were trying to get what was good about me.”
He also got some help from Blue Rodeo's Bob Wiseman (The Jimi Hendrix of Piano, Buller said) and singer-songwriter Mary Margaret O'Hara. 

Three of Hellbent's 14 tracks were mixed by Mark Plati (David Bowie, The Cure).
“It was very flattering,” Buller said of the help he received from the likes of Wiseman and O'Hara. “It made the album special to me. It is the cherry on top.”
Buller described Hellbent as a concept album, expressing themes that will be familiar to many who have ever been confronted with an uphill climb in their life.
“It's a story about rising from the ashes. It's every person's story.”
And just maybe it's his?
He has always been looking for a way to break into show business. He spent time in New York City working as an actor, with little success.
“I moved there with my mentor (Kenneth MacGregor). It turned out badly,” he says. “He got me really, really serious about acting.”
While there, he landed roles primarily in independent films.
“Unfortunately they were so independent, there's no way to really see them. They got released but then they kind of got shelved.”
But that acting experience has played a role to an extent in his music.
“My time with my mentor made me a 10-times better songwriter and performer.”
With the album now on the streets, Buller is pushing for airplay on college radio stations. The album's first single, “The Future is Here” is already in rotation — across the country among other things.
“Our plan is to get some growth on college radio and get some growth on social media, which we have lots of. Hopefully, with enough interest, we'll start approaching some record labels.”
In the meantime, Buller will also continue his work with Brainkite, an artist collective based in Niagara Falls. The group has created works for the annual Niagara Falls Night of Art and designed a much-acclaimed exhibit of motel culture for the Niagara Falls History Museum. For Buller and his colleagues, it's a way of paying the bills while still managing to be creative.
Hellbent for Success can be purchased on CD through thunderclap.ca, iTunes or Amazon. - Richard Hutton (Niagara LIFE Magazine)

Thunderclap - Hellbent On Success

This week I will take you on a 14-song journey into the twisted musical world of Canadian artist Thunderclap. On October 16, 2015, (I’m warning you), that Hellbent On Success” will be released into the world.

Thunderclap is the creation of Niagra Falls Canada native Adam Buller, self-described as a Guerilla Folk Poet, this album sounds like being a witness in Tom Waits’ dream of David Bowie on stage impersonating Elvis.

To fully experience the theatrical nature of this album, it needs to be enjoyed listening from start to finish.

This epic begins with “Emergency Vehicles”, a psychedelic vision of flashing beams of memories as “Emergency Vehicles Are Overtaking The Scene”.

The various styles of music Buller presents here range from emotional ballads to freaky dance numbers all played to perfection on piano and guitar.

One of my picks for song of the year is “Silverback”, starting off with a classic blues resonator guitar riff, and then spiraling into the most original vocal performance ever. “If I ever had a boy, which I will, this is what I’d say to do”. He’d call him Silverback and then as the song continues he spouts off words of “wisdom”, funny stuff.

“The Future Is Here”, takes you on a funky Buster Poindexter type ramble into the future, which you will definitely enjoy.

The title track is a piano number that busts out incredible lyrics like “We’re all widgets of our own factories, so what you selling?” Buller’s vocals shine here, proving testimony to his songwriting talents.

The album closes with the brilliant “Newsflash”, featuring some of the most inventive lyrics, interspersed with spoken word, all backed by an infectious dance beat. (Yes I enjoyed the dance beat). Buller, sounding like Bowie has his brain infested with thousands of water spiders from Mars, it is the perfect way to end “Hellbent On Success”.

I really, really loved this album. A fun listen from start to finish including intelligent lyrics and proficient musicianship, this album definitely should be on many a music critic’s “best of” 2015 list. - See more at: http://www.yorktonthisweek.com/opinion/columnists/music-reviews-a-twisted-offering-from-canadian-band-1.2079377#sthash.TyX2zniV.dpuf - Doug Kerr (Yorktown This Week)

NIAGARA FALLS — If nothing else, Adam Buller is a patient man — even if he doesn’t necessarily want to be that way.

Buller, who goes under the name Thunderclap! for his musical endeavours, has just unleashed his new album Hellbent on Success and has begun the push to making that title a reality.

The Chippawa native spent the past year working on what is his second solo work, the first being a long-forgotten effort released many moons ago. Not wanting to give away his age, Buller declined to say just when exactly when that was.

That record came 10 years after the breakup of his band of seven years, E-O Show Schematics that, in Buller’s words, “came to a heart wrenching collapse.

“It took me a good 10 years after that to wrap my head around the idea of finally playing solo,” Buller said. “When you’re in a band even when people are throwing beer bottle at you, you’re with your buddies.”

Hellbent on Success took Buller more than two years to complete but that’s something that didn’t necessarily sit well with him. He would rather have seen the process go much quicker.

“That’s why the music of the 60s was so great,” he said. “Done in a day, primal, let’s do it!”

For the record, Buller enlisted the help of Spookey Reuben and Gene Hughes to produce and play on the album. He also got some help from Blue Rodeo’s Bob Wiseman (The Jimi Hendrix of Piano, Buller said) and singer-songwriter Mary Margaret O’Hara. Three of Hellbent’s 14 tracks were mixed by Mark Plati (David Bowie, The Cure).

“It was very flattering,” Buller said of the help he received from the likes of Wiseman and O’Hara. “It made the album special to me. It is the cherry on top.”

Buller described Hellbent as a concept album, expressing themes that will be familiar to many who have ever been confronted with an uphill climb in their life.

“It’s a story about rising from the ashes. It’s every person’s story.”

Buller is planning a formal CD release party for sometime in November, but in the meantime he is pushing for airplay on college radio stations — the album’s first single, The Future is Here is already in rotation — across the country among other things.

“Our plan is to get some growth on college radio and get some growth on social media, which we have lots of. Hopefully, with enough interest, we’ll start approaching some record labels.”

Hellbent for Success can be purchased on CD through thunderclap.ca, iTunes or Amazon. - Richard Hutton (Niagara This Week)

THUNDERCLAP is a self-taught singer/songwriter, proficient at most instruments he lays his hands to. Been writing songs since he was 13, and masterminding various rock n' roll outfits since he was 14. Originally from the Niagara region, the dude's now an international happening, playing gigs in Lyon, Paris, Berlin, London, and elsewhere across Europe and North America.

THUNDERCLAP’s potent style of performing was honed on the rough stage of the streets, now expanded beyond those origins into a vehicle for National and International stages. In 2013 THUNDERCLAP embarked on a 7 city East Coast Canadian Tour with Spooky Ruben . His debut LP entitled "Hell Bent On Success", was produced by Spookey Ruben (Feist, Kei$ha). If you can rate an artist's hiptitude by who guests on the album, then this boy's rolling with some heady company for a rookie. The guests include Bob Wiseman (Blue Rodeo), Mary Margaret O'Hara (Miss America) and Dave Clark (Rheostatics)! A one-man band, he possesses the bravery needed to take the stage alone and believes this heightens the vulnerability of the performer, thus creating a more emotional rapport with the audience. This type of performing, which he likes to call 'guerilla folkestry,’ can be just as powerful when performed at concert or on the street, as THUNDERCLAP does regularly.

THUNDERCLAP prides himself on working with 'diverse' subject matter which his lyrical content explores. A background of 'method acting' and the subsequent understanding of human psychology flavours his already unique approach to composition. What THUNDERCLAP offers in original content, although challenging and trailblazing, is just as equally- hooky and memorable. It's also large and theatrical, pointed and humorous, owing equal debts to Frank Zappa, Queen and Bowie. - Lenny Stoute (Cash Box Canada)

Ontario-based singer/songwriter, Thunderclap is a voice in the wilderness. He’s on the fringe and sings loud and clear about it.

Thunderclap has the spirit of a vaudevillian and his album, Hellbent on Success, has an unbridled comedic strain of expression that runs through it.

Hellbent on Success wallows in weirdness and celebrates its lack of conventional signposts.

Thunderclap’s voice is strong with a pronounced operatic quality that hints at over-the-top mannerisms but rarely goes there. It’s a put-on, theatrical voice that can be part carnival barker, saloon singer or down-at-the-heels tenor.

Thunderclap’s songs perversely beg for a label, so let’s call it eccentro-rock. Some similarities are heard in past songs by Richard Harris (MacArthur Park) or Herman’s Hermits (Henry the Eighth) or strange songs like Needles and Pins. Thunderclap’s music is similar in effect to Captain Beefheart or Frank Zappa where it’s unclear what is novelty or craziness or parody.

A kindred contemporary is fellow Canuck, Hawksley Workman. Both singers share the same carefree individuality and are unclassifiable. Also, having left-field singers like Mary Margaret O’Hara on board doesn’t clear the situation. Her contribution to The Hitmaker is spoken word silliness. Like all of the album, it’s assumed that the tongue is in the cheek.

The songs and production (by Spooky Ruben of Feist and Keisha fame) have elements of Rocky Horror Picture Show drama and kitsch. It’s like listening to music from some 1950s’ carnival funhouse. There is lots of abstraction or distraction. The talent and charm of Thunderclap’s voice is clear and if some of the instrumentation was pared down, the songs would translate stronger.

Hellbent on Success is a celebration of eccentricity and freeform expression and Thunderclap is a singular talent who is wonderfully warped.

– Dean Gordon-Smith is a Vernon-based musician who reviews the latest music releases for The Morning Star. - Dean Gordon Smith (Vernon Morning Star)

In a fit of anxiety years ago, Adam Buller visited three psychics while living in New York. The Chippawa-born performer wanted to know if he would "prosper" as an actor.

Yes, they said. But not as Adam Buller.

"They all basically said the same thing," he recalls. "We see you prospering under the name Yellow Feather, or Rolling Rock. Like an aboriginal name. I said, 'Okay…I don't know know what that means.'"

He hadn't thought of those psychics until years later when he started a solo career after seven years with Niagara band The E-O Show Schematics. Instead of going with his name, he went with the moniker Thunderclap! And then it hit him.

"Only now, I look back…thinking about what these psychics said," he recalls. "When you see a psychic, they're not going to give you the plan for your future. They're going to tell you some weird things, and you'll go 'Well, that makes sense, and that doesn't make sense.'

"Only looking back in hindsight is it kind of humorous."

As he sips a cup of warm water at a Niagara Falls diner, Buller is trying to sum up the years of backbreaking work that went into Thunderclap!'s first album, Hellbent on Success. There's the IndieGogo campaign, the hundreds of murals he painted, the endless hours in the studio, the thousands upon thousands of dollars he poured into it. When it was finally released in October, he thought he'd feel euphoria that the hard part was over.

Turns out, it's just one mountain of many still to climb. Which is why his anxiety is kicking in again, trying to ruin what should be a joyous time in his life.

In many ways, Buller is the typical tortured artist, stressing over what he has to do, whether he's good enough, whether it'll ever be enough. Even this week, as he prepares for a CD release show in Toronto Thursday, he can't listen to his own music.

"It's the same reason why an actor can't watch himself on TV," he says. "It's like looking in a mirror. Imagine you looking into a mirror for an hour straight. It's unhealthy. You should not look in the mirror that long."

His recent funk is in stark contrast to his debut album, a sonic sampler of offbeat melodies and eccentric songwriting in the spirit of Frank Zappa. It never follows the obvious path, and its art rock aspirations brings to mind another Niagara artist, Dale Morningstar, whose band Dinner is Ruined charted its own surreal landscape in the early '90s.

Buller calls it a concept album, tracing his own doubts and insecurities on his way to establishing himself as an artist. He sums it up best on the fifth track, The Hitmaker: "On Monday and Wednesday and Friday I feel legit / On Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday I feel like a fraud and that I should quit."

The album ends with a flourish on News Flash, his call-to-arms to let artists find their own path instead of steering them into what's commercially viable.

"I've had different people try to manage me, and they would say 'You've got to do this and that.' They were quite corrupt people. It would be totally against the foundation of Thunderclap. What I believe Thunderclap to be."

With help from guests Bob Wiseman (formerly of Blue Rodeo) and singer Mary Margaret O'Hara, the album is picking up steam on college radio stations and earning solid early reviews.

Hellbent on Success is available at www.thunderclap.ca - John Law (Niagara Falls Review)

Rarely does music lack self-consciousness to this degree. Even Roger Waters’ madman wail that is peppered throughout Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1979), which this album spends a few fleeting moments dancing in the territory of, reeked of bravado. Comparatively speaking, Thunderclap! has a completely fearless unhinged delivery, nothing is a put on. That looseness of originality results in Thunderclap! achieving high level theatrics while also creating something deceptively catchy.

Hell Bent on Success is a fascinating album, particularly when you remind yourself, sometimes repeatedly, that this is a one-man show delivered by a Niagara Falls-based self-described “Guerilla Folk Poet.” Onstage and in the studio, it’s one man, yet the multi-instrument accompaniment of this album sounds like a large vaudevillian troupe. This fact is made intimidatingly multi layered thanks to Spookey Ruben’s adept high-level pop production. The mixing done on “5 Ive Got Nothing” is immersive and so clean it sounds like it’s being played right in your ear, with crisp and nostalgic acoustic guitar in your right ear, a singing round of plucked bass strings in your left, and a violin coyly coming in and out of the centre of it all. Just as you’re swept up in the veritable conversation of strings, “Get On With it” corners you, an oration completely lacking in gun-shyness, distorted piano punctuating the sermon that never preaches. “The Hitmaker” has Bowie’s DNA all over it with its operatic pop delivery, sci-fi keys, and unexpected saxophone. The title track is anything but a single, a twirling solo dance on the piano, with an indulgent and confessional vocal delivery to match, more at home at a confessional open mic at the lounge in purgatory than on the radio. The musicality is obviously impressive, the lyrics are absurdist truths as catching as Wonderland wisdom, and the vocal delivery is a tireless force of natural showmanship; but it’s the courage of the concept that really makes this an impressive album.

Hell Bent on Success is genre defying and polarizing in its theatricality while also being somewhat addictive and boldly honest. It’s too brave to be brazen; it’s simply unmasked and uncorked humanity parlayed in an oil lamp spotlight courtesy of a feast of instruments. - Jennie Orton (BEATROUTE)

NIAGARA FALLS — Sometimes, there’s nothing like having breakfast for dinner.

It can provide a little comfort after a stressful day or it can bring about a feeling of decadence through its simplicity.

It’s those kind of feelings which inspired Adam Buller, aka Thunderclap, in 2013 to create a night of music paired with what he called a “specialty menu items” last year at the Hi-Lite Diner on Queen Street. The concept proved so successful, he’s doing it again this year on Aug. 29 when he, along with Hamilton’s Wax Mannequin performs at the dinner.

“He’s kind of special,” Buller said of The Wax Mannequin, who at the beginning of each performance lights a candle mounted on top of his head. During his act, was will drip down, giving the artist a rather unique look.

“He’s got a real cult following, not only in Ontario but in Canada,” Buller said. “He’s a real eccentric solo performer.

As for Buller, he is finishing up work on his Thunderclap album, which has kept him away from performing live for a number of months. ”I’m just finishing up my album which has been taking to long,” Buller said, adding he was cajoled by producers Spooky Rubin and David Daniloff to work on some songs with New York Mark Plati, who has worked with the Cure and David Bowie.

“”We’re mixing three of the songs for potential radio airplay,” Buller said. “That’s his specialty.”

The Breakfast for Dinner event offers a “nice community feel” and will be perfect for him to regain his feet playing live.

“It shouldn’t be nerve wracking but it is,” he said.

Anyone who can’t make it for the Niagara Falls show can catch Buller and Wax Mannequin a night later at the Mahtay Café in St. Catharines.

Breakfast for Dinner is a pay what you can event while there is a $7 cover for the St. Catharines show. - Richard Hutton (Niagara this Week)

THUNDERCLAP NEEDS YOU.

Thunderclap is a lot of things: talented, creative, funny, strange, dramatic, driven, energetic, and legitimate. The Niagara Falls native is currently working on his first solo record Hellbent for Success, and he’s doing it all on his own (with the help of Feist producer Spooky Ruben).

He just started an Indiegogo campaign with a goal of $13,000 to fund his album. He’s already made $3,500, and he still has four weeks to go. His music reminds me of Rocky Horror Picture Show, Johnny Cash, Murder By Death, and Dead Man’s Bones. I recognize those influences are all over the board, but he has a very unique and theatrical sound that hasn’t really been done before. I’ve never seen Thunderclap live, but, judging by his costumes, I can see a connection to Reggie and the Full Effect as well.

Thunderclap describes his album as “a concept album, a mishmash of socioeconomic commentary, flashes of pop media, and surreal narrative brilliance.”

I obviously haven’t heard the album, but I’ve visited his Soundcloud page, and I enjoyed what I heard. I bet that Thunderclap would be a lot of fun live. What impresses me most about this music is that it’s completely DIY. He does it all himself, which is why Thunderclap needs you! - WIRE AND WAVES

THUNDERCLAP is a singer/songwriter, Adam Buller. THUNDERCLAP is originally from the Niagara region and has just released his debut album, “Hellbent On Success” on October 16. The album is made up of fourteen tracks, some of which are full length and others that would be considered interludes. Hellbent On Success was produced by Spookey Ruben (Feist, KeiSha), and includes some impressive guest appearances, such as Bob Wiseman (Blue Rodeo).

Immediately, I realized that THUNDERCLAP consists of some very unique tracks. I personally enjoyed the fourth track, “Hospital Wedding” way more than I expected. The album plays almost as if it’s a soundtrack to movie, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The other song that stood out to me right away was “Silverback”. Something that pulled me in about this album is the fact that it plays like a musical, and for some reason that is unknown to me, this appeals to me greatly.

The album closes with “Newsflash!” which is one of the most upbeat tracks on the album. Intense energy pours from this song from the beginning to the end. If you’re a fan of musicals, you have to take a listen to this album.

Rating: 3.5/5 - Jenna Manlanson (Canadian Beats)

Every once in a while an album comes along that grabs you right from the first listen. Albums like the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols and Nirvana's Nevermind are two that immediately spring to mind. Both were records that brought something fresh to the musical landscape.
Personally, I would like to add Thunderclap!'s Hellbent on Success to that list; it's that good.
Not that it shares any sonic roots with either of the above-mentioned classic albums, nor is Buller the next Rotten or Cobain. But what he has brought to the table is originality in all of the artist's quirky glory. It's simple but at the same time complex sounding thanks to the production work of Spookey Rueben and Gene Hughes. With its blend of music, spoken word and sampling, it comes across as Bowie meets Zappa meets Tom Waites, gruff yet polished. Heck sometimes the work is reminiscent of ‘80s New Wave act Classix Nouveaux.
With a background in acting, Thunderclap!, aka Adam Buller, has created a record that is very theatrical in feel and texture, almost as if Hellbent is actually a soundtrack to an art house movie that is still running through Buller's brain.
It's an interesting work that sets itself apart from most generic pop, rock and hip-hop but in many ways borrows from them all. It's this grab bag approach that makes Hellbent for Success just so damn likeable.
There are 14 tracks on an album that clocks in less than 40 minutes. Tracks include the spoken word pieces that bridge catchy tunes like the album's first single, “The Future is Here”, which is already receiving play on college radio.
Other notables include the album opening “Emergency Vehicles”, “The Hitmaker”, “Silverback” and “Newsflash!”. - Richard Hutton (Niagara Life Magazine)

The Hi-Lite Restaurant on Queen Street is not your typical concert venue.
But then again, Adam Buller is not your typical performer. Working under the name Thunderclap, the Niagara Falls musician/artist has just completed an East Coast tour with Spooky Ruben and is now set to bring his own brand of what he calls “theatrical folk music” to the restaurant for an intimate performance.

“For years I’ve been in bands and after my first serious band (The E.O. Show Schematics) of seven years broke up, I learned not to put my future in the hands of others,” Buller said over a coffee at the diner Monday morning. “Now it’s just me and the guitar. It’s theatrical folk rock with lots of storytelling.”

But what exactly is theatrical folk rock?

For starters it has been described as “Freddie Mercury meets Elvis Presley,” Buller said.

“I write about very uncommon things concerning the human condition, socio-economic commentary and exploring a lot of psychological issues starting with my own psychosis, of course,” Buller said with a laugh.

The recent 20-day tour out east which took in parts of Quebec as well as the Maritimes was a big learning experience, Buller said.

“One notable moment... is where we were stuck in the middle of what in essence was a chicken wing eating contest as we like to call it and no one was very happy we were there at all. But besides that we had many really good audiences as well.”

That was in Cornerbrook, Nfld.

Now back home, Buller is preparing for the Hi-Lite show, which is set for April 11 from 7 to 10 p.m. and dubbed Breakfast for Dinner. There is no charge, and it will feature other performers as well.

Buller is in the midst of wrapping up the recording on his debut solo CD and is seeking help with the costs. He’s raising funds from fans and friends as well as the rest of the public through a campaign at indiegogo.com, accessible via his website at www.thunderclap.ca. His goal is to raise $13,000 by April 14. He has promised rewards ranging from CDs to original artwork for contributions as little as $10.

“It’s on the tail end of recording, and it’s in the mixing phase,” Buller said, adding he hopes the CD will be ready for release next month.

But it’s more than a simple collection of songs. It’s about more than simply music to him.

“Why this is so significant is that it has taken a lot of bravery on my own part to kind of rise up from the ashes of playing with people, being backed by people and that’s what the album is about, rising up from the ashes, re-inventing myself so I can go it alone.

For more information on the campaign, visit http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/thunderclap-is-making-his-debut-solo-album-hellbent-on-success - Richard Hutton (Niagara this Week)

THUNDERCLAP
By Gareth Vieira

Thunder not only startles, but it’s something you anticipate and wait for, a rumble to a roar, an early detection of things to come.
The audience at In the Soil on April 15th, 2010, felt the anticipation of things to come as Thunderclap took to the stage with guitar in hand, face painted and outfit a little ruffled, but not weathered, he created an impression for the audience, an image of himself as maybe something of minstrel, a Chaplin like character. The audience received thunderclap with a bit of a laugh, prepared to be entertained, prepared for something out of the ordinary, not your everyday entertainment.
And then the song begins...
“Don't admit to an unhealthy day
That’s when the wolves will come to prey
Don't be afraid to be alone, and when you're young
Move away from home It’s through sacrifice
And strength that you'll lead the way.” 
Soon the audience begins to see through the character, learns something about the man on stage and begins to see something of themselves within the words. The originality of the performance is the most breathtaking effect of the show. Not just a musician, not an actor, but as if both collided and became one. Somehow old fashioned entertainment like Sammy Davis, but modern unlike anything being done. It’s like you can hear a pin drop within the laughter and applause.
Sometimes what you receive is not what you had planned, but the outcome is far greater then what you expected. We left wanting more, but satisfied with what we received. We left with the knowledge that this performance was only the beginning, a detection of things to come.
- various publications