Meet Steven Mullan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Mullan.

Hi Steven, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. I’m the youngest of four boys and was a shy kid. I had a lot of fun in my imagination, leading to an early love of exploring myself musically, which also helped get me through the shyness.

Screaming into a fake microphone in the basement timidly bloomed into more controlled yelling in front of a congregation, graduated into classically trained singing as characters on stage in musicals and operas, and then ultimately unwound into playing in a garage with friends. That grew into writing, recording, performing my own songs, and freelancing as a full-time musician.

I spent several years in Michigan in a scene full of really true artists who got me hooked on jamming, and in 2014, I traveled down to Nashville. I got introduced early on as a keys player, which got me a lot of great gigs in town, on tours, and doing sessions playing keys.

I was making a living playing on other artist’s tours, leading wedding bands, and producing music that never saw the light of day, and over time those opportunities I felt I couldn’t pass up before started to feel like distractions from the real challenge of facing my own self, my own voice, and seeing what I could create.

I finally put “thunder lily” – a name fished from a stream of thought – into my calendar as a time in my day to experiment and make things up: I wrote songs and recorded music with friends and really enjoyed being myself. My friend, Owen Lewis – a producer whose work I love and admire –was instrumental in shaping the sound of the early records.

Owen helped get it off the ground and onto the Internet, and as years went on many other friends joined in to add life to “thunder lily.” In 2020, when the world shut down, I turned to my living room recording studio and self-produced four albums, all of which have seen the light of day.

Last year I went on the road with friends in Delta Rae and early this year had the honor of opening for Pip The Pansy on her Bumpin’ Good Time tour. And here I am today, writing another album, this time on guitar while my synths have a nice rest.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It’s been challenging in a really good way, and I’m learning by doing. Patience has been tough, and it took me a while to learn instruments and how to record them, to learn rules and then ultimately break them and just enjoy doing something. Social media has felt difficult to navigate.

Writing and recording are a never-ending adventure: Making things and moving on, knowing when to see them through, let them go, and revisit them has taken a while to navigate.

These days my struggle is that I spent past years making everything using synthesizers, and now I’m attempting to create with just me and my guitar or piano, and my brain is still pulling on me saying, “how are you going to do this way?”

Most challenges I face stem from a need for self-acceptance. I have to self-coach: meet yourself where you’re at, not where you think you should be.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve done a lot of experimenting in the studio, and as for recent works, I’ve used combinations of real instruments and synthesizers.

What I think makes thunder lily unique is I’m combining a background in classical singing and composition with my love of vintage synthesizer sounds and a seemingly unending curiosity for how to layer those things together. I’m still exploring myself as a lyricist, so I’ve jumped around with playing characters, using vocal fx, and adding a spoken word.

Recently, I explored differences in perspective with my album Volume II by doing a sonic color study. I’m color deficient so I’ll never know how other people see red or green, but maybe they sound the same? I’m just proud that I keep doing this thing I love.

I hope I never stop.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best way to contact me for collaborations or work is via email at [email protected] or on Instagram: @thunderlilysound.

Buying albums on Bandcamp, coming to a show, picking up some homemade merch, listening on streaming sites, and sharing music with a friend are all really wonderful ways to support.

Supporting publications like Voyager is also awesome, this kind of interview is really fun and helps connect artists and music lovers, so thanks!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/thunderlily
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thunderlilysound/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thunderlilysound
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxTH4jra_CT3nTwM5RD4ufQ
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/thunder-lily

Image Credits
Andy Doherty & Steven Mullan