EP-415 Whitney Petty of Thunderpussy with Caitlin Braam of Yonder Cider

Good Beer Hunting

Thunderpussy is a band that elicits an immediate, visceral reaction. Even their NSFW name is unapologetic, brash, and controversial, and that’s exactly how they like it. The Seattle-based rock band launched in 2014 with founding members Whitney Petty on guitar and Molly Sides on vocals, and today, their all-women lineup also includes bassist Leah Julius and drummers Lindsey Elias and Michelle Nuno. We have Whitney with us on the podcast to talk about the band’s origins and journey over the past 10 years, which culminated with a collaborative release with Yonder Cider.

Caitlin Braam is the founder and CEO of Yonder Cider and The Source, Yonder’s sister company that provides custom pressing, juicing, and fermenting solutions for cideries around the United States. She joins Whitney to talk about Yonder’s first collaboration with a band—what they expected, what surprised them, and how the whole thing shook out. Thunderpussy happens to be the favorite band of Yonder’s head cider maker, Monique Tribble, and the release was an opportunity for everyone to fangirl out on one another with delicious results.

You’ll hear about how both women-led groups have strategically avoided dealing with male energy in their often overpoweringly masculine fields of music and alcohol, and how even acknowledging that aspect has changed over the years. Whitney shares her excitement to dive deeper into the world of cider, and echoes the same joy that I think a lot of new cider drinkers are surprised to find once they give it a chance. I wouldn’t listen to this conversation with kids in the room, so grab some headphones, and maybe a cider, and listen in.