One of London’s best live bands, the explosive, energetic
Brixton based four-piece, The Thirst, transverse subcultures and
genres, having already toured with Pete Doherty, The Rolling
Stones, The Sex Pistols and opened up for The Libertines. Brothers
Mensah (vocals/ guitar) and Kwame Hart (bass), Mark Lenihan
(guitar) and Marcus Harris (drums/ backing vocals) represent a
previously unheard voice of south London, we asked Mensah, Mark and
Marcus about whether they still played Streetfighter and if Kwame
had gone AWOL at the arcade?
"Ha ha, yeah, he's off playing Streetfighter. We don't have a
computer, but we mainly play that and other other games on tour."
In describing their style of music, "the beginning of the tree is
rock and roll, then the branches split out into Funk, Indie, Disco,
a Groove kind of vibe. Our music is about moving and dancing. When
we first started, it was an aggressive kind of teenager punk,
played very fast and loud."
In Sail Away you talk about concrete jungle and escape. "We grew up
in council estates, so we come from nothing. We also know people
who come from way worse, even if your escaping from hell to a bus
stop, and then a bus stop to paradise, it is all about the journey.
Without music, who would want to live.”
Speaking of hell, Pete Doherty has said they play the guitar like
demons. "Ha ha, it is the energy we bring to live gigging, nowadays
we tend to give a bit of space to the music, allowing the drums,
vocals and music to come through and catch the groove. There was
always funk underlined in the belly of our first album, but now it
has come to the forefront of what we are doing. However, if anyone
asked us to truly describe our band, we would very much say we are
still a rock and roll band." They are especially inspired by
Prince, Jimi Hendrix and hip-sop, who are said to embody the fiery
tones of those who refuse to be labelled, destroying any box you
try and put them in.
They up grew together and one by one were coerced into forming a
band. Mensah started playing guitar from around the age of 14,
taught by his dad. "My father was also in a band, a reggae
outfit called Out of Darkness and he played the guitar. I would go
to his flat after school for lessons, one day I went back and my
Dad said 'I can't teach you anything else,' and well it progressed
from there, practising in his spare bedroom." How did the band come
together? "Mark would pick up the guitar and we would have this
rivalry of being better than each other, Marcus came on board with
the beats and Kwame followed suit after we needed a Base player and
roped him in." Mensah bought Kwame a bass guitar, from Cash
Converters, "he still owes me the money" he laughs. The band was
formed.
Do they have a stand out gig? "when we supported the Rolling Stones
on a beach in Montenegro, that was amazing. To go from playing in
front of 40 people, to the next month, in front of 50,000 people.
It was very nerve racking time. However, once done, it was a great
feeling, like climbing Mount Everest.
At the time of the interview, they had released a brilliant cover
of Daft Punk's Get lucky. "We loved the track and were playing
about in the studio, it came out really good. First and foremost,
we love Daft Punk and grew up on that, it's good to see them come
back with Pharrel and Nile Rogers. We would love to have Nile
Rogers do an album for us one day. It's destiny, ha ha."
The band has an EP coming out later this year, "same kind sound,
more evolved than On The Brink and Laugh With The Sinners. Lyric
wise, we are wiser now, we are men now and have learnt from our
experiences. We don't want to be singing stupid songs about
drinking champagne on the beach, because the world has so much more
to offer and for us to comment on. This band is not about the
individual, we are all about people, uplifting." A Single
from the next EP is set to be released in July 2013. "we have got a
lot of music and a lot of work to do. Watch this space also for the
Gravity single. A story about a guy who lives on an estate and gets
killed, so it discusses gang culture, based on reports of a 16 year
old getting killed. What a waste of life, we see this everyday and
is something that needs to be addressed. We are hoping to donate
some of the proceeds to Mothers Against Guns. It is not about us,
we are trying to make music about what we see. Music can change
society and do big things."
Interview and Photography: Nardip Singh
As featured in Unfolded Magazine Issue 14