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Meet brothers Mensah and Kwame Cofi-Agyeman. Teenage tearaways growing up in Brixton, south London. Younger brother Mensah finds escape from the temptations of city life by experimenting. But while his peers experiment with drugs, gang culture and petty crime, he finds inspiration a cheap electric guitar bought for him by his parents. His brother borrows some cash and buys a bass, and the core of The Thirst is born. Completing the line up are primary school friend and rhythm guitarist Mark Lenihan, and cheeky drummer Marcus Harris.???”We were pretty much bumming up,” Mensah says now of those first band rehearsals. “I started playing now and again and got these three round just smoking and trying to stay off the road. My mum allowed us all to come round her house and chill out. She’d rather that than us hanging on the corner smoking weed.”|The band took what instruments they could to find a sound. They were influenced by both their parents’ old punk records and Hendrix, but also the drum n’ bass and hip hop coming out of Brixton. ???? The buzz began, and local gigs followed. The infamous Brixton Dogstar one night, the uber-cool Notting Hill Arts Club the next, The Thirst built their fan base the old fashioned way, with relentless gigging across the capital they love. Up to six shows per week. And it was to pay off in a big way.???Before long, The Thirst attracted the attention of music icon Ronnie Wood. Ronnie was on tour with the Rolling Stones when he heard whispers of a new band making waves back home. He sent spies to one of their gigs. And when The Thirst played at The Half Moon in Putney, just around the corner from his house, he was in the front row, bringing his friends and family for support. Loving what he saw, he made them his first signings to his brand new record label, Wooden Records. “He put it on the table there and then,” laughs Kwame. “He was like, ‘Yeah I loved it’. He was cool, man… He’s a legend.” |
