The Thirst (now known as The Baytrees) are an English indie rock band based in Brixton, London. The band consists of brothers Mensah (vocals/guitar) and Kwame Hart (bass), Mark Lenihan (guitar) and Marcus Harris (drums/backing vocals).
History
Mensah received an electric guitar from his parents around the age of 14,[1] and after a few years he decided to get his brother, Kwame, a bass guitar. This inspired friends Mark and Marcus to complete the band by purchasing a second guitar and drum kit respectively. The main inspiration behind starting the band was their strong musical upbringing and appreciation and their musical influences include Jimi Hendrix, punk, drum n bass, and local hip-hop.[2][3]
The Thirst's first performance consisted of hastily created songs to fill their two forty-five-minute acoustic sets. From there The Thirst continued to constantly gig all around London, which created a strong fanbase and more public awareness.[1][4] Fortunately they were spotted at The Jamm in October 2006, which led to their recording contract with Ronnie Wood's new record label, Wooden Records.[1][2]
The Thirst released The Thirst EP in 2007 and their debut album, On the Brink, in 2008, to a generally positive critical reaction.[9][10][11][12] In March 2008, they played at the SXSW festival in Texas, and were picked out by Tom Robinson as the highlight of the festival.[13] They later performed a live session on Marc Riley's BBC 6 Music show Brain Surgery.[14]
After performing at The Oak in Burntwood, Staffordshire on 21 November 2009, The Thirst, their manager and their sound engineer were arrested by armed police. Half a day later, all parties were released without charge and were notified that CCTV operators had flagged them under suspicion of firearms possession.[15][16] Several months after the incident, the Staffordshire police finally agreed to destroy the DNA evidence acquired in the undeserved confinement of The Thirst and crew.[17]
At the start of 2010, The Thirst were invited to compete in a songwriting competition as representatives of England at the Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar, in Viña del Mar, Chile. They are to perform a cover of "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones in the competition and perform their own songs during the Festival between 22 and 27 February 2010.[18][needs update]
