Rai From Thirsty Merc Has A Side Project... And It's A Trip

Thirsty Merc vocalist Rai Thistlethwayte has been a touring member with the American electronic music duo, KNOWER, since at least 2018. Not just a singer, Thistlethwayte plays the keyboard in the group and will feature on their upcoming album, coming on Friday, 2 June.

KNOWER sound absolutely nothing like Thirsty Merc. The duo stars vocalist Genevieve Artadi and multi-instrumentalist Louis Cole, and in a new video of their new song, The Abyss, they’ve recruited Thistlethwayte and the charismatic bassist MonoNeon.

The Abyss is funky, groovy, and fast-paced. Thistlethwayte keeps up with the all-star band and together, the wacky sound of The Abyss is full of natural chemistry. Check out The Abyss below.

Thistlethwayte also plays the keyboard for guitar legend Joe Satriani. Earlier this year, he performed alongside Satriani with The G4 Experience in Las Vegas, a four-day event celebrating live music and workshops with guitar players including Peter Frampton, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, Alex Skolnick, Andy James, Cory Wong, Eric Gales, John 5, Mateus Asato, Nili Brosh, and more.

With Satriani, he also played at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City and at the King Of Prussia in Pennsylvania.

In September 2015, Thirsty Merc were involved in a fatal car accident, where the band's stage manager, Shane Cooper, tragically passed away. The band’s drummer Mick Skelton was also seriously injured. A week after the crash which left Skelton in a coma, Sarah McLeod of The Superjesus revealed that Skelton had woken up from the coma and was recovering well.

On 25 September 2015, she wrote, "Scans/tests carried out on head and spine all appear to be clear. No other breaks and things.. We just need to wait and hold our breath and feel positive about everything while he sleeps."

Thirsty Merc had a run of successful singles in Australia throughout the early 2000s, including In The Summertime, My Completeness, Someday Someday, and 20 Good Reasons. The band have sold over 250,000 albums in Australia, and last June, they released the album, Celebration, which featured the lead single As The Days Go By (Daryl Braithwaite cover).