Thumb

Thumb was a German Rapcore band formed in November 1993 in Gütersloh. According to the band’s official website they appear to have ceased in 2005 into various side projects; Steffen has joined H-Blockx, Jens is in Taetowier Studio, Jan-Hendrik is in Hudson, Claus is in Alternative Allstars and Axel is in Waterdown.

The first home-made tapes were recorded and copied in 1994. Lupe was the last to join the band in October scratching his way to create a new version of Thumb. Record companies began to show an interest and EMI signed a deal in March 1995. Six months later on 14 September Thumb’s debut was in the shops. A new star had entered the crossover arena. Genre-related bands Bad Religion, Dog Eat Dog, Henry Rollins and Foo Fighters kept the band company in the next two years at live gigs in Germany. Then it was time for the five to set to work in January 1997 and write the songs of their second album Exposure.

The album duly appeared on 5 May that year and proved to be a great surprise, because Thumb had changed direction. Their path even led them to America where they played in front of nearly 180,000 during the 1998 Vans Warped Tour. They played alongside greats like the Deftones, Bad Religion, NOFX and many more at thirteen shows in three weeks.

Preparations for the third album slowly got underway at the start of 2000 but were abruptly interrupted when guitarist Axel Hilgenstöhler left the band half way through the year, the shock was compounded by the band’s creative crisis. The band was on the brink of disintegrating, however, they were saved when new guitarist Axel Praiat along with the new blood coursing through the band’s veins took things upwards again. Everything written and recorded up to that point was axed.
official site: www.thumbpage.de/