People Like Us: Ben Thomas

People Like Us: Ben Thomas

In the early 2000’s, the city of Leeds was starting to become a cultural hotbed. 


Leeds United were on an upward trajectory with an exciting, young team, new buildings and businesses were added to the skyline, built from the hope of the new millennium. 


On a musical note, Leeds had started to shed its Britpop skin and became a focus of new music as heralded in the national press. The fabled stories about the Kaizer Chiefs and others have been told a million times, less so the stories of Paloma Faith working behind the bar in my favourite haunt. The same pub that once saw Liv Tyler in town for another gig. 


My Saturdays would be spent hunting through vintage, Julian Casablancas-esque uniform in Blue Rinse before heading down The Calls to visit the city’s best guitar shops. 


Northern Guitars used to offer mainly entry level guitars downstairs with a raft of acoustics upstairs. It was run by a man called Dusty who would always offer you ‘a fair crack of the whip’ on a deal whilst looking exactly like a guitar shop owner should look. 


A few metres over the road though was another guitar shop call Music Ground. It sat over two floors yet oddly the top floor was within a separate building. The upstairs was filled with true vintage everything and was seen as a museum for people like me who had no chance of affording one single item from within. In later years some of that gear lost its value through spurious reasons by the owner who you also have to thank for Yungblood. Google it. 


But downstairs is where I’d be. Trying out a few Gibsons through vintage 30w Marshall amps before leaving with a few plectrums. 




On the other side of the counter was Ben Thomas. 


Ben: As a teen music was everything to me. I played in bands from high school into my early twenties. Sadly my obsession focused on the rush of playing live gigs rather than practicing between gigs. Talent in playing never came my way. Fortunately I found a college course in Luthiery and spent 4 years learning to build and repair electric guitars. I was in my element, learning everything about these amazing, iconic machines. Learning to turn a few pieces of timber and wire into a singing instrument is really fulfilling. This lead to me finding work in the legendary Music Ground. 


Music Ground started out as a traditional old school musical instrument shop in Doncaster. It remained a family run concern going from strength to strength, specialising in finding vintage and rare pieces. By the time I worked there they ran several shops in London’s Denmark Street, arguably the epicentre of British Rock and Roll culture. On a daily basis we would be selling a few plectrums to kids dreaming of one day owning a real Les Paul through to private collectors spending hundreds of thousands on vintage pieces. With such a reputation it wasn’t uncommon for newly signed bands to come spend their newly acquired record contract advances on amps and equipment. At the time unheard of bands like The Zutons, Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks, Hard-fi etc. would enter the shop with a cheque book burning a hole in their pockets. We were always cheeky- offering them a standard discount in exchange for gig passes.



My time at Music Ground came to an abrupt end when the shop had to close due many and varied reasons. I have a long and meandering anecdote about how I was made redundant because of Kirk Hammett and Peter Svensson of The Cardigans but we definitely don’t have time for that here..


The love to tinker with beautiful things wasn't harmed though. The closure of Music Ground harbours many stories through a simple Google search, some more lighthearted than others. 

Ben: I continued to repair guitars, mostly for friends as Music Ground had an amazing guitar tech already (check out single coil guitar repairs whenever he isn’t on the road with Richard Hawley) and took on a few commissions to build. One in particular that I recall was a lovely chap who was an amazing player and guitar teacher. Sadly he suffered with arthritis and was increasingly struggling with the weight and size of standard instruments. I built him a completely hollow bodied instrument with a wide but very thin neck. A real mish mash of design elements that allowed him to play for longer before fatiguing. 


In 2013, I moved to the outskirts of Wakefield and would often see Ben around town, often with a camera around his neck. We’d share a knowing nod until the nod became a chat about the old times in Leeds. 


Ben: My father in law was a photographer by trade. So when asked to take photos of a band using our equipment, he generously loaned me a beautiful Nikon. He gave me a lesson in how to shoot in low light situations. I was terrible at it and burned through many rolls of film just to get one usable shot. I was able to get back stage passes to some of my favourite bands; Supergrass, The Who, Richard Hawley, The Hives, Jet, Kaiser Chiefs and so many more. One time finding ourselves eating prawn sandwiches and dipping into chocolate fountains with Mel C and Lemar, our arrival had been announced over the PA as one of the headline acts-a minor mix-up as the band’s manager had given us artist passes so the we could deliver equipment directly to the stage.

In 2023, Ben opened up his coffee shop, Wired Whippet, to share his love and knowledge for coffee. 


Ben: It was during my time at Music Ground that I first got into coffee. At the time, even in Leeds centre there were few high quality independents. One chap running a little kiosk called Just Bean was knocking out excellent coffee and a short lived juice bar on Vicar Lane, then there was Opposite near Leeds Uni. This was a few years before Laynes came and set a new standard for indie coffee shops in the city. 


I was on a quest to reproduce at home what I was buying from these few independents that were pushing for quality. We are so lucky now that the market is saturated with high quality products. Back then, the holy grail was to have something like a commercial setup at home. This was far out of my budget range until a chance encounter with the bonnet of a taxi whilst out cycling led to a small amount of compensation. I still have the machine I purchased and it is still a thing of beauty.


I went back to school after a brief attempt to run my first coffee business, a mobile espresso bar didn’t quite work out. I studied to work in operating theatres and loved it. Challenging, fascinating, emotionally draining and tremendously rewarding sometimes all at once. 



Covid and lockdown has a lot to answer for. It caused chaos, ended careers and worse still, lives. It also offered a time to reassess the grand 'norm' and gave businesses the space to grow. 

Ben: For me, like many it was a chance to reassess what is important. I started taking photos again, looking for beauty in the everyday. Finding adventure on my doorstep. I started using old cameras. They slowed down the process and forced me to take time to think about what I was doing and what I wanted to capture. Just like making espresso over instant, the extra effort is rewarded. I learned to develop the negatives and have dabbled with developing the photos also. Each stage of the process is amazingly satisfying, turning a few chemicals into something that conjures up emotions and memories is really rewarding. 


So what does the future look like?


Ben: So far I have been amazed and humbled by the reception it has had. For me, the cafe has always been about connecting people. A meeting place for family, friends and of complete strangers who become new friends. 


In an increasingly digital world where we’re more connected than ever to whole planet, yet distant to those nearest to us. I hope to create a space for the tangible. See faces of loved ones, eat homemade treats, appreciate art and tactile creations made by people who might just live down your street. A little piece of analogue as a break from the digital.


If you're in Wakefield, you can visit Ben and Wired Whippet at 53a The Green, Ossett, WF5 0AL

You can follow Wired Whippet on Instagram.