Paul Robert Thomson (born 15 September 1976) is a Scottish musician who was the drummer for the Glasgow-based band Franz Ferdinand from their formation in 2002 until October 2021.

Biography

Thomson has always been interested in music, able to play various instruments such as guitar, keyboard and bass guitar in addition to the drums. During the late 1990s, he was drummer of

The Yummy Fur : ''See also Yummy Fur (comic) by Chester Brown..'' The Yummy Fur were a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow, formed in 1992, and disbanded 1999. The band consisted of lead singer and guitarist John McKeown and a regularly changing line-up o ...

and was at one point part of The Purple Bajengas and Pro Forma. It was in The Yummy Fur that Thomson would meet Alex Kapranos. When The Yummy Fur broke up, Thomson had various odd jobs DJing and working as a nude model at the Glasgow School of Art. He is also the drummer in the Glasgow band Amor, with

Luke Fowler Luke Fowler (born 1978) is an artist, 16mm filmmaker and musician based in Glasgow. He studied printmaking at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee. He creates cinematic collages that have often been linked to the British Free ...

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and Michael Francis Duch. In 2001, Thomson joined Franz Ferdinand, originally playing guitar. He later switched to drums. He also does backing vocals, and sang lead on the German version of "Tell Her Tonight" from

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the "

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

" single. The English version is from '' Franz Ferdinand''. His record label, NEW! (which started in 2005), only releases material on vinyl records. Thomson resided in Glasgow with his now ex-wife Esther (DJ and lead singer of Cash Machine). Together they DJ'd as Polyester (Paul and Esther). They had a baby boy named Georgie in July 2006, and on 19 September 2008 (while Franz Ferdinand were supposed to be headlining a concert) they had another boy and named him Ronnie. Because of Thomson's absence, Franz Ferdinand played a semi- acoustic set and swapped the headlining spot with The Ting Tings. Thomson also has a show on

Subcity Radio Subcity Radio (formerly Sub City and SubCity) is a non-profit freeform radio station, arts collective and events promoter based at the University of Glasgow which is run by volunteers from the University and local community with the aim of provid ...

called "they're only records paul" which runs fortnightly on Thursdays. In June 2008, it was announced that Thomson was now endorsing Highwood Drums, a UK custom company becoming a Highwood artist. Thomson is the son of Bert and Ellen Thomson. He has one sister, Hazel. In 2009, he was voted Scotland's Greatest Ever Drummer by the readers of Dear Scotland. In October 2021, the band announced on Twitter that Thomson would be leaving Franz Ferdinand after 20 years. The announcement was accompanied by a statement by Thomson and a photograph of him passing his drumsticks to his replacement,

Audrey Tait Audrey Tait (born 1987) is a Scottish musician and music producer from Rutherglen, Scotland. She is known for being the drummer in three Glaswegian bands, the experimental hip-hop group Hector Bizerk, Broken Chanter, and the rock band Franz Ferdi ...

.Lanarkshire musician delighted as she takes over as Franz Ferdinand's drummer
Daily Record, 25 October 2021

References

External links

Franz Ferdinand official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Paul 1976 births Living people Musicians from Glasgow Franz Ferdinand (band) members Scottish rock drummers British male drummers Ivor Novello Award winners 21st-century British drummers The Yummy Fur members FFS (band) members American post-punk musicians