Matthew Paul Ferguson (born 31 March 1958) is an English rock drummer, best known for his work in the

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

group

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

and cult English

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band Pink Parts. Following a stint as the drummer with the London-based Matt Stagger Band in 1978, Ferguson became a founding member of Killing Joke and served as their drummer from 1979 to 1987. He was known as Big Paul Ferguson during this period. Ferguson is known for his tribal drum style. The last album he recorded with Killing Joke was the 1986 release '' Brighter than a Thousand Suns''. Following disagreements with lead singer

Jaz Coleman Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman (born 26 February 1960) is an English singer and musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of post-punk group Killing Joke. Coleman is known for his unique raspy baritone voic ...

about new material and the direction of the band, Ferguson and bassist Paul Raven departed the band in 1987 during the recording of their seventh studio album, '' Outside The Gate''. He subsequently worked on other musical projects, notably with rock outfits

Warrior Soul Warrior Soul is an American rock band, formed by lead singer and producer Kory Clarke. Clarke started the band on a bet from a promoter at New York City's Pyramid Club, after a solo performance art show called "Kory Clarke/Warrior Soul". Clark ...

(1987–1990),

Murder, Inc. Murder, Inc. (Murder, Incorporated) was an organized crime group, active from 1929 to 1941, that acted as the enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicatea closely connected criminal organization that included the Italian-American Mafia, the ...

(1991–92) and Crush (1992–93) - the latter was mainly a collaboration with former

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...

guitarist John Valentine Carruthers. During the following years Ferguson moved to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, then to the United States, and became a sculptor and art restorer, specialising in ancient sculptures. He also briefly played with

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...

and took up guitar. Ferguson rejoined Killing Joke for their 2008 reunion, which saw the original line-up together for the first time since 1982. Ferguson recorded with Killing Joke for the first time in 23 years for their 2010 studio album ''

Absolute Dissent ''Absolute Dissent'' is the thirteenth studio album by English post-punk band Killing Joke, released on 27 September 2010 by Spinefarm Records, distributed worldwide by Universal Music Group. ''Absolute Dissent'' is Killing Joke's first studio ...

''. He remains with Killing Joke, having drummed on their April 2012 album release '' MMXII'' and subsequent tour, as well as their 2015 release '' Pylon''. 2015 saw the launch of Boneyard, a line of skull-and-bone jewelry designed by Ferguson. Each unique piece is individually cast and hand finished in solid sterling silver. In 2018, he brought out an EP called ''Remote Viewing'' under the banner "BPF" - as for the initials of his surname Big Paul Ferguson: the EP was recorded with guitarist

Mark Thwaite Mark Gemini Thwaite (born 15 June 1965) also known as MGT, is an English musician, and has been the guitarist for a number of rock bands and artists over the last two decades, including The Mission, Trip-Hop pioneer Tricky, Peter Murphy of Bau ...

. It included seven tracks of spoken word, with instrumentation. That year, he also recorded drums for Thwaite's band MGT on the album ''Gemini Nyte''. In 2021, he released his first solo album ''Virtual Control'' on

cleopatra records Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...

, it was also conceived with Thwaite, with the help of producer

Tom Dalgety Tom Dalgety is an English record producer and audio engineer. He is most noted for his work with Pixies, Ghost, and Royal Blood. He was nominated for Grammy Awards in 2019 for his production work on the Ghost album ''Prequelle'' (Best Rock Album ...

. ''Virtual Control'' was issued in May on vinyl and CD. Two videos were shot to promote the album; one for the leading track "The Unraveling" and one for the second song "Alone", they were uploaded on YouTube on the Cleopatra channel.

Discography

;Solo *''Remote Viewing'' EP (2018) *''Virtual Control'' (2021) *''Remote Viewing'' - Reboot (2022) ; ;With Killing Joke *'' Turn to Red/Almost Red'' EP (1979) *''

'' (1980) *'' What's THIS For...!'' (1981) *'' Ha! Killing Joke Live'' (1982) *'' Revelations'' (1982) *''

Fire Dances ''Fire Dances'' is the fourth studio album by English post-punk band Killing Joke, released in July 1983 by E.G. via Polydor Records. It was the band's first album to feature new bass player Paul Raven, recorded at Basing Street Studios in Lo ...

'' (1983) *'' Night Time'' (1985) *'' Brighter Than a Thousand Suns'' (1986) *''

'' (2010) *'' MMXII'' (2012) *'' Pylon'' (2015) ;With Warrior Soul *''

Last Decade Dead Century ''Last Decade Dead Century'' is the debut album by the band Warrior Soul released in 1990. The album was remastered and re-released with bonus tracks on CD and MP3 by Escapi Music in 2006, and again on vinyl in 2009. Track listing # "I Se ...

'' (1990) ;With

*''Corpuscle EP'' (1992) *'' Murder Inc.'' (1992) ;With Crush *''Crush'' (1993)

References

Bibliography

External links

* Paul Ferguson at allmusic.com
Paul Ferguson at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Paul 1958 births New wave drummers Living people English heavy metal drummers Killing Joke members Pigface members Murder, Inc. (band) members Industrial metal musicians English punk rock drummers British post-punk musicians English industrial musicians Transmission (band) members