Paul Robert Thomson (born 15 September 1976) is a Scottish musician who was the drummer for the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-based band

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fran ...

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-u ...

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 Alexander Paul Kapranos (born 20 March 1972) is a Scottish musician. He is the lead singer and lead guitarist of Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been a part of the supergroups FFS and BNQT. Early life Alexander Paul 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 The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

. He is also the drummer in the Glasgow band Amor, with Luke Fowler,

Richard Youngs Richard Youngs (born 29 May 1966) is an English musician based in Glasgow since the early 1990s. His catalogue of solo and collaborative work formally begins with ''Advent'', first issued in 1990. He plays many instruments, most commonly choos ...

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 record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of the "

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

" single. The English version is from ''

''. His record label, NEW! (which started in 2005), only releases material on

vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

. Thomson resided in

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 The Ting Tings are an English indie pop duo formed in Salford, Greater Manchester, in 2007. The band consists of Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drums, bass guitar, cowbells) and Jules De Martino (drums, lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, ...

. 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 Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

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 Scottish male drummers Ivor Novello Award winners 21st-century British drummers The Yummy Fur members FFS (band) members American post-punk musicians