Paul Thomson

Paul Robert Thomson (born 15 September 1976) is a Scottish drummer for the Glasgow-based band, Franz Ferdinand.

Paul Thomson
Paul Thomson on stage with FFS in August 2015
Background information
Birth name	Paul Robert Jude Nester Thomson
Born	(1976-09-15) 15 September 1976 Glasgow, Scotland
Genres	Indie rock post-punk revival dance-punk dance-rock art rock
Instruments	Drums guitar bass guitar keyboards vocals
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Domino
Associated acts	Franz Ferdinand FFS Correcto The Yummy Fur Amor
Website	www.franzferdinand.co.uk

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 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, Richard Youngs 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 of the "Michael" 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 called "they're only records paul" which runs fortnightly on Thursdays.[1]

On 12 June 2008 it was announced that Thomson was now endorsing Highwood Drums, a UK custom company becoming a Highwood artist.[2]

Thomson is reported to choreograph many of the Franz Ferdinand's videos, including "Do You Want To" and "The Dark of the Matinee", having tap-danced and performed as the Artful Dodger in a West End production of Oliver! as a child.[3] However, in an interview he claimed that this was inserted by himself into Wikipedia for fun.[4]

Paul Thomson is the son of Bert and Ellen Thomson. He has one sister named Hazel Thomson. In 2009, Paul Thomson was voted Scotland's Greatest Ever Drummer by the readers of Dear Scotland.[5]