Fergie Fulton

Classical Training

Fergie Fulton is a musical fusion on four strings in the 50-150Hz range… in other words bass. classically trained in Trumpet and Cornet as a child he eventually grew into baritone and tenor horn before he turned his back on a music scholarship and picked up bass guitar.

 “ I started off at the top end of the orchestra but I liked the feel of the other end, their instruments sounded more fun and you could feel them”

When asked why he started at the top end he replies “mouth pieces, the mouth piece for the Eb bass, euphonium, tenor horn etc were just to big for me to handle” “as I got older I could produce the breath control and lip pressure you required to play these instruments well”. “ If I had stayed in classical music I would have liked to end up at the Eb bass job.” The tenor horn was as far as I got and I played and studied with the SSYO (Scottish Symphony Youth Orchestra) under Mr. Albert Sloane.” But an earlier encounter with the bass in the form of Bill Black playing with Elvis some years earlier was still in the back of his mind.

Popular Music

“ I saw this programme ‘All you need is love‘, it was a history of popular music and one of the early episodes dealt with Blues and Rock’n’Roll” “There was some old footage of Elvis doing Heartbreak Hotel and the bass line blew me away.”

“When my grandparents who I lived with in my teenage years told me it was probably in the attic, I went up there and found a treasure trove of old 78s”. This discovery and the path it took him on was to change his life. “I had really long hair as was the style but I went to a barber and got it all cut off and made in to a 50s style” “I still had two years left at school and I must have looked so different.” Living with his grandparents also had other advantages he was soon to discover. “They had all my uncles old suit and clothes from the 40s and 50s” “They never through any thing away, when I went back to school after the summer holidays I had a one button blazer, a narrow tie, drainpipe trousers and patent leather black shoes, I just looked like a 50s throw back.”