Gemma Thompson


Gemma Thompson is a British musician based in London, most widely known as the guitarist and one of the founding members of the British rock band Savages.

Career

Savages

Main Article: Savages
Originally formed in 2011 by Thompson and bassist Ayse Hassan, Berthomier becoming the vocalist of the band after Hostile turned down Thompson's request to front the band. The band gained commercial success when their debut album, Silence Yourself, peaked no. 19 in the UK albums chart. As of 2016, they released two albums which were nominated for the Mercury Prize, in 2013 and 2016 respectively.

Bashan

In June 2017, Thompson announced the introductory “recordings/sketches” of her solo project, Bashan, with the release of EP1. Bashan was formed over several years whilst recording and touring extensively with Savages. She also worked with filmmaker and director Nick Ebeling, completing her first score for a 2016 American documentary film Along For The Ride, which premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2016.

Unmoor Kiva

In the Summer of 2018, Thompson and the brothers/duo Adam Sherry and Sam Sherry of A Dead Forest Index formed the trio Unmoor Kiva. She first met A Dead Forest Index in the Winter of 2013 when the duo was invited to support Savages on their UK tour. Thompson and the Sherry brothers first collaborated in 2015 when they were invited to write and perform together as an ensemble alongside choreographer/dance artist Fernanda Muñoz-Newsome for Doug Aitken’s Station to Station Festival at the Barbican. Unmoor Kiva performed at Grauzone Festival in the Netherlands in February 2020 having completed the writing for their debut album.

Visual Art

Thompson studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths University of London and in 2018 was offered a scholarship at the Royal Drawing School, graduating in 2019.