White Heat
Interviewed in Ripped & Torn issue 2, Alex Fergusson was then in a band called The Nobodies. After the issue was published Alex moved to London and helped out with ideas for Ripped & Torn (I had also moved down to London) even while he formed Alternative TV with Mark Perry. That line covers a bigger story.
Initially Throbbing Gristle’s Genesis P Orridge was the drummer of Mark Perry’s vision and at the time the project was called Alternative To TV, ATTV. Perry and Orridge used to come round our squat in Frestonia at the time, persuading Fergusson to join this art project type band rather than the punk pop band he envisaged as his future.
Sham69 also knocked on our door once, asking Alex to play bass on their tour. But he eventually was swayed by Mark, and after Gen left the band it became more of a ‘proper’ group. Due to Fergusson’s influence, the extra ‘T’ was dropped, it became ATV and his guitar was a perfect sonic/pop sound for Mark’s shouted vocals. After Alternative TV, Alex joined up again with Genesis for the new project Psychic TV.
That’s the short version. Cut to now and in February 2026 Alex Fergusson released a new album called Demons. It is a 10″ record on white vinyl with a limited first pressing of 300 copies. The record is available to buy from Rough Trade or Sister Ray’s online shops. This is one of the tracks from the album.
Video is by Tony Drayton.
