Wil Francis

William Roy "wiL" Francis (born January 8, 1982 in Seattle, Washington) is an American rock musician, record producer and author. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the horror punk band Aiden.^[1] He has also released four solo albums under the name William Control, featuring a synthesizer driven darkwave style. Francis also acts as producer to the bands A Midnight Tragedy and Ashestoangels.

Francis joined the original lineup of Aiden in 2003 as their bassist and replaced Steve Clemens as lead vocalist later that year. Since then, he has been the creative leader behind Aiden and, as of 2015, is the only member of the original lineup still in the band. During Aiden's hiatus from 2012 to 2015, Francis' primary musical output was William Control. In addition to making his own music, Francis has produced albums for A Midnight Tragedy, AshestoAngels, and Fearless Vampire Killers. He has released two books of poetry and two novels.

In May 2009, Kerrang! called Francis "one of the most enigmatic and talismanic frontmen in rock music today."^[2]

Aiden

• A Split of Nightmares - split EP with Stalins War (2004)
• Our Gangs Dark Oath (2004)
• Nightmare Anatomy (2005)
• Rain in Hell (2006)
• Conviction (2007)
• Knives (2009)
• From Hell...With Love (2010)
• Disguises (2011)
• Some Kind of Hate (2011)
• Aiden (2015)

William Control

Studio Albums

• Hate Culture (2008)
• Noir (2010)
• Silentium Amoris (2012)
• The Neuromancer (2014)

EPs

• Novus Ordo Seclorum (2011)

Acoustic Albums

• Skeleton Strings (2013)
• Skeleton String 2 (2014)

Live Albums

• Live In London Town (2012)
• Babylon (2014)

Remix Albums

• Remix (2014)

Other Songs

• Deathclub (2009) - Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Soundtrack
• The Posthumous Letter (2012) - Underworld: Awakening Soundtrack

Collaborations

Guest appearances

• "To Feel the Rain" by On the Last Day, on the EP Wars Like Whispers (2005)
• "Bleeds No More" (live) by Silverstein, on their compilation 18 Candles: The Early Years (2006)
• "Box Full of Sharp Objects" (live) by The Used, during Taste of Chaos 2007 (2007)
• "Bleeding Rain" by Vampires Everywhere!, on the album Kiss the Sun Goodbye (2011)
• "Now That You're Dead" by The Used, on the album Vulnerable (2012)
• Voice of F.E.A.R. on the album Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones, by Black Veil Brides (2013)
• "Bury A Legend" by One Last Shot, on the album Bastards of the Plague (2013)
• "Living Hell" by Ashestoangels, on the album "Horror Cult" (2014)
• "Neon In The Dancehalls" by Fearless Vampire Killers (band), on the album "Unbreakable Hearts" (2014)
• "City Falls To Dust" by Fearless Vampire Killers (band), on the album "Unbreakable Hearts" (2014)

Production

• A Midnight Tragedy - A Midnight Tragedy
• Revenge EP - Girl on Fire
• The Ghost EP - To Paint the Sky
• Through the Rain EP - To Paint the Sky.
• Mile End - Stupe-iT.
• Militia of the Lost - Fearless Vampire Killers.
• Unbreakable Hearts - Fearless Vampire Killers
• With Tapes and Needles - Ashestoangels
• Horror Cult - Ashestoangels

Books

• Flowers and Filth by William Control and Lisa Johnston (2009)
• Poems and Prose By William Control (2011)
• Revelator Book 1: The Neuromancer By William Control (2013)
• Revelator Book 2: The Hate Culture By William Control (2014)

References