Wil Francis

Wiliam Francis
Onstage in Southamptom, September 2016
Background information
Birth name	William Roy Francis
Born	(1982-01-08) January 8, 1982
Origin	Seattle, Washington, United States
Genres	Hardcore punk, horror punk, post-hardcore, gothic rock, emo, synthpop, electronica, darkwave
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, producer, author, artist
Instruments	vocals, piano, guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, bass
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Dead Teenager, Unfun Records, Victory, Control Records
Associated acts	Aiden, William Control, A Midnight Tragedy, Ashestoangels, Vampires Everywhere!
Website	www.williamcontrol.com

William Roy "wiL" Francis (born January 8, 1982 in Seattle, Washington) is an American rock musician, record producer, author and artist. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the horror punk band Aiden.^[1] He has also released four albums (Hate Culture, Noir, Silentium Amoris, and The Neuromancer) under the name William Control, featuring a synthesizer driven darkwave, synthpop style, as well as 2 live albums (Live In London Town and Babylon, 2 acoustic albums (Skeleton Strings and Skeleton Strings 2), an EP (Novus Ordo Seclorum), and a remix album (Remix). The the fifth album, Revelations, has been split into 4 EPs: The Pale EP (October 2016), The Black EP (February 2017), and The Red EP (July 2014) and The White EP (date TBA). Francis also acts as producer to bands such as Fearless Vampire Killers, A Midnight Tragedy and Ashestoangels, as well as producing his own William Control and Aiden music, and now has his own record label, Control Records.^[2]

Francis joined the original lineup of Aiden in 2003 as their bassist and replaced Steve Clemens as lead vocalist later that year. He became the creative force behind Aiden and, for the 2015 final album and tours, was 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, and he has returned to this project full time now. He has released two books of poetry (Flowers & Filth (with Lisa Johnson) (2009) and Prose + Poems (2011)), and three novels (Revelator Book One: The Neuromancer (2013), Revelator Book Two: The Hate Culture (2014), and Revelator Book Three: The Hell Of Heaven (2016)). The latter two make up part of a trilogy. In spring 2016 it was revealed that a trilogy of films was to be made from the Revelator books.^[3][4] More news is awaited on this project.

As a teenager Francis was addicted to drugs and alcohol, but got clean on September 9, 1999 and has been sober ever since.^[5] He is married to Lindsey, and they have one son, Phineas.

In May 2009, Kerrang! called Francis "one of the most enigmatic and talismanic frontmen in rock music today."^[6]

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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)
• Revelations: (The Pale EP) (2016)
• Revelations: (The Black EP) (2017)
• Revelations: (The Red EP) (2017)

EPs

• Novus Ordo Seclorum (2011)
• The Pale (2016)
• The Black (2017)
• The Red (2017)

Acoustic Albums

• Skeleton Strings (2013)
• Skeleton Strings 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)
• We Join Forces by Mister Underground (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)
• Pure Fucking Evil by Blood on the Dance Floor, on the album Bitchcraft (2014)
• Neon In The Dance Halls and City Falls To Dust by Fearless Vampire Killers, on the album Unbreakable Hearts
• Living Hell by Ashestoangels, on the album Horror Cult

Production

• The album I Tried To Make You Immortal, You Tried To Make Me A KILLER by the New Jersey rock band A Midnight Tragedy
• The EP Revenge by Seattle band Girl On Fire
• EPs The Ghost and Through The Rain by Seattle-based dark rock band To Paint The Sky
• The albums With Tape And Needles, Horror Cult and How To Bleed for English electro-goth punks Ashestoangels.
• The album Mile End by the Austrian punk band Stupe-iT
• The albums Militia Of The Lost and Unbreakable Hearts for English rock band Fearless Vampire Killers

Bibliography

• Flowers & Filth (with Lisa Johnson) (2009)
• Prose + Poems (2011)
• Revelator Book One: The Neuromancer (2013)
• Revelator Book Two: The Hate Culture (2014)
• Revelator Book Three: The Hell Of Heaven (2016)

References