William Control
William Control is an American music project founded in 2008 in Seattle, Washington. It was the side project of Aiden's William Francis before Aiden's hiatus, and he later operated as William Control full-time. 'William Control' therefore refers to both the band as a whole and to Francis as his stage name. Francis was signed to Victory Records before starting his own independent label, Control Records, and, as William Control, has released five full-length albums, an EP, two acoustic albums, two live DVDs and a remix album . The first part of Revelations, The Pale, was released on October 14, 2016. The second EP The Black followed on February 17, 2017, and the third, entitled The Red, followed that with a release date of July 14 of the same year. The album was completed by The White on November 24.
As of The Neuromancer'' Francis referred to his band as 'The Neuromantic Boys', and the 'Boys' most recently consisted of Kenneth Fletcher and Ian MacWilliams, with Crilly Ashes standing in for Fletcher for some of 2017's live shows. Control announced his retirement from music/touring in October 2017, stating that he was going to concentrate on his clothing businesses and Control Records. In June 2018, Control temporarily ceased work due to accusations of sexual assault and the formation of a "sex cult" with women, some of whom were fans of his.
History
2008
William Control's debut album, Hate Culture, was released in 2008, and is, according to a Kerrang! magazine interview, the story of a character named William Control and his last night on earth before he kills himself. Hate Culture peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart and No. 43 on the Heatseekers chart. The band released a video for Beautiful Loser, the album's only single, and then toured with Escape the Fate on their This War Is Ours Tour in late 2008. Their live debut was at Revolution in the Bronx, New York City on September 26, 2008.2009–2010
In 2009, Control began working on a new William Control album, Noir, which eventually surfaced on June 8, 2010. He invited friends and fans to come up to the studio and record vocals for part of the album. While it did not appear on Noir, a teaser video for the song "Deathclub" was released on Control's social networking sites. The original track is actually an outtake from the Hate Culture sessions. The sole single from Noir was "I'm Only Human Sometimes"Later in 2010 Control released a series of spoken word tracks through iTunes, all works by Edgar Allan Poe. These were "Eleonora", "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Oval Portrait", and "The Raven". The band supported Black Veil Brides on their Entertainment Or Death Tour.
Shortly after the release of Noir, Control left Victory Records, and founded his own record company, Control Records, based near Seattle, Washington. He now records all his music under this label.
2011
On November 29, 2011, a new five-track EP entitled Novus Ordo Seclorum was released. The physical copies came with a bonus track, a cover of "1963" by New Order. On the same day Control published a second book, Prose + Poems, having previously published Flowers & Filth with Lisa Johnson.2012
Early 2012 saw an announcement that the band's third full-length album would be released on April 2, 2012, and be called Silentium Amoris.The band performed on the Fight To Unite US Tour, with Brokencyde and Blood on the Dance Floor in April and May 2012. In June 2012, William Control headlined their own New Faith Tour, playing shows in the UK, the Netherlands, and France. During this tour, they also headlined the Red Bull stage at Donington's Download Festival. A music video for the only single from Silentium Amoris, "Kiss Me Judas", was released on June 26, 2012 on YouTube.
In August and September 2012, William Control filmed their debut live DVD, Live In London Town, directed by Tim Bullock and produced by A Glass Half. The film features a live show, shot at the O2 Academy Islington, as well as behind-the-scenes footage and interviews from two other dates. The twenty-track DVD was released in January 2013, with a new and previously unreleased 21st track, "Speak To Me Of Abduction", over the closing credits.
October and November 2012 saw the band supporting The Birthday Massacre on their American tour, alongside Aesthetic Perfection.
2013
William Control appeared as special guest on The Church Of The Wild Ones US Tour with Black Veil Brides in early 2013. Control also starred in the film Legion of the Black, a movie based on the Black Veil Brides album Wretched and Divine.February saw Control making an appearance on the Kerrang! Tour 2013, performing a brief DJ set each night.
In March 2013, Control released Skeleton Strings, his first acoustic album. Download only, it is a mixture of his own tracks and cover versions. Fans received it for a donation towards the costs of building his new studio and recording what became The Neuromancer. Artists covered included HIM, Placebo, Morrissey and The Smiths.
March also saw the appearance of a video for "The Velvet Warms And Binds", off Silentium Amoris. In November, William Control headlined the Friday night at Whitby Goth Weekend, after playing a support slot at the festival in April.
On October 1, 2013 Control announced that the next studio album would be called The Neuromancer, and that it was slated for release in early December 2013, just before the start of the US Revel Without A Cause Tour. Additionally, Control announced that his book Revelator Book One: The Neuromancer would be shipped earlier than expected and likely within the first two weeks of the month. The book was initially sold exclusively through pre-order, in a limited quantity of 500. However, the pre-orders sold so quickly that an additional 100 copies were made available shortly thereafter. It is now available in paperback and digital form.
2014
The Neuromancer was finally released April 4, 2014. There were two singles from the album, "Revelator" and "Price We Pay", although the album itself was preceded on March 23 by a lyric video for Illuminator.In spring 2014, and again from October–December 2014, William Control supported the aggrotech band Combichrist on both the American and European legs of their We Love You Tour. In April 2014, whilst on this tour, the band recorded a live DVD at Bar Sinister in Hollywood. This DVD was released as Babylon, and featured Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides and Ash Costello of New Years Day. Once again, this DVD was directed by Tim Bullock and produced by A Glass Half.
William Control played a UK tour, entitled The Punishment Tour, in August 2014, with support from Ashestoangels and Bad Pollyanna. An appearance at Alt-Fest 2014 was originally part of this tour, but the festival was cancelled.
November 2014 saw the release of Revelator Book Two: The Hate Culture. This was again initially through Control's own website, but it is also now available both in paperback and digitally from various sources. A second acoustic album, Skeleton Strings 2, followed on Christmas Eve.
It was around this time that the new William Control velvet rose logo was launched, inspired by lyrics from Adore , off The Neuromancer. It has appeared in various forms on releases and merchandise since then.
An album of remixes of William Control tracks was also made available, as a free download through NoiseTrade.
2015
At the start of 2015, Francis announced that he was starting his own screen-printing business, Control Merch, to give him creative freedom over his own merchandise. This was initially in a rented studio, but in early 2016 he purchased his own shop, allowing for expansion of the business. He also launched the brand Submit Clothing.The Punishment Tour part 2 took place in April 2015 and May–June 2015. Support came from Ashestoangels in the UK and Requiem and Justin Symbol in the US. The band once again performed at Whitby Goth Weekend, this time on the Sunday night, playing before The Damned. The band did one final 2015 live show at Toronto's Aftermath Festival in August 2015.
2016
Francis began teasing fans with snippets of new music from the fifth studio album in video clips on Instagram and Facebook. He worked on the album with Kenneth Fletcher and Axel Otero of Lay Your Ghost at his home studio in spring and summer of 2016.He embarked on a solo five-date acoustic tour of the UK in July 2016, supported by Crilly of Ashestoangels, and the full band returned to the UK in September 2016 for the ten-date Synths And Sinners Tour.
"The Monster", the first single from the band's The Pale EP, was released as a YouTube video on September 5. Pre-orders for the EP through the Control Merch site began on September 22, with iTunes pre-orders starting the following day. Several US dates for October and November 2016 were then announced, after the planned full US tour fell through, including a performance on JBTV. The Pale, completed by tracks "Confess", "When The Love Is Pain" and "Mother Superior", received its full release on October 14, 2016. A video for "Confess", filmed by Fletcher in Edinburgh, Scotland whilst on the Synths And Sinners Tour, followed on October 26, as did a video for "When The Love Is Pain" on November 12. The Pale hit number one on both the Billboard Dance/Electronic album chart and the Heatseekers album chart.
In spring 2016 it was revealed that a trilogy of films was to be made from the three Revelator books. In November 2016, posts appeared on Control's social media accounts about the third book in the Revelator trilogy, Revelator Book Three: The Hell Of Heaven. Pre-orders for the first edition went on sale on December 2, and sold out within a day.
In December, Francis announced the formation of his own street team, The Neuromantics, named after 'The Neuromantic Movement', a term he has coined himself. He also applied for a trademark on Submit Clothing; this was confirmed in January 2018.