Wil Francis
William Roy "wiL" Francis is an American musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the horror punk band Aiden.
Career
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.He has also released four albums under the name William Control, featuring a synthesizer driven darkwave, synth-pop style, as well as two live albums, an EP, and a remix album . The fifth album, Revelations, has been split into four EPs: The Pale EP, The Black EP, and The Red EP and The White EP.
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 formed his own record label, Control Records. In May 2009, Kerrang! called Francis "one of the most enigmatic and talismanic frontmen in rock music today."
He has released two books of poetry and Prose + Poems ), and three novels, Revelator Book Two: The Hate Culture, and Revelator Book Three: The Hell of Heaven ). 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.
Discography
Aiden
- A Split of Nightmares - split EP with Stalins War
- Our Gangs Dark Oath
- Nightmare Anatomy
- Rain in Hell
- Conviction
- Knives
- From Hell... With Love
- Disguises
- Some Kind of Hate
- ''Aiden''
William Control
Studio albums
- Hate Culture
- Noir
- Silentium Amoris
- The Neuromancer
- Revelations: '
- Revelations: '
- Revelations: '
- Revelations: '
- ''Sex Cult: Volume 1''
EPs
Acoustic albums
- Skeleton Strings
- ''Skeleton Strings 2''
Live albums
- Live in London Town
- ''Babylon''
Remix albums
- ''Remix''
Other songs
- Deathclub - Underworld: Rise of the Lycans soundtrack
- The Posthumous Letter - Underworld: Awakening soundtrack
Collaborations
Guest appearances
- To Feel the Rain by On the Last Day, on the EP Wars Like Whispers
- Bleeds No More by Silverstein, on their compilation 18 Candles: The Early Years
- Box Full of Sharp Objects by The Used, during Taste Of Chaos 2007
- Bleeding Rain by Vampires Everywhere!, on the album Kiss the Sun Goodbye
- Now That You're Dead by The Used, on the album Vulnerable
- We Join Forces by Mister Underground
- Voice of F.E.A.R. on the album Wretched and Divine: [The Story of the Wild Ones], by Black Veil Brides
- Bury a Legend by One Last Shot, on the album Bastards of the Plague
- Pure Fucking Evil by Blood on [the Dance Floor (duo)|Blood on the Dance Floor], on the album Bitchcraft
- 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 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 album Unbreakable Hearts for English rock band Fearless Vampire Killers