William Control

William Control
250px William Control at Download festival 2012, with all the touring members.
Background information
Origin	Seattle, Washington, USA
Genres	Darkwave, synthpop, electronica
Years active	2008—present
Labels	Control, Victory
Associated acts	Aiden, Me vs Myself, Jeffree Star, FVK, Black Veil Brides, Obscure Pleasures, Ashestoangels, New Years Day, Combichrist
Website	http://www.williamcontrol.com
Members	William Control Kenneth Fletcher Ian MacWilliams Ben Tourkantonis

William Control is an American electronic music project founded in 2008 in Seattle, Washington. It was side project of Aiden’s William Francis before Aiden's hiatus, and he now operates as William Control full time. He was signed to Victory Records before starting his own independent label Control Records and has released four full length albums (Hate Culture, Noir, Silentium Amoris, and The Neuromancer), an EP (Novus Ordo Seclorum), and two live DVDs (Live in London Town and Babylon). Since the release of "The Neuromancer," Francis does all the work in the studio by himself and has referred to his live band as 'The Neuromantic Boys', and the tag line is now used in conjunction with the William Control name to advertise performances. The 'Boys' currently consist of Kenneth Fletcher (who has been involved with the WC project since "Hate Culture"), Ian MacWilliams, and Ben Tourkantonis.

Francis has announced at shows during the band's recent Punishment Tour that William Control will take a brief hiatus this summer 2015 so as to work on material and tour for Aiden.

History

Wil Francis formed William Control because he was interested in making music that didn't match the style of his other band, Aiden. In 2008 William Control released their debut album Hate Culture which is, as explained in a Kerrang! magazine interview, the story of a man named William Control and his last night on Earth because he wishes to kill 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" as the album's only single.

William Control toured with Escape The Fate on their "This War is Ours" tour in late 2008. In 2009, William Francis began working on a new William Control album, titled Noir, that was released on June 8, 2010. Francis invited his friends and fans to come up to the studio and record vocals for the new album, among whom is Ashley Costello of Orange County rock band New Years Day and Jeffree Star While its appearance on the album has yet to be confirmed, a teaser video featuring what appears to be the song "Deathclub" (a song that had only been released as a remix and has yet to be heard in its original form) was released by Wil via his social networking sites. Francis also stated that he will be supporting Jeffree Star, and doing a headlining show the day after.

Alt Press magazine has stated Noir to be released on June 1 via victory records though Francis later stated that the release had been pushed back a week to the 8th of June. Francis also announced he was filming a video for Noir's first single, "I'm Only Human Sometimes". The single for "I'm Only Human Sometimes", along with others was leaked 3 weeks before the release of Noir.

On July 13, he released a spoken word track "Eleonora" (written by Edgar Allan Poe) on iTunes. He later released "The Tell Tale Heart" on September 13, "The Oval Portrait" on October 15, and "The Raven" on October 30, all of which are also written by Edgar Allan Poe.

Shortly after the release of "Noir" William Control left Victory Records, and founded his own record company called Control Records, based up in Seattle, Washington. William is currently recording all his music under this title.

On November 29, 2011, William Control announced, via his personal web page, that he will be releasing a new 5-track EP.entitled Novus Ordo Seclorum. On the same day, he released a new book entitled Prose & Poems.

On January 26, 2012, he released the title of his third full-length album, "Silentium Amoris", to be released on April 2, 2012. William Control performed on the "Fight to Unite" US Tour, with Brokencyde and Blood on the Dance Floor in April and May 2012. In June 2012, he headlined the European "New Faith" tour, playing shows in the UK, Netherlands, and France. During this tour, he also headlined the Red Bull stage at Donington's Download Festival. A music video for the first single off Silentium Amoris, "Kiss Me Judas", was released on June 26, 2012 on YouTube.

In August and September 2012, William Control filmed a live DVD titled "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.

In January 2013, William Control released his debut live album, "Live in London Town", featuring 20 tracks and a new unreleased track "Speak to Me of Abduction", which featured behind the scenes footage from the "Live in London Town" DVD. Also, he is taking part in The Church of the Wild Ones US Tour with Black Veil Brides as a special guest. William Control also stars in the film Legion of the Black, a movie based upon the Black Veil Brides album Wretched and Divine.

In March 2013, William Control asked again for donations to help fund his newest recording studio "Hell's Half Acre" from his official website. In return for a donation William Control gave those who donated his newest EP Skeleton Strings, featuring 9 tracks of acoustic covers or original songs, including "Noir" and HIM's "The Funeral of Hearts".

In November 2013, William Control headlined the Friday night at Whitby Gothic Weekend

On October 1, 2013, William Control announced the title of his next studio album would be The Neuromancer, and that it was slated for release in early December 2013 just before he embarked on a U.S. Tour, "Revel Without a Cause," as the opening act for The Used. Additionally, William 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 sold exclusively through preorder, initially in a limited quantity of 500. However, the pre-orders sold so quickly that William announced the availability of an additional 100 copies shortly thereafter.

William Control's fourth full length album, The Neuromancer, was released April 4, 2014. There are two singles from the album; "Revelator and "Price We Pay". A music video for "Price We Pay" was released May 16, 2014

William Control has recently supported the Aggrotech band Combichrist on there "We Love Tour" (Alongside New Years Day (Band))

William Control recorded a live DVD at Bar Sinister in Hollywood. This DVD was Released as "Babylon". It featured Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides and Ash Costello of New Years Day (Band)

William Control announced a UK tour for August 2014 with support from Ashestoangels and Bad Pollyanna. Part of this tour was planned to play at Alt Fest 2014 however the festival was canceled.

William Control began teasing new music from his 5th album in several videos on Instagram. In April 2015 William Control started The Punishment Tour in the UK and the USA with support from Ashestoangels in the UK and Requiem and Justin Symbol in the US.

Band members

• William Control- Lead vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, production (2008-present).

The Neuromantic Boys

• Kenneth Fletcher - guitar (2008-present), bass, backing vocals (2012–present).
• Ian MacWilliams - keyboards, synthesizers (2013-present).
• Ben Tourkantonis - drums, percussion (2014-present).

Former Members

• Nick Wiggins - bass, backing vocals (2008–2012)
• Keef West - drums, percussion (2012)
• Philip Kross - bass, backing vocals (2012)
• Crilly Ashes - synthesizers, keyboards (2014 (UK Tour))

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

• Hate Culture (2008)
• Noir (2010)
• Silentium Amoris (2012)
• The Neuromancer (2014)
• TBA (2016)

EPs

• Novus Ordo Seclorum (2011)

Acoustic Albums

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

Remix Albums

• Remix (2014)

Live Albums

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

Singles

• "Beautiful Loser" (2008)
• "I'm Only Human Sometimes" (2010)
• "Kiss Me Judas" (2012)
• "Revelator" (2014)
• "Price We Pay"' (2014)

Music videos

• "Beautiful Loser" (2008)
• "Deathclub" (2009)
• "I'm Only Human Sometimes" (2010)
• "Kiss Me Judas" (2012)
• "Speak To Me of Abduction" (2012)
• "The Velvet Warms and Binds" (2013)
• "New World Order" (2013)
• "Revelator" (2014)
• "Price We Pay" (2014)

Soundtrack Contributions

• Saw V (2008) - "Strangers"
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) - "Deathclub" (feat. Matt Skiba) (Wes Borland/Renholdër Remix)
• Underworld: Awakening (2012) - "The Posthumous Letter"
• Fucking Mystic (2014) - "Adore"

Tours

Headliners

• Live in London - UK (2012) - William Control With Obscure Pleasures and Ashestoangels
• New Faith Tour - UK (2012) - William Control With Fearless Vampire Killers and Obscure Pleasures
• UK Headliner - UK (2013) - William Control with Alter Red
• Revel With Out A Cause Tour - US (2013) - William Control With Fearless Vampire Killers and Davey Suicide
• The Punishment Tour - UK (2014) - William Control With Ashestoangels and Bad Pollyanna
• The Punishment Tour - UK (2015) - William Control With Ashestoangels
• The Punishment Tour - US (2015) - William Control With Reqium and Justin Symbol

Support

• Entertainment or Death Tour - US (2010) - Black Veil Brides With William Control and Motionless in White
• The Birthday Massacre - US (2012) - The Birthday Massacre With William Control and Aesthetic Perfection
• Church of The Wild Ones Tour - US (2013) - Black Veil Brides With William Control
• We Love Tour - US (2014) - Combichrist With William Control and New Years Day
• We Love Tour Part 2 - US (2014) - Combichrist With William Control and Davey Suicide and Darksiderz
• We Love Tour - Europe (2014) - Combichrist With William Control

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" by Fearless Vampire Killers, on the album "Unbreakable Hearts"
• "City Falls To Dust" by Fearless Vampire Killers, on the album "Unbreakable Hearts"
• "Living Hell" by Ashestoangels, on the album "Horror Cult"

Production

• Producing the second album of the New Jersey rock band A Midnight Tragedy.
• Produced the EP "Revenge" for Seattle band Girl on Fire.
• Produced "The Ghost" EP and "Through The Rain" EP for Seattle based dark rock band To Paint the Sky.
• Produced the album "With Tape And Needles" for English electro goth punks Ashestoangels.
• Produced the album "Horror Cult" for English electro goth punks Ashestoangels.
• Produced the second album "Mile End" of the Austrian punk band Stupe-iT.
• Produced the Album "Milita Of The Lost" for English rock band Fearless Vampire Killers.
• Produced the Album "Unbreakable Hearts" for English rock band Fearless Vampire Killers.

External links

• Official website