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Will Hicks (record producer)

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Will Hicks is a British record producer,[1] songwriter and musician most noted for his work with Jamie Lawson and Ed Sheeran.

Will Hicks
Will Hicks in his studio
Background information
Birth nameWilliam Hicks
Born1984 (age 39–40)
Eardisland, England
Occupation(s)Record producer, musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals
Years active2011–present

Early life

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Will Hicks was born and grew up in the English county of Herefordshire. He started playing guitar at the age of 10, picking up bass and piano soon after. He joined his first band aged 12,[2] though aged 16 he was pushed towards music production after falling in love with the recording process at a friend's father's studio and realising the much greater satisfaction producing gave him compared with performing on stage.[3]

Production, mixing and engineering work

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After college, Hicks worked as a session guitarist and sound engineer in London for some time before working in artist development and production for Elton John's Rocket Music Studios in London's Kensington and New York. Over the years, Hicks worked with a vast variety of musicians such as Lily Allen, James Blunt, One Direction and Ed Sheeran as record producer and recording mix engineer.[2] His work in artist development for 21st Century Management and Rocket Music Management also resulted in the discovery of and work with Anne-Marie and Bastille.[3]

In 2014, Will Hicks's work vocal editing and engineering songs on Ed Sheeran's multi-Platinum certified album "x" earned him a Grammy nomination in the "Album of the Year" category of 2014.[1]

In 2015, Hicks produced Jamie Lawson's self-titled debut release Jamie Lawson on Sheeran's own Gingerbread Man Records label. The album charted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold.[4] Its lead single was the UK Top 10 charting "Wasn't Expecting That",[5] which was certified Platinum as well as winning Best Song (Musically and Lyrically) at the 2016 Ivor Novello Awards.[6][7]

In 2017 Will Hicks produced Ed Sheeran's hit single "Perfect" from the album ÷ as well as the follow-up digital release of the duet version with Beyoncé. The album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.

Hicks's approach to production has earned him the reputation of being "a singer's producer", dedicating an unusual amount of time to the vocal production of a track, "framing a voice with instruments and pieces of music to make people feel the emotion of a song".[3] Parallels have been drawn to the work of Swedish record producer Bo Tretow and Pharrell Williams. His method developed from his early career when, long before working with famous musicians, he would "record anyone for free" to learn through trial and error and hone his recording method.[8]

Selected discography

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List of singles as either producer or co-producer, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released, performing artists and album name
Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications Album
US US Cont AUS BEL
(FL) 		CAN DEN FRA NLD SWE UK
2017 "Perfect"
(Ed Sheeran) 		1[9] 10[10] 1[11] 1[12] — — 1[13] 1[14] 1[15] 1[16] Australia (ARIA) 3× Platinum[17]
Belgium (BEA) 2× Platinum[18]
Canada (Music Canada) Platinum[19]
Denmark (IFPI Denmark) Platinum[20]
France (SNEP) Platinum[21]
Germany (BVMI) Platinum[22]
Ireland (IRMA) 2× Platinum
Italy (FIMI) 4× Platinum[23]
New Zealand (RMNZ) 2× Platinum[24]
Spain (PROMUSICAE) Platinum[25]
Sweden (GLF) Platinum[26]
UK (BPI) Platinum[27]
USA (RIAA) 2× Platinum[28] 		÷
"Perfect Duet"
(Ed Sheeran & Beyoncé) 		1 10 — 1 1[29] — — 1 1 — non-album single
2016 "Miss You"
(James Hersey) 		– — — — — — — — — — Canada (Music Canada) Gold[30]
Italy (FIMI) Gold[31] 		Digital download
"Someone for Everyone"
(Jamie Lawson) 		– – — — — — – – – – Jamie Lawson
"Don't Let Me Go"
(Jamie Lawson) 		– – — — — — – – – –
2015 "Wasn't Expecting That"
(Jamie Lawson) 		– 16 3 7 — — 97 – – 6 UK (BPI) Platinum[32]
"Ahead of Myself"
(Jamie Lawson) 		– – 59 — — — – – – –
"Cold in Ohio"
(Jamie Lawson) 		– – — — — — – – – –
Where We Belong (EP)
(Jake Isaac) 		– – — — — — – – – – Where We Belong
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Selected other music credits[33][34]
Year Artist Title Label Credit
2018 Jeremy Loops Critical as Water Sheer Sound Producer
2017 James Blunt The Afterlove Atlantic Drum programming, engineer, background vocals
"Make Me Better" Atlantic Drum programming, engineer
Sad Lovers & Giants Where the Light Shines Through the Bigger Picture 1981-2017 Composer
Tor Miller "Loving Hold" Glassnote Producer
2016 Sad Lovers & Giants Copacetic (The Part Time Punks Session) Voight-Kampff Records Keyboards
2015 Ed Sheeran 5 Self-released Engineer, mixing
2014 Electric Würms Musik, Die Schwer Zu Twerk Bella Union, Warner Group member, composer
Lauren Aquilina "Oceans" Island Mixing
One Direction Four Columbia Vocal engineer
David Guetta Listen Parlophone Vocal engineer
James Blunt "Miss America (Acoustic Version from Angel Studios)" Atlantic Mixing
"Satellites (Acoustic Version from Angel Studios)" Atlantic Recording engineer
Sandhja "Hold Me" Columbia Composer
2013 James Blunt Moon Landing Atlantic Mixing
Lily Allen "Somewhere Only We Know" Parlophone Strings arrangement
2011 Ed Sheeran You Need Me EP Atlantic, Asylum Engineer, mixing
James Blunt "Make Me Better" Atlantic Drum programming, engineer, background vocals

References

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  1. ^ a b "William Hicks". Recording Academy Grammy Awards. Recording Academy. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Grammy award fame beckons for Herefordshire musician". Hereford Times. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c LeDonne, Rob. "'Perfect' Co-Producer Will Hicks Hails Ed Sheeran As 'One of the Best Songwriters of Our Generation'". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Jamie Lawson". Official Charts. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Official Singles Chart Results : Wasn't Expecting That". Official Charts. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Jamie Lawson Wasn't Expecting That". BPI Awards. BPI. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  7. ^ "The Ivors 2016". The Ivors. BASCA. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  8. ^ West, Andrew (2016). The Art of Songwriting. London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. p. x. ISBN 978-1-4725-2781-3.
  9. ^ "Ed Sheeran Chart History Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Billboard Music. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Ed Sheeran Chart History Adult Contemporary". Billboard Chart History Adult Contemporary. Billboard Music. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Ed Sheeran - Perfect (song)". Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Ed Sheeran Perfect". Ultratop. Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  13. ^ "Ed Sheeran - Perfect (Chanson)". Les Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Top 40-lijst van week 48, 2017". Media Markt Top 40. Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Ed Sheeran - Perfect (song)". Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Official Charts". UK Official Charts. The UK Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  17. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles Chart". ARIA. Australian Recording Industry Association Limited. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Ultratop Goud en Platina 2017". Ultratop. Ultratop & Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Gold/Platinum". Music Canada. Music Canada. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Ed Sheeran". IFPI. IFPI. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  21. ^ "Les Certifications - Ed Sheeran - Perfect". SNEP Musique. SNEP Musique. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  22. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank". Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Certificazioni". FIMI. Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  24. ^ "The Official NZ Musical Charts 18 December 2017". The Official NZ Musical Charts. Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  25. ^ "Ed Sheeran - Perfect". El Portal de la Musica. ProMusicae. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  26. ^ "Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverige Topplistan. Grammofon Leverantörernas Förening. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  27. ^ "Ed Sheeran, Perfect, Single". BPI Awards. BPI. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  28. ^ "Gold & Platinum - RIAA". RIAA. RIAA. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  29. ^ "Ed Sheeran Chart History". Billboard Canadian Hot 100. Billboard Music. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  30. ^ "Music Canada Gold/Platinum Certification". Music Canada. Music Canada. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  31. ^ "Certificazioni: Miss You - James Hersey". FIMI. FIMI. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  32. ^ "BPI Awards". BPI. BPI.
  33. ^ "Will Hicks". AllMusic. Complex Music. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  34. ^ "Discography Will Hicks". Discogs. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
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