WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.940 Imagine for a second being the undisputed king 00:00:03.940 --> 00:00:07.839 of a really heavy, aggressive, notoriously gate 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:10.179 -kept punk rock scene. Right. The kind of scene 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:12.859 where fans literally bleed for you in the mosh 00:00:12.859 --> 00:00:16.899 pit. Exactly. Your albums define the entire genre 00:00:16.899 --> 00:00:19.500 for a whole generation of kids. You have climbed 00:00:19.500 --> 00:00:22.160 to the absolute summit of this very specific, 00:00:22.579 --> 00:00:25.100 very jagged mountain. Yeah. You've made it. You've 00:00:25.100 --> 00:00:28.530 made it. And your next move. Yeah. You put down 00:00:28.530 --> 00:00:31.329 the guitar, you fire everyone, and you release 00:00:31.329 --> 00:00:34.229 a polished gothic synth pop record. Oh, wow. 00:00:34.409 --> 00:00:36.530 Yeah, which on paper, I mean, that sounds like 00:00:36.530 --> 00:00:39.170 absolute career suicide. It really does. But 00:00:39.170 --> 00:00:41.490 today we are looking at a man who committed that 00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:44.630 supposed career suicide. only to build this absolute 00:00:44.630 --> 00:00:47.450 multimedia empire right from the ashes. It really 00:00:47.450 --> 00:00:49.689 is the ultimate creative dilemma, isn't it? There 00:00:49.689 --> 00:00:52.369 is this massive, almost gravity -like tension 00:00:52.369 --> 00:00:54.750 between giving an audience exactly what they've 00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:57.130 been trained to expect and giving yourself what 00:00:57.130 --> 00:00:59.609 you actually need to survive as a growing artist. 00:00:59.869 --> 00:01:01.369 Right, because most people just choose safety. 00:01:01.609 --> 00:01:03.890 Oh, absolutely. They find a formula that pays 00:01:03.890 --> 00:01:05.890 the rent and they just allow themselves to get 00:01:05.890 --> 00:01:08.829 boxed in by their own success. Exactly. But today 00:01:08.829 --> 00:01:11.170 we're talking about someone who looked at that 00:01:11.170 --> 00:01:14.450 box, set it on fire and then built a totally 00:01:14.450 --> 00:01:17.530 new house out of the charcoal. I love that. Welcome 00:01:17.530 --> 00:01:20.170 to the deep dive. Our source material today is 00:01:20.170 --> 00:01:23.310 a comprehensive Wikipedia article chronicling 00:01:23.310 --> 00:01:25.950 the career of William Roy Francis, better known 00:01:25.950 --> 00:01:28.370 to a lot of you listening as Will Francis or 00:01:28.370 --> 00:01:32.260 by his alter ego. William controlled. He is an 00:01:32.260 --> 00:01:35.519 American musician, author and producer. And I 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:38.099 have to say his trajectory is just nothing short 00:01:38.099 --> 00:01:41.180 of wild. It really is. And just to set our mission 00:01:41.180 --> 00:01:43.640 for this deep dive real quick, we are not here 00:01:43.640 --> 00:01:46.040 to just read you a chronological biography. Well, 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:47.819 you can just go to the internet for that. Exactly. 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:50.859 We are using these sources to explore the actual 00:01:50.859 --> 00:01:53.060 mechanics of creative reinvention. We're looking 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:55.599 at transmedia world building. Really ambitious 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:58.799 stuff. Yeah. And what it actually takes to execute 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:01.640 an absolute refusal to let yourself be confined 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:04.480 to a single genre or a single medium or even 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:06.939 a single identity. to really set the stage for 00:02:06.939 --> 00:02:09.319 you, there is this incredible quote from the 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:12.300 sources that perfectly captures his gravity early 00:02:12.300 --> 00:02:16.039 on. Oh, the magazine quote. Yeah. In May 2009, 00:02:16.259 --> 00:02:19.659 the iconic rock magazine Kerrang called Francis, 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:22.699 quote, one of the most enigmatic and talismanic 00:02:22.699 --> 00:02:26.259 frontmen in rock music today. Enigmatic and talismanic. 00:02:26.340 --> 00:02:28.500 I mean, those are incredibly heavy words for 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:30.500 a rock magazine to just throw around. They really 00:02:30.500 --> 00:02:32.800 are. When a publication like Kerrang calls you 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:34.840 talismanic, they aren't just saying you have, 00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:37.460 like, good vocal range. Right, or good stage 00:02:37.460 --> 00:02:40.500 presence. Yeah, they are implying a kind of magical, 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:43.699 almost spiritual pull on an audience. They're 00:02:43.699 --> 00:02:46.099 essentially saying, you're a cult leader. Wow, 00:02:46.259 --> 00:02:48.319 yeah. You aren't just singing songs. You are 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:51.000 the emotional anchor for your audience. Your 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:53.219 fan base isn't just listening to the music. They 00:02:53.219 --> 00:02:56.139 are looking to you for a sense of identity. OK, 00:02:56.139 --> 00:02:59.360 let's unpack this. Because his entry into that 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:03.699 intense leadership role is one of the most unconventional 00:03:03.699 --> 00:03:05.539 origin stories I've ever come across. It's definitely 00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:08.639 not the usual path. Not at all. Let's rewind 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:12.199 the tape to 2003. Francis joins this band called 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:14.250 Aidan. Now, if you aren't familiar with Aiden, 00:03:15.030 --> 00:03:18.729 they're playing melodic, hardcore, horror punk, 00:03:19.210 --> 00:03:22.870 screamo. Really intense, gritty, visceral stuff. 00:03:23.090 --> 00:03:26.599 Sweaty music. But here is the kicker. Francis 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:29.039 doesn't join the talismanic front man. Nope. 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:31.960 He joins as the bass player. Right, which is 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:34.080 traditionally a rhythm section role. If you know 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:36.240 band dynamics, the bass player is usually holding 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:38.219 down the groove. Yeah, bridging the drums and 00:03:38.219 --> 00:03:41.120 the guitars. Exactly. And typically, standing 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:43.539 slightly out of the direct spotlight, you are 00:03:43.539 --> 00:03:45.219 the foundation, you are not the hood ornament. 00:03:45.659 --> 00:03:47.800 But he did not stay in the background for long. 00:03:48.420 --> 00:03:51.379 Later that exact same year, still in 2003, mind 00:03:51.379 --> 00:03:54.560 you, he completely pivots. He makes a huge move. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:56.400 The source is known he steps up and replaces 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:58.900 Steve Clemens as the lead vocalist. And I was 00:03:58.900 --> 00:04:00.960 reading this and just like trying to wrap my 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:02.879 head around the social dynamics of that. It's 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:04.639 hard to imagine, right? It is. It's not just 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:07.580 like an understudy stepping in for a night. It's 00:04:07.580 --> 00:04:09.680 more like a corporate hostile takeover from within 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:12.580 the mailroom. Or a parasite rewriting the host's 00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:15.969 DNA. Yes, because he steps up to the mic and 00:04:15.969 --> 00:04:18.069 over the next few years he doesn't just sing 00:04:18.069 --> 00:04:21.370 the old songs, he completely rewrites the band's 00:04:21.370 --> 00:04:24.120 identity. What's fascinating here is the sheer 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:26.800 force of will that requires. Think about the 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.939 fragile ecosystem of egos and creative ideas 00:04:29.939 --> 00:04:33.300 inside literally any band. Oh, they are notoriously 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:36.199 dramatic. Super dramatic. So to join an existing 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:39.699 group in 2003 and seamlessly subsume its entire 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:42.699 creative direction, it just takes a staggering 00:04:42.699 --> 00:04:45.199 amount of vision. And persuasion, honestly. Yeah, 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:47.500 definitely persuasion. The sources are very clear 00:04:47.500 --> 00:04:50.379 on this. He became the sole creative force behind 00:04:50.379 --> 00:04:52.589 Aidan's entire set. We're talking about writing 00:04:52.589 --> 00:04:55.089 the music and the lyrics for foundational albums 00:04:55.089 --> 00:04:57.350 in that scene. Like Nightmare Anatomy in 2005. 00:04:57.689 --> 00:05:00.009 Right. And Conviction in 2007. He drove that 00:05:00.009 --> 00:05:02.189 ship entirely. And he drove it all the way to 00:05:02.189 --> 00:05:04.629 the bitter end, too. He really did. By the time 00:05:04.629 --> 00:05:07.250 Aidan released their final self -titled album 00:05:07.250 --> 00:05:10.850 in 2015, Francis was the absolute last man standing. 00:05:11.029 --> 00:05:13.470 Which is wild. He was the only original member 00:05:13.470 --> 00:05:16.009 remaining from that 2003 lineup. Everyone else 00:05:16.009 --> 00:05:18.500 had turned over. Which tells us so much about 00:05:18.500 --> 00:05:21.399 the uncompromising nature of his artistic vision. 00:05:22.060 --> 00:05:24.079 How do you mean? Well, in the music industry, 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:26.860 a lot of bands just break up when key members 00:05:26.860 --> 00:05:29.519 leave. The compromise of finding a new middle 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:31.800 ground with new members becomes too difficult. 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:34.259 Yeah, the magic is just gone. Right. But for 00:05:34.259 --> 00:05:36.579 Francis, the departure of other members didn't 00:05:36.579 --> 00:05:39.259 dilute the band's identity at all. It actually 00:05:39.259 --> 00:05:42.040 concentrated it. It became entirely his vehicle. 00:05:42.379 --> 00:05:45.420 Exactly. He proved early on that he possessed 00:05:45.420 --> 00:05:48.240 the leadership. And frankly, the audacity to 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:51.259 carry an entire brand on his own shoulders without 00:05:51.259 --> 00:05:54.319 needing a democratic process to approve his ideas. 00:05:54.500 --> 00:05:56.879 Not at all. It's an incredible level of dominance 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:00.180 in that specific hardcore scene. But here's where 00:06:00.180 --> 00:06:02.680 it gets really interesting. OK, lay it on me. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:05.100 Usually when someone takes total control of a 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:07.240 band like Aiden and they achieve that level of 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:10.639 global success, they ride that specific way forever. 00:06:10.829 --> 00:06:13.129 Right, they found their golden goose. They own 00:06:13.129 --> 00:06:15.170 the rights, they know the formula, and they just 00:06:15.170 --> 00:06:17.410 keep pressing the button. But Francis did something 00:06:17.410 --> 00:06:20.430 that completely defies standard industry logic. 00:06:20.769 --> 00:06:23.910 He took a massive left turn. A huge one. While 00:06:23.910 --> 00:06:26.410 Aiden was still a fully functioning touring entity, 00:06:26.910 --> 00:06:29.709 he pivoted to a completely different sonic universe. 00:06:30.410 --> 00:06:33.870 He birthed this alter ego project called William 00:06:33.870 --> 00:06:36.110 Control. And we really need to emphasize that 00:06:36.110 --> 00:06:38.129 this wasn't just like a side project that sounded 00:06:38.129 --> 00:06:40.290 like acoustic A and B sides. Oh no, not at all. 00:06:40.370 --> 00:06:43.290 This was a radical, jarring departure from everything 00:06:43.290 --> 00:06:45.569 he had built his reputation on. Radical is putting 00:06:45.569 --> 00:06:48.610 it mildly. The sources show he went from screaming 00:06:48.610 --> 00:06:52.350 guitars, live drum kits, and post -hardcore aggression 00:06:52.350 --> 00:06:56.089 to synthesizer -driven dark wave, synth pop, 00:06:56.269 --> 00:06:58.870 and electronica. A total genre flip. Completely. 00:06:59.170 --> 00:07:01.350 He releases full studio albums under this new 00:07:01.350 --> 00:07:05.029 moniker. Hate Culture in 2008, Noir in 2010, 00:07:05.389 --> 00:07:08.170 The Neuromancer in 2014. All very different from 00:07:08.170 --> 00:07:10.269 horror punk. So I have to push back a little 00:07:10.269 --> 00:07:12.329 here because I am genuinely stuck on the mechanics 00:07:12.329 --> 00:07:14.550 of this pivot. What's tripping you up? Well, 00:07:14.750 --> 00:07:17.029 how does a fan base reacting to gritty, sweaty 00:07:17.029 --> 00:07:20.569 horror punk accept a sudden left turn into highly 00:07:20.569 --> 00:07:23.509 polished electronic synth pop? It's a huge jump. 00:07:23.769 --> 00:07:26.399 Isn't that an incredible risk? I mean, if I go 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:28.259 to my favorite steakhouse and they serve me a 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:30.800 beautifully plated tofu burger, the aesthetic 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:33.100 might be similar, but I'm still asking for a 00:07:33.100 --> 00:07:36.600 refund. Right, you want the steak. Exactly. How 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:39.160 did he convince the mosh pit to eat the tofu? 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:42.199 It is a massive risk, and your statehouse analogy 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:45.240 is exactly why most artists fail when they try 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:48.170 this. Because they alienate everyone. Yes. You 00:07:48.170 --> 00:07:51.110 are essentially asking an audience built on physical 00:07:51.110 --> 00:07:53.930 aggression and guitar distortion to suddenly 00:07:53.930 --> 00:07:57.730 appreciate atmospheric icy electronic music. 00:07:57.790 --> 00:08:00.180 Which is a tough sell. A very tough sell. But 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:02.439 the reason it works, and this is crucial for 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:04.279 you as a listener to understand if you ever need 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:06.360 to pull off a major pivot in your own career 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:09.480 or life, is the emotional through line. The emotional 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:11.920 through line. Yes. Francis evolved the gothic 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:13.860 aesthetic. The instruments completely changed. 00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:17.180 Yes. Right. Distorted guitars swapped for synthesizers. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:20.709 Exactly. but the dark theatrical brooding essence 00:08:20.709 --> 00:08:24.350 remained entirely intact. Ah, OK. I see. So he 00:08:24.350 --> 00:08:26.209 changed the vocabulary, but he was still speaking 00:08:26.209 --> 00:08:28.970 the exact same emotional language. Precisely. 00:08:29.230 --> 00:08:31.829 He understood a fundamental truth about his audience. 00:08:32.289 --> 00:08:34.370 His fans weren't just connected to the literal 00:08:34.370 --> 00:08:36.590 sound of a distorted guitar. Right. They were 00:08:36.590 --> 00:08:39.429 connected to the atmosphere of despair, romance, 00:08:39.570 --> 00:08:41.690 and theatricality that he was creating. That 00:08:41.690 --> 00:08:44.490 makes a lot of sense. As William Control, he 00:08:44.490 --> 00:08:46.789 proved that dark wave synth pop could carry the 00:08:46.789 --> 00:08:50.509 exact same emotional weight as Screamo. He just 00:08:50.509 --> 00:08:53.389 traded the sweaty basement venue for an underground 00:08:53.389 --> 00:08:56.690 neon -lit gothic nightclub. And the broader entertainment 00:08:56.690 --> 00:08:59.149 industry actually validated this pivot, didn't 00:08:59.149 --> 00:09:01.750 they? They absolutely did. Because of this refined, 00:09:01.809 --> 00:09:04.769 dark aesthetic, his William Control tracks ended 00:09:04.769 --> 00:09:07.870 up on major Hollywood movie soundtracks. Yes. 00:09:08.250 --> 00:09:11.309 the Underworld film franchise. Which is huge. 00:09:11.470 --> 00:09:13.629 Looking at the timeline here, he had the song 00:09:13.629 --> 00:09:16.090 Death Club on the Underworld, Rise of the Lycans 00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:19.090 soundtrack in 2009, and then the posthumous letter 00:09:19.090 --> 00:09:21.870 on the Underworld Awakening soundtrack in 2012. 00:09:22.090 --> 00:09:24.190 Which, when you think about it, is just the perfect 00:09:24.190 --> 00:09:28.370 cinematic pairing. It really is. Vampires, werewolves, 00:09:28.750 --> 00:09:31.230 slick black leather, and the pulsing darkwave 00:09:31.230 --> 00:09:33.990 sound of William Control. It is a match made 00:09:33.990 --> 00:09:36.679 in gothic heaven. But what's truly wild about 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:39.700 this era of his career is the duality of it all. 00:09:40.620 --> 00:09:43.759 Well, while he's building this highly polished 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.799 electronic world for Hollywood soundtracks, he 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:50.019 is simultaneously keeping one foot firmly planted 00:09:50.019 --> 00:09:52.980 in his aggressive roots. Oh, through the collaboration. 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:55.600 Yes, a vast network of collaboration. Right. 00:09:55.740 --> 00:09:57.519 I was looking at these dates in the source material 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:00.080 and my head was just spinning. It's a lot to 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:02.659 keep track of. It is. While he's doing William 00:10:02.659 --> 00:10:06.399 control, he is going out and providing screaming 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:09.460 live vocals for post -hardcore heavyweights. 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:12.679 He's on Silverstein's live compilation in 2006. 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:15.320 Right. He's performing live with the used at 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:18.100 the Taste of Chaos tour in 2007. Which was a 00:10:18.100 --> 00:10:20.940 massive tour. Huge. He even plays a character 00:10:20.940 --> 00:10:24.000 literally called the voice of F -E -A -R on Black 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:27.299 Veil Bride's 2013 concept album, Wretched and 00:10:27.299 --> 00:10:30.500 Divine. It's incredible. How does a vocalist 00:10:30.500 --> 00:10:32.539 physically and mentally switch gears like that? 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:34.830 Screaming his lungs out. on an arena tour one 00:10:34.830 --> 00:10:37.509 night and meticulously programming since the 00:10:37.509 --> 00:10:40.370 next. It speaks to an incredible compartmentalization 00:10:40.370 --> 00:10:42.289 of his creative drive. Yeah, that's a good way 00:10:42.289 --> 00:10:44.730 to put it. But it also shows that he absolutely 00:10:44.730 --> 00:10:48.090 refuses to be limited by genre boundaries. He 00:10:48.090 --> 00:10:50.129 treats these different musical styles just like 00:10:50.129 --> 00:10:52.370 different tools in a toolbox. Which is so rare. 00:10:52.509 --> 00:10:55.389 Very rare. But where his ingenuity really shines 00:10:55.389 --> 00:10:57.870 is how he adapted his release strategy for the 00:10:57.870 --> 00:11:00.850 William Control Project. Oh, the EPs. Let's look 00:11:00.850 --> 00:11:03.750 at his fifth studio album, Revelations. This 00:11:03.750 --> 00:11:06.190 part of the source material blew my mind. Because 00:11:06.190 --> 00:11:09.450 instead of doing what literally every other artist 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:12.389 does... Dropping one massive 12 -track album. 00:11:12.629 --> 00:11:14.970 Exactly. Dropping it, touring it, and hoping 00:11:14.970 --> 00:11:17.379 people pay attention for a month. Instead of 00:11:17.379 --> 00:11:19.639 that, he split Revelations into four distinct 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:22.259 EPs. A really smart move. He released the Pale 00:11:22.259 --> 00:11:25.679 EP in October 2016, the Black EP in February 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:30.620 2017, the Red EP in July 2017, and finally, the 00:11:30.620 --> 00:11:33.960 White EP in November 2017. This is a masterclass 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:36.059 in adapting to the psychology of the modern listener. 00:11:36.220 --> 00:11:39.240 How so? Well, we are living in an era of absolute 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:42.039 information overload. Attention spans are completely 00:11:42.039 --> 00:11:44.580 fractured, and the algorithm demands constant 00:11:44.580 --> 00:11:47.440 relentless content. If you release one album 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:49.940 every two years, you disappear from the public 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:52.799 consciousness for 23 months. You're yesterday's 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:56.480 news by the following Tuesday. Exactly. By breaking 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.700 a full conceptual album into four thematic EPs 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:03.000 released over a 13 -month period, he essentially 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:06.090 engineered a perpetual hype cycle. It's brilliant. 00:12:06.409 --> 00:12:09.289 He was giving his audience bite -sized, digestible 00:12:09.289 --> 00:12:12.129 pieces of art. It kept them constantly engaged 00:12:12.129 --> 00:12:13.950 and constantly looking forward to the next chapter. 00:12:14.090 --> 00:12:16.509 And it kept his name in the music press. Right. 00:12:16.610 --> 00:12:19.529 It kept the tours fresh. It's just a highly intelligent 00:12:19.529 --> 00:12:22.529 business adaptation to how we consume media today. 00:12:22.850 --> 00:12:24.990 But even with all of this going on, I mean, think 00:12:24.990 --> 00:12:27.909 about it. Fronting Aiden, launching William Control, 00:12:28.190 --> 00:12:30.549 landing the underworld soundtracks, screaming 00:12:30.549 --> 00:12:33.070 for the used, and hacking the modern release 00:12:33.070 --> 00:12:35.850 cycle with the four EPs. It's exhausting just 00:12:35.850 --> 00:12:38.870 listing it. It really is. But music still wasn't 00:12:38.870 --> 00:12:41.389 a large enough container for his ideas. No, it 00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:43.450 wasn't. The lyrics and the melodies couldn't 00:12:43.450 --> 00:12:45.370 hold the weight of the concepts he was building. 00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:48.820 And this brings us to a massive transition. in 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:51.620 the source material. His expansion into literature 00:12:51.620 --> 00:12:54.019 and business. Right. He doesn't just change lanes 00:12:54.019 --> 00:12:56.059 here. He starts spilling completely off the page. 00:12:56.200 --> 00:12:58.379 If we connect this to the bigger picture, this 00:12:58.379 --> 00:13:01.159 is the exact moment where Francis transitions 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:04.940 from being a musician to becoming a true multimedia 00:13:04.940 --> 00:13:07.500 architect. An architect. I like that. Because 00:13:07.500 --> 00:13:10.019 it's not enough to just make the art anymore. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:11.940 Eventually, if you want to protect your vision 00:13:11.940 --> 00:13:14.360 from executives who don't understand it, you 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:16.940 have to own the infrastructure. Which he did. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.500 Yes. He moved from being a signed artist to a 00:13:19.500 --> 00:13:21.980 business owner by forming his own independent 00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:24.840 record label, Control Records. And he didn't 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:27.740 just use it for himself. No, he stepped into 00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:30.340 the producer's chair to curate a scene for other 00:13:30.340 --> 00:13:33.320 bands. The sources mentioned he produced acts 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:36.159 like Fearless Vampire Killers, specifically their 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:38.960 album Unbreakable Hearts. Crape record. And he 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:41.039 produced multiple records for the English electro 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:44.539 goth punk band Ashes to Angels. which is a massive 00:13:44.539 --> 00:13:46.759 time commitment. He's producing, he's writing 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:48.860 a label. I was reading this section of the wiki 00:13:48.860 --> 00:13:52.669 and just marveling at the sheer bandwidth. It's 00:13:52.669 --> 00:13:55.710 hard to fathom. Genuinely, how does one human 00:13:55.710 --> 00:13:58.529 being front two drastically different bands, 00:13:59.289 --> 00:14:01.649 produce records for other artists, and run the 00:14:01.649 --> 00:14:03.610 daily operations of an indie label? And wait, 00:14:03.789 --> 00:14:05.490 we haven't even mentioned the books yet. I know, 00:14:05.509 --> 00:14:07.669 I haven't even mentioned the books. The literary 00:14:07.669 --> 00:14:10.629 career is where the concept of world building 00:14:10.629 --> 00:14:13.169 really crystallizes into something extraordinary. 00:14:13.289 --> 00:14:16.450 It's a massive undertaking. First, he tests the 00:14:16.450 --> 00:14:18.990 waters by co -writing poetry. There's Flowers 00:14:18.990 --> 00:14:21.809 and Filth in 2009 with Lisa Johnson, and Pros 00:14:21.809 --> 00:14:25.009 Plus Poems in 2011. Right, dipping his toes in. 00:14:25.250 --> 00:14:28.190 But then, he embarks on writing a full -length 00:14:28.190 --> 00:14:31.330 novel trilogy, The Revelator Books. Which is 00:14:31.330 --> 00:14:34.110 a whole different beast. Completely. Writing 00:14:34.110 --> 00:14:36.490 a three -minute punk song is one thing. But sitting 00:14:36.490 --> 00:14:39.269 down in isolation to write three novels requires 00:14:39.269 --> 00:14:41.009 a completely different kind of psychological 00:14:41.009 --> 00:14:43.190 discipline. Oh, absolutely. And the titles of 00:14:43.190 --> 00:14:45.509 these books are the exact key to understanding 00:14:45.509 --> 00:14:48.509 his entire artistic ecosystem. Yes. I want you 00:14:48.509 --> 00:14:50.570 to pay very close attention to these titles if 00:14:50.570 --> 00:14:53.210 you're listening. Book one, released in 2013, 00:14:53.389 --> 00:14:56.149 is called The Neuromancer. Book two, released 00:14:56.149 --> 00:14:59.629 in 2014, is The Hate Culture. Book three, in 00:14:59.629 --> 00:15:02.240 2016, is The Hell of Heaven. Okay, now connect 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:04.159 the dots for us. If you've been tracking the 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:06.000 William Control discography we mentioned earlier, 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:09.019 your jaw just dropped. Because Hate Culture was 00:15:09.019 --> 00:15:12.279 his 2008 debut album. The Neuromancer was his 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:16.460 2014 album. He is directly mirroring his album 00:15:16.460 --> 00:15:19.039 titles with his novel titles. Exactly. And this 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:21.220 is the absolute genius of it. He isn't just writing 00:15:21.220 --> 00:15:23.580 companion pieces here. Was he doing that? He 00:15:23.580 --> 00:15:26.259 is constructing an entirely self -sustaining 00:15:26.259 --> 00:15:30.360 narrative universe by tying the dense literary 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:33.320 narrative of his novels directly to the atmospheric 00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:36.220 sonic landscapes of his albums. He's creating 00:15:36.220 --> 00:15:39.019 a space where you, the listener, and the reader 00:15:39.019 --> 00:15:41.559 can get totally consumed. Like a lifestyle brand 00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:43.799 almost. Essentially, yes. You don't just listen 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:45.759 to William Control on your commute. You go home 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:47.740 and you read William Control before bed. You 00:15:47.740 --> 00:15:50.419 inhabit the world. Transmedia storytelling like 00:15:50.419 --> 00:15:52.980 this is incredibly rare for a solo musician to 00:15:52.980 --> 00:15:55.500 pull off. It is so rare, and it was so immersive, 00:15:55.620 --> 00:15:58.440 so cinematic, that in the spring of 2016, it 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:00.399 was announced that the Revelator books were slated 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:03.320 to be adapted into a trilogy of films. Audio 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:06.080 to text to visual cinema. An unbroken chain. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:10.000 An unbroken chain of creative output, all stemming 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.320 from one person's refusal to be categorized. 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:15.149 It really is inspiring. So what does this all 00:16:15.149 --> 00:16:18.850 mean for us? When we pull back and look at this 00:16:18.850 --> 00:16:22.769 mountain of source material Will Francis's journey 00:16:22.769 --> 00:16:26.289 from a 2003 replacement bassist in a sweaty punk 00:16:26.289 --> 00:16:30.129 club to a label owning novel writing genre hopping 00:16:30.129 --> 00:16:33.519 architect It proves something vital. What's the 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:35.559 takeaway? It proves that true creatives don't 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:37.980 wait for permission to change lanes. Right. They 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:40.139 don't form a focus group to ask their audience 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:41.779 if it's okay to put down the guitar and pick 00:16:41.779 --> 00:16:44.399 up a synthesizer. Right. Or to put down the microphone 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:46.600 and pick up a pen. They just do it. They just 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:48.960 do it. And they trust that if the art is authentic, 00:16:49.419 --> 00:16:51.539 the audience will follow. This raises an important 00:16:51.539 --> 00:16:53.860 question about how we view success and artistic 00:16:53.860 --> 00:16:57.190 integrity in the modern era. How so? Well, we 00:16:57.190 --> 00:16:59.149 live in a world governed by algorithms, right? 00:16:59.149 --> 00:17:00.970 Where creators are constantly told to find their 00:17:00.970 --> 00:17:02.649 nation, stick to it, so the computer knows how 00:17:02.649 --> 00:17:05.009 to categorize them. Yeah, the dreaded algorithm. 00:17:05.450 --> 00:17:08.569 Francis's career is a masterclass in DIY self 00:17:08.569 --> 00:17:11.589 -actualization. He built the label to release 00:17:11.589 --> 00:17:13.650 the music, that soundtracked the books, that 00:17:13.650 --> 00:17:15.930 inspired the films. He built his own ecosystem. 00:17:16.089 --> 00:17:19.529 He built the entire house so no executive, no 00:17:19.529 --> 00:17:21.750 algorithm, and no gatekeeper could ever lock 00:17:21.750 --> 00:17:24.250 him out of a room. He built the house. I love 00:17:24.250 --> 00:17:27.970 that framing. Which brings me to a final lingering 00:17:27.970 --> 00:17:29.930 thought for you to mull over after we wrap up 00:17:29.930 --> 00:17:32.490 this deep dive. Let's hear it. Think about the 00:17:32.490 --> 00:17:34.470 sheer psychological distance between the guy 00:17:34.470 --> 00:17:37.529 playing bass in the background in 2003 and the 00:17:37.529 --> 00:17:40.230 author writing The Neuromancer a decade later. 00:17:40.410 --> 00:17:44.529 It's a vast distance. Vast. If an artist completely 00:17:44.529 --> 00:17:47.529 changes their medium. If they completely abandon 00:17:47.529 --> 00:17:49.650 their original musical genre, if they cycle through 00:17:49.650 --> 00:17:52.250 all their bandmates, if they even adopt an entirely 00:17:52.250 --> 00:17:55.789 new name like Will Francis becoming William Control, 00:17:56.470 --> 00:17:58.769 is it still a continuation of the same artistic 00:17:58.769 --> 00:18:01.309 soul? Oh, that's heavy. Like the ship of Theseus, 00:18:01.329 --> 00:18:03.190 you know. If you replace every single plank of 00:18:03.190 --> 00:18:04.970 wood, is it still the same ship? That is the 00:18:04.970 --> 00:18:08.289 question. Or, to reach our true ultimate potential, 00:18:09.009 --> 00:18:11.430 do we sometimes have to completely kill off our 00:18:11.430 --> 00:18:14.950 past selves to let the new ones be born? What 00:18:14.950 --> 00:18:17.109 past self meant you need to leave behind right 00:18:17.109 --> 00:18:19.670 now to unlock your next chapter? Something to 00:18:19.670 --> 00:18:21.809 really think about. Think about that. We will 00:18:21.809 --> 00:18:22.470 see you next time.