Ashley Hicklin
Encyclopedia
Ashley Hicklin is an English singer, songwriter, classical composer and producer. He is best known as an acoustic pop singer-songwriter
with a distinctive voice. He has also written hit songs for various other artists across Europe.
and completed his secondary education at Lady Lumley's School
in Pickering
, North Yorkshire and Caistor Grammar School
in Lincolnshire
. He first began to perform at open mic nights in the pub, at the age of 13.
As a musician Hicklin plays the guitar, piano, drums and clarinet. He is also a classically trained composer specializing in orchestral arranging and has written compositions for world-renowned ensembles such as London Sinfonietta
and the Goldberg Ensemble
. He studied at Leeds College of Music
where he began performing on the live circuit, winning the Leeds "Bright Young Things" Award in 2006.
Publishing (Peter Ende) saw a live video of Hicklin performing for BBC Introducing
. Hicklin signed a deal with EMI
Publishing and in less than six months had co-written several chart hits for other artists across Europe, including Idol (Sweden)
Johan Palm
's single Emma-lee
which reached No. 1 in Sweden and four tracks on the debut album My Antidote which reached No. 3 in the Swedish charts.
In 2010 he also co-wrote the Belgium entry for the Eurovision Song Contest
"Me and My Guitar
", sung by Tom Dice
. It was a No.1 hit in Belgium and also a top-ten chart hit in many countries across Europe. Hicklin has collaborated with the teams behind Skunk Anansie
, Leona Lewis
, James Morrison
, Marit Larsen
, Amy Winehouse
, Sugababes
and various other international acts.
, whose novel Wuthering Heights
features a similarly turbulent relationship and is set on the Yorkshire Moors where Hicklin grew up. The album was recorded in Hamburg
and released in Germany during 2010 to great acclaim. He went on to play several support and headline shows across Germany in 2010, including an Open Air Tour supporting Ich + Ich
and a tour with Sunrise Avenue
. In 2011 he began writing and recording a new album in Stockholm with Swedish producer Peter Kvint, famous for working with Natasha Bedingfield
, Britney Spears
, Andreas Johnson
and many other successful recording artists. The album is due for release in 2012.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
with a distinctive voice. He has also written hit songs for various other artists across Europe.
Early life
Ashley Hicklin was raised in his parent's pub on the North-East coast of England in Scarborough, North YorkshireNorth Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
and completed his secondary education at Lady Lumley's School
Lady Lumley's School
Lady Lumley's School is a specialist sports and language college in Pickering, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the most popular in the Ryedale region. It was founded around 200 years ago by Lady Lumley, a local Lady of the Manor. OFSTED rate Lady Lumley's as "good".The school has many links...
in Pickering
Pickering, North Yorkshire
Pickering is an ancient market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of the county of North Yorkshire, England, on the border of the North York Moors National Park. It sits at the foot of the Moors, overlooking the Vale of Pickering to the south...
, North Yorkshire and Caistor Grammar School
Caistor Grammar School
Caistor Grammar School is a selective school and academy in the English town of Caistor in the county of Lincolnshire. It was founded in 1630, and has since grown to be one of the most respected and high performing schools in the East of England. The school has been awarded specialist sports and...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. He first began to perform at open mic nights in the pub, at the age of 13.
As a musician Hicklin plays the guitar, piano, drums and clarinet. He is also a classically trained composer specializing in orchestral arranging and has written compositions for world-renowned ensembles such as London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
and the Goldberg Ensemble
Goldberg Ensemble
The Goldberg Ensemble is a string ensemble formed in 1982 in Manchester, UK. The group also performs as a chamber orchestra, a festival opera company, a chamber ensemble, and a contemporary ensemble....
. He studied at Leeds College of Music
Leeds College of Music
Leeds College of Music, located in Leeds’ Quarry Hill cultural quarter, is the largest music college in the United Kingdom, with over 1,000 full-time and 1,000 part-time students. The college is best known for its leading role in jazz education and started one of the first jazz degrees in Europe...
where he began performing on the live circuit, winning the Leeds "Bright Young Things" Award in 2006.
As a Writer
In late 2008, the European CEO of EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Publishing (Peter Ende) saw a live video of Hicklin performing for BBC Introducing
BBC Introducing
BBC Introducing is the brand for new music programmes across the BBC radio stations, showcasing unsigned, self signed and other emerging musical talent primarily from the UK. Launched in 2007 the Introducing brand brings programming from across the BBC under a unified brand with each show retaining...
. Hicklin signed a deal with EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Publishing and in less than six months had co-written several chart hits for other artists across Europe, including Idol (Sweden)
Idol (Sweden)
Idol is a Swedish reality-competition talent show airing on TV4. It debuted in August 2004, and it has since become one of the most popular shows on Swedish television...
Johan Palm
Johan Palm
Johan Palm is a former contestant on Swedish Idol 2008 ending up in fourth place. Palm performed several English songs on Swedish Idol, including "Friday I'm In Love" by the Cure, "Poison" by Alice Cooper, and "The Winner Takes It All" by Abba. He also performed a special edition of "We Built This...
's single Emma-lee
Emma-Lee
Emma-Lee is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitar player and photographer based in Toronto, Ontario. She released her debut album Never Just a Dream in 2008 to critical acclaim from the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail. The album was picked up by Bumstead Records and re-released on March 3, 2009....
which reached No. 1 in Sweden and four tracks on the debut album My Antidote which reached No. 3 in the Swedish charts.
In 2010 he also co-wrote the Belgium entry for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
"Me and My Guitar
Me and My Guitar (Tom Dice song)
"Me and My Guitar" is a song performed by Belgian singer-songwriter Tom Dice from his debut album Teardrops. The song was written by British singer-songwriter Ashley Hicklin, writer-producer Jeroen Swinnen and Tom Dice himself...
", sung by Tom Dice
Tom Dice
Tom Dice is a Belgian singer-songwriter, who finished second in the Flemish version of The X Factor in 2008. Dice represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 final on 29 May in Oslo. Tom Dice ended up in sixth, one of Flanders best placements ever in the contest...
. It was a No.1 hit in Belgium and also a top-ten chart hit in many countries across Europe. Hicklin has collaborated with the teams behind Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie is an English rock band whose members include Skin , Cass , Ace and Mark Richardson .Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009...
, Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer and songwriter. Lewis first came to prominence in 2006 when she won the third series of the British television series The X Factor....
, James Morrison
James Morrison (singer)
James Morrison is a BRIT Award-winning English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Rugby, Warwickshire. In 2006, his debut single "You Give Me Something" became a hit in Europe, Australia, and Japan, peaking in the top five in the UK and New Zealand. His debut album, Undiscovered, debuted at the...
, Marit Larsen
Marit Larsen
Marit Elisabeth Larsen is a Norwegian singer and songwriter.She began playing violins at age of 5,and played it until the age of 8. She gained international fame during her teenage years as a member of the pop duo M2M with childhood friend Marion Raven. More recently she has pursued her own music...
, Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
, Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
and various other international acts.
As a Solo Artist
Singing on the demo tracks written for other artists, Hicklin's distinctive voice attracted the attention of several record labels in 2009. He signed with Ferryhouse Productions / Warner Music in 2010 and immediately began recording his debut album as a singer-songwriter in his own right. ‘Parrysland’ was written as a concept album based upon a series of turbulent relationships. The record’s title is taken from the writings of Emily BronteEmily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
, whose novel Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
features a similarly turbulent relationship and is set on the Yorkshire Moors where Hicklin grew up. The album was recorded in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and released in Germany during 2010 to great acclaim. He went on to play several support and headline shows across Germany in 2010, including an Open Air Tour supporting Ich + Ich
Ich + Ich
Ich + Ich , also pronounced "Ich und Ich", is the name of a musical project by the German musicians Annette Humpe and Adel Tawil. They met in a Berlin recording studio in 2002 when Tawil sang on a production that Humpe had written...
and a tour with Sunrise Avenue
Sunrise Avenue
Sunrise Avenue is a Finnish rock band originally formed in 1992 in Espoo, Finland. In the early days the band was called “Sunrise” and the name was changed to “Sunrise Avenue” in 2001. Sunrise Avenue is known for their catchy melodic and modern songs and energetic live performances. Their style...
. In 2011 he began writing and recording a new album in Stockholm with Swedish producer Peter Kvint, famous for working with Natasha Bedingfield
Natasha Bedingfield
Natasha Anne Bedingfield is a British pop singer and songwriter. Bedingfield debuted in the 1990s as a member of the Christian dance/electronic group The DNA Algorithm with her siblings Daniel Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle...
, Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, Andreas Johnson
Andreas Johnson
Andreas Johnson is a Swedish pop/rock singer-songwriter and musician.-Career:...
and many other successful recording artists. The album is due for release in 2012.