Carey Willetts | |
---|---|
Born | January 1976 (age 48) Crewe, Cheshire, England |
Genres | Indie |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, bass guitar |
Years active | 1999–present |
Labels | Fiction Records (UK) Parlophone (UK) Astralwerks (US) Bow Music |
Carey Willetts (born January 1976 in Crewe, Cheshire, England) is an English musician, songwriter and producer. He has released work under the name "Boxes", and was the bassist [1] in the English indie band Athlete, with whom he has won an Ivor Novello Award for the track "Wires". [2]
Carey Willetts and his former band Athlete released four studio albums. These are Vehicles and Animals in 2003, which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize award; Tourist in 2005, which reached number one in the UK Album Charts in its first week and included the band's highest charting song "Wires" at number four in the UK Singles Chart; Beyond the Neighbourhood in 2007; and Black Swan (2009). In 2012, he released his first solo album Stickers. [3] Athlete split in 2013, but no confirmation of this was made until 2015, when frontman Joel Pott cited that the band had “ended”.
Willetts hinted in 2012 that the band were considering to split, when he noted that it was three years since they last released an album, as previously the band would release a new album every two years instead. Indeed, a year later the band released a singles compilation and then went on tour, before being dormant ever since.
Whilst Athlete and Boxes are both on permanent hiatus, Carey has been writing and producing artists including Ed Struijlaart, [4] Amber Run, Passport To Stockholm, [5] Tom Speight, RedFaces, Lilla Vargen, Kingfishr, Dermot Kennedy [6] and Freya Ridings. [7] Carey was shortlisted as Breakthrough Producer Of The Year at the MPG 2020 Awards. [8]
In 2012 Carey in partnership with Master of Malt produced a blended malt whisky called 'Boxes Blend' to celebrate the launch of his debut solo album Stickers. [9] [10]
Athlete were an English indie rock band formed in Deptford, London, comprising Joel Pott, Carey Willetts, Stephen Roberts, Tim Wanstall (keyboards).
Elbow are an English rock band formed in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 1990. The band consists of Guy Garvey, Craig Potter, Mark Potter and Pete Turner. They have played together since 1990, adopting the name Elbow in 1997. Drummer Alex Reeves replaced Richard Jupp in 2016 as a touring and session musician at first, before becoming a full member in 2024.
Chivas Regal is a blended Scotch whisky produced by the Chivas Brothers subsidiary of Pernod Ricard in Scotland.
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who originally formed in 1996 as Runston Parva, before reforming as Parva in 2000, and releasing one studio album, 22, in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation, the band has consisted of lead vocalist Ricky Wilson, guitarist Andrew "Whitey" White, bassist Simon Rix, keyboardist Nick "Peanut" Baines and since 2013 drummer Vijay Mistry, who replaced founding drummer Nick Hodgson following his departure from the band in late 2012.
Roland Jaime Orzábal De La Quintana is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and author. He is the guitarist, co-lead vocalist, main songwriter, co-founder, and the only constant member of Tears for Fears. He is also a producer of artists such as Oleta Adams. In 2014, Orzabal published his first novel, a romantic comedy.
Cherry Ghost were an English music group which began in 2006, first as an alias for singer-songwriter Simon Aldred as a solo artist, before morphing into a full band. Their debut album, Thirst for Romance, was released in July 2007 and entered the UK Album Charts at No. 7. It was nominated for an Ivor Novello award as well as winning Aldred an Ivor Novello for best song "People Help the People". A second album, titled Beneath This Burning Shoreline, was released in July 2010 to positive critical acclaim. Aldred, under the moniker Out Cold, released a solo album titled Invasion of Love in September 2013, featuring a markedly synthpop sound. Cherry Ghost released their third and final album Herd Runners in May 2014; Aldred last performed with Cherry Ghost in 2016 on the Marc Riley Show on BBC Radio 6 Music.
Ben's Brother are a five-piece English band, headed by founder Jamie Hartman. The band was named after Jamie's big brother Ben, whose shadow he lived in as a teenager. Their album Beta Male Fairytales reached number 14 on the UK album charts and their single Let Me Out was nominated for an Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically in 2007 - the other nominee was Love Is Losing Game, by Amy Winehouse.
Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith, known professionally as Fraser T. Smith, is an English record producer, songwriter and musician. Some of the singles he collaborated on include Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", James Morrison's "Broken Strings", Tinchy Stryder's "Number 1" and Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart". In 2016, Smith teamed up with Stormzy to produce his debut album Gang Signs & Prayer, which won Best Album at the 2018 Brit Awards. Earlier that year he produced seven tracks on Kano's Made in the Manor album and co-produced the debut EP from South London rapper Dave. Smith has also worked with Sam Smith.
Joel Laslett Pott is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie band Athlete between 2000 and their split in 2013. In recent years he has served as a songwriter and music producer for numerous artists.
TMS are an English songwriting and record production team composed of Tom 'Froe' Barnes, Benjamin Kohn and Pete 'Merf' Kelleher. The trio have co-written records for a host of artists including Lewis Capaldi, Dua Lipa, John Legend, Maroon 5, G-Eazy and Bebe Rexha. They have collectively had twenty top 10 singles, sold over 15 million records, accumulated over 5 billion streams and have contributed to over fifty top 40 albums. They co-wrote and produced Lewis Capaldi's "Someone You Loved" which spent seven consecutive weeks at number one and was the best selling single of 2019 in the UK. The song was nominated for Song of the Year at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards and won Song of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards.
Simbiatu "Simbi" Abisola Abiola Ajikawo, better known by her stage name Little Simz, is an English-Nigerian rapper. She rose to prominence with the independent release of her first three albums: A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons (2015), Stillness in Wonderland (2016) and Grey Area (2019), the last of which was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and won the awards for Best Album at both the Ivor Novello Awards and the NME Awards.
Palma Violets were an English band from Lambeth, London. The band formed in 2011, based on the musical partnership of frontmen Samuel Fryer and Chilli Jesson.
London Grammar are an English indie pop band formed in Nottingham in 2009. The band consists of Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman, and Dominic "Dot" Major. Their debut extended play, Metal & Dust, was released in 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings; their debut album, If You Wait (2013), reached No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Double Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The band's next two studio albums, Truth Is a Beautiful Thing (2017) and Californian Soil (2021), both reached number 1 on the UK Albums Chart.
Jamie Hartman is an English songwriter and producer based in Los Angeles, CA, and the former lead singer of the indie-pop band Ben's Brother.
David Orobosa Michael Omoregie, known professionally as Dave or Santan Dave, is a British rapper and actor. He is known for his socially conscious lyricism and wordplay.
Sault are a British music collective that make a mixture of R&B, urban contemporary gospel, house and disco. The project is helmed by songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Inflo, and includes vocalists Cleo Sol, Kid Sister, and Chronixx. Jack Peñate has also collaborated with the collective. The group frequently puts Black-centric issues at the foreground.
Dean Josiah Cover, professionally known as Inflo, is a British producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He helms the R&B music collective project Sault, which foregrounds black-centric issues.
Skinty Fia is the third studio album by Irish rock band Fontaines D.C. It was released on 22 April 2022 via Partisan Records. Like the band's two previous albums – 2019's Dogrel and 2020's A Hero's Death – Skinty Fia was produced by Dan Carey. Its title refers to an old Irish saying that drummer Tom Coll's great-aunt used to say; the phrase "Skinty Fia" translates to "the damnation of the deer". Both the title and the cover art allude to the extinct Irish elk, also known as the "giant deer".
Earth is the eighth studio album from British funk band Sault, one of five released for free via digital distribution on 1 November 2022. The download was available for only five days via a password-encrypted link and made as an offering to God. Four of the five were released on streaming music services on 12 November.