Ashley Hicklin
{{Short description|English singer, songwriter, and record producer}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{BLP sources|date=March 2010}}
{{BLP primary sources|date=March 2010}}}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Ashley Hicklin
| image =
| birth_name = Ashley Hicklin
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1985}}
| origin = Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England
| instrument = Vocals, guitar, piano
| genre = Pop
| occupation = Singer-songwriter, record producer
| years_active = 1999–present
| label = EMI (2008–present)
Warner Music (2010–present)
| website = {{URL|unified-songs.com}}
}}
Ashley Hicklin (born 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He co-owns Unified-Songs, a UK based music publishing/management company and has written songs for artists such as Tiësto, Oliver Heldens, R3hab, Hardwell, Timmy Trumpet, Lost Kings, Feder, Duncan Laurence, and Waylon, including more than ten No.1 chart releases and over twenty Top-10 chart releases.
Biography
=Early life=
Ashley Hicklin was raised in his parents' pub on the North-East coast of England in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. He first began as a singer-songwriter performing at open mic nights in the pub, at the age of 13.{{cite web|url=http://ashleyhicklin.com/Release/|title=ashleyhicklin.com|website=Ashleyhicklin.com|access-date=8 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913202449/http://ashleyhicklin.com/Release/|archive-date=13 September 2011|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mopo.de/hamburg-rockt/unsere-jury-stellt-sich-vor-ashley-hicklin,7151002,8274560.html|title=Unsere Jury stellt sich vor: Ashley Hicklin|first=Paula|last=Ortiz|publisher=}}
=As a writer=
In 2008, the European CEO of EMI 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 Johan Palm's single Emma-Lee which reached No. 1 in Sweden.{{cite web|url=http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret%3DJohan+Palm%26titel%3DMy+Antidote%26cat%3Da |title=Swedishcharts.com - Johan Palm - My Antidote |accessdate=8 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206133158/http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Johan+Palm&titel=My+Antidote&cat=a |archivedate=6 February 2010 }}[http://www.lcm.ac.uk/news/leeds-college-of-music-ashley-hicklin-pop-idol.htm]{{dead link|date=October 2016|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}
Hicklin went on to collaborate with the teams behind Lana Del Rey, Felix Jaehn, Tiësto, Natasha Bedingfield, James Morrison, Hurts, Amy Winehouse, Sugababes and various other international acts. Hicklin is very active in the dance music scene as a writer and vocalist under the moniker Bright Sparks.{{Cite web|url=http://ohbrightsparks.com/|title=Oh Bright Sparks|website=Ohbrightsparks.com|accessdate=17 July 2020}} Notable releases include the Tiësto song On My Way, the Hardwell song Summer Air, the Feder song Keep Us Apart, the Oliver Heldens song Somebody, the Klingande song Messiah, the Timmy Trumpet song Friday and Lost Kings release Feather.{{Cite web|url=https://unified-songs.com/releases.html|title=Releases|website=Unified-songs.com|accessdate=14 January 2023}}
==Eurovision Song Contest entries==
Hicklin has written the following Eurovision Song Contest entries:
| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" |
| scope="col" |Year
! scope="col" |Country ! scope="col" |Song ! scope="col" |Artist ! scope="col" |Co-written with ! scope="col" |Final ! scope="col" |Points ! scope="col" |Semi ! scope="col" |Points |
|---|
| scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{Escyr|2010}}
| rowspan=2|{{Esc|Belgium}} | "Me and My Guitar" | Tom Dice | Tom Eeckhout, Jeroen Swinnen |align=center|6 |align=center|143 ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:gold; align=center"|1 ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:gold; align=center"|167 |
| scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{Escyr|2014}}
| "Mother" | Rafael Artesero |colspan=2 rowspan=2 {{n/a|Failed to qualify}} |align=center|14 |align=center|28 |
| scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{Escyr|2019}}
|{{esc|Lithuania}} | Eric Lumiere, Pele Loriano |align=center|11 |align=center|93 |
| scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{Escyr|2020}}
|{{esc|Spain}} | "Universo" | Blas Cantó, Dan Hammond, Dangelo Ortega, Mikołaj Trybulec |colspan=4 {{n/a|Contest cancelled}} |
| scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{Escyr|2021}}
|{{esc|Austria}} | "Amen" | Tobias Carshey, Jonas Thander | colspan=2 {{n/a|Failed to qualify}} |align=center|12 |align=center|66 |
| scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{Escyr|2022}}
|{{esc|Poland}} | "River" | Ochman | Krystian Ochman, Adam Wiśniewski, Mikołaj Trybulec | align=center|12 | align=center|151 | align=center|6 | align=center|198 |
| scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{Escyr|2023}}
|{{esc|Switzerland}} | "Watergun" | Argyle Singh, Mikołaj Trybulec | align=center|20 | align=center|92 | align=center|7 | align=center|97 |
In 2018, Hicklin co-wrote two songs for the {{esccnty|United Kingdom|y=2018|t=British}} national selection Eurovision: You Decide. "You", performed by Jaz Ellington and "Astronaut", performed by Liam Tamne. In 2024, he co-wrote "Tears like Rain", performed by Bodine Monet, for the {{esccnty|Germany|y=2024|t=German}} national final.
=As a publisher=
In 2015, Hicklin co-founded Unified Songs, an independent music publisher and management company based in Edinburgh. They have residential recordings studios where they regularly host songwriting camps.{{Cite web|url=https://unified-songs.com/aboutus.html|title=Our Story|website=Unified-songs.com}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicklin, Ashley}}
Category:English male singer-songwriters
Category:English singer-songwriters
Category:Musicians from Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Category:People educated at Caistor Grammar School
Category:Alumni of Leeds Conservatoire
Category:21st-century English singers