Paul Wickens (born 27 March 1956) is an English musician, composer, and record producer, professionally known as Wix. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Wickens has worked with artists including

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Edie Brickell Edie Arlisa Brickell (born March 10, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter widely known for 1988's ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'', the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart. ...

, Kevin Coyne and many others. Wickens has been a member of the Paul McCartney Band since 1989.

Career

In the early 1980s Wickens was a member of Woodhead Monroe, a band that issued two singles distributed by Stiff, "Mumbo Jumbo" and "Identify." Wickens began touring with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

in 1989. Since then, Wickens has served as the musical director for many of McCartney's tours. He continues to tour with McCartney (as his keyboardist, occasional guitarist and backing vocalist), and of the four musicians in McCartney's touring band, he has worked with McCartney the longest by a considerable margin. Wickens played on albums by

Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups includi ...

of the American rock band

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, ...

, the Damned,

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, Jim Diamond,

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

, and

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

, and was the co-producer of the first

Savage Progress Savage Progress was a pop group in the 1980s from England that had hits in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The band was founded by Rik Kenton (b. 31 October 1945, in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England) Glynnis (voc) Ned Morant (perc.) Carol ...

album. He also was the keyboardist and programmer for

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians Edie Brickell & New Bohemians is an alternative rock jam band that originated in Dallas, Texas, in the mid-1980s. The band is widely known for their 1988 hit "What I Am" from the album '' Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars''. Their music contain ...

album, ''

Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'' is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, released on August 9, 1988 by Geffen Records. The album went 2× platinum in the United States. "What I Am" was the l ...

'' – which was where he first met

Chris Whitten Chris Whitten (born 26 March 1959) is a British session drummer who provided drums for the hit singles " What I Am" by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, "World Shut Your Mouth" by Julian Cope and " The Whole of the Moon" by the Waterboys. Two not ...

. Wickens was also instrumental in making the ''BANDAGED'' album the success it was, in aid of BBC Children in Need. Wickens played accordion on

The The () are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles ...

's minor UK hit " This Is the Day", from their album ''

Soul Mining ''Soul Mining'' is the debut album by British post-punk/synth-pop band (the 1981 album '' Burning Blue Soul'' was originally released by the band's frontman Matt Johnson as a solo album, but later reissues credited it to ). After a bidding war ...

''. He also recorded a version of

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colomb ...

's "

Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled ''Neve ...

". He attended Brentwood School, Essex where he became a friend of fellow student, the writer

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), BBC radio comedy, ''The H ...

. Wickens composed the music for the sequel radio productions of Adams' ''

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comic science fiction, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally The Hitchhiker's Guide to th ...

'', originally broadcast in 2003–2004. Wickens performed at the author's memorial service in 2001.

Selected discography

Music producer

Performer

References

External links

*
Paul Wickens at Discogs
1956 births Living people Musicians from Essex Edie Brickell & New Bohemians members People from Brentwood, Essex People educated at Brentwood School, Essex English rock keyboardists English record producers English songwriters English rock singers English session musicians Paul McCartney Band members {{UK-composer-stub