Ren

**Ren Erin Gill** (born 29 March 1990), known professionally as **Ren**, is a Welsh "singer-songwriter, producer, rapper, busker, poet, and multi-instrumentalist known for his collaborative music work with other singers." He was a member of the indie hip-hop band Trick The Fox and The Big Push, a British busking band based in Brighton.

In 2022, Ren released "Hi Ren". The video went viral and appeared in both the United Kingdom and Worldwide Trending Music Video Charts on YouTube, and had 6.8 million views in two months. The next four songs Ren released, "Sick Boi", "Bittersweet Symphony (The Verve Retake)", "Illest of Our Time", and "Animal Flow" also appeared in the United Kingdom's Trending Music Video Chart on YouTube. Ren was invited to play at Glastonbury 2023, film festivals, and other major UK summer music festivals.

Ren has spent years battling health issues.

## Life and career

Ren Erin Gill was born on 29 March 1990, in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales, and was raised in Dwyran, on the island of Anglesey . He taught himself to play guitar by slowing down tracks by Jimi Hendrix and John Frusciante. He dreamed of being a musician and sold CDs of beats he made at home on his PC using a program called Reason Studios when he was 12. When he was 13, he performed live for the first time with a rendition of the AFI song "Morningstar".

Ren moved to Bath to study music performance at Bath Spa University. While there, he started a band called Trick The Fox. In 2009 Ren was discovered by Eric Appapoulay while busking one of his own songs. In 2010 he signed a recording contract with Sony Records. Ren went to London with Eric and started working on the debut album for Trick the Fox, at The Sanctuary studio in South London. They started writing tracks, touring, and recording. They also posted some tracks and videos to the band's Facebook and YouTube accounts, and Tom Frampton joined the band.

Ren became too sick to finish the album and had to move home to Wales. He was bedridden for up to 23 hrs a day. In 2013 Ren moved to Brighton. Ren has spent many years dealing with health issues. He was misdiagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, and Chronic fatigue syndrome and later was diagnosed with Lyme disease in Belgium.

While in his bedroom, Ren wrote songs and recorded music. On 2 January 2016, Ren's debut solo album *Freckled Angels* was released. The self-released album contained 16 tracks, including around half of the tracks recorded for the Trick The Fox album. Eric Appapoulay gave Ren permission to use them. Ren dedicated the album and the title track to one of his best friends, Joe Hughes, who died in 2010. A restaurant in Menai Bridge, Anglesey is named after this album. On 15 February 2016, Ren released his first official single, "Jessica".

Ren was featured in the 2017 movie *Unrest*, and his song "Patience" was part of the soundtrack. He became widely acclaimed after his self-released video for his song "Hi Ren" received 6.8 million views in two months. The video for "Hi Ren" received an honourable mention in the best European music video category at the Prague music video awards in April 2023. Ren released a retake of the Verve song "Bittersweet Symphony" in February 2023, and their bassist Simon Tong gave him a guitar in appreciation.

In addition to his solo career, Ren was a member of The Big Push, a Brighton based busking band. Glenn Chambers was the drummer and Ren, Romain Axisa, Gorran Kendall were the front men. Their 2021 UK Tour sold out. The Big Push played their last gig and broke up in 2022 due in part to Ren's health issues.

Ren was named as one of Atwood Magazine's 2023 Artists to Watch, Société Magazine listed him as one of the "Top Artists To Look Out For In Sussex", and the music critic Gareth Branwyn called his music "intense," and "refreshingly unique" and his rapping as "impressive".

In May 2023, Ren was interviewed by Justin Hawkins of The Darkness on Hawkins' YouTube channel. Since becoming sick, Ren has said that his life's work has been closely related to looking for better ways to deal with mental health issues. Since January 2023, he has been in Canada receiving specialised medical treatment for his illness.

## Discography

### Album

* *Freckled Angels* (2016)
* *Sick Boi* (2023)

### EPs

* *The Tale of Jenny & Screech*
* *Demos (Vol 1)* (2020)
* *Demos (Vol 2)* (2020)
* *Violet's Tale* (2022)

## External links

* Official website
* Ren Makes Merch store
* Ren on Discogs
* Ren on Bandcamp
* Ren on Soundcloud

1. ↑ Ren Gill, the musician who has defied all odds (2023-05-22).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ren – Hi Ren Featured Video (en-US) (2022-12-27).
3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `GenesReunited`
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Hawkins`
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Winchell, Bryan (2023-02-28). "Hi, Ren" (The Full Series) (en).
6. ↑ TRICK THE FOX | The Sanctuary Studio (en-US).
7. ↑ Life update (2013-02-02).
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Wadsworth2016`
9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `:162`
10. ↑ WINNERS (en).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Clay, William (2021-07-06). The Big Push – interview (en-GB).
12. ↑ Olivia, Reese (2021-06-30). The Big Push – Can Do, Will Do (en).
13. ↑ Ren Gill, the musician who has defied all odds (2023-05-22).
14. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `:0`
15. ↑ Staff. Best Artists In Brighton (en-GB).
16. ↑ Branwyn, Gareth (2023-01-30). Discovering the intense, refreshingly unique music of Ren (en-US).
17. ↑ Branwyn, Gareth (2023-04-01). UK rapper Ren releases video for "Illest of Our Time" (en-US).
18. ↑ After pushing back on the misrepresentation by @CNN they updated their video (2023-04-30).
19. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Gottschalk2023`