Akil Wingate
Singer · Actor
Akil Wingate, born Sean Akil Wingate, is an American singer, songwriter, actor and director, born on 15 October 1975 in Syracuse, New York. He trained in theatre at Howard University and in film production at the University of Bristol, and he now lives in Paris. His warm, soulful voice sits at the heart of several tracks by Alexandre Auger, founder of Electromix Records. Together they created some of the label’s defining records.
The voice of Electromix’s first releases
In 2007, Akil Wingate lent his voice to “Everything You Need”, the label’s very first release (EM001), issued on 26 February 2007 as Alexandre Auger feat. Akil. He was far more than a featured vocalist: he co-wrote both the music and the lyrics with Alexandre Auger. The same year, the duo reunited on “Give Love”, a house track built around an uplifting chorus and accompanied by an official music video, as well as on “You’re Not Alone”, released by Electromix Records on 23 February 2007 in four versions.
Tracks with Alexandre Auger
“Everything You Need”, “Give Love” and “You’re Not Alone” travelled far beyond their original release. They appeared as Radio Edit, Club Mix, Long Edit and remix versions, including French producer Muttonheads’ remix of “Give Love”, and on European dance compilations such as Euro Club Hits and DanceFloor Clash. In 2012, Akil returned to Electromix on “Love You Like That”, credited to Jim Marlaud & Al Swan feat. Akil Wingate. Al Swan is Alexandre Auger’s alias: “Al” comes from Alex, while “Swan” takes his son Swann’s first name with a single n. These four collaborations show the lasting place of Akil’s powerful yet melodic voice in the catalogue.
Beyond music
Alongside singing, Akil Wingate works as an actor, writer and director. He is represented by the London agency Cowley, Knox & Guy. On screen he plays the television host in Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (2024), with Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid. He voices Omar in English in Lukas (2018), Julien Leclercq’s film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, dubbing the role played on screen by Kaaris. Earlier, he plays Kofi in Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper (2016), with Kristen Stewart, and Cowboy Jake in Jacques Audiard’s The Sisters Brothers (Les Frères Sisters, 2018), with John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed. He is also Colonel Watson in the Prime Video series Cœurs noirs (Black Hearts), and Barney in Étoile (2024). He plays Ace McCall and also directs and writes Beast (2019), and appears in Creepshow 3 (2006). From 2019 to 2024 he hosted Leo Vegas on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom.
One voice, many stages
That same voice moves from the set to games and radio. He voices Beric Sunblaze in Solasta, Jim Hayfield in Ubisoft’s The Crew Motorfest, and DJ Remi LeRoy in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. In 2024 he played Villefort in a radio adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo.
A tenor, he sings soul, R&B, gospel, jazz and funk, and he speaks English, French, Italian and Swahili. As a singer-songwriter he has also worked with dance figures such as Avicii, David Guetta, Hardwell and Fonzerelli. He lives in Paris with his husband, Marco Michieli.
Sources: Electromix Records catalogue, Discogs, hitparade.ch, Spotify, IMDb, Filmmakers Europe, Wikipedia.