David Hilker

Biography

The son of a Lutheran minister, Hilker was born in Clarion, Iowa. His family moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa when he was three. The family was musical and David grew up singing in church choirs and listening to his older brother Fred rehearse his bands in their basement. He attended Kenwood Elementary School, Harding Jr. High and briefly Washington High School before dropping out to pursue a career in music.

After his brother played him a Jethro Tull record, Hilker picked up the flute. He landed a gig with Cedar Rapids guitar virtuosos Craig Erickson at age 14. Erickson's band recorded Craig's original songs and gigged locally. At 17 Hilker decided to hit the road. He stepped up to the mike as a lead singer (doubling on flute and saxophone) fronting numerous original and cover bands. David's bands recorded and toured extensively in the US and Canada but never achieved more than marginal regional success.

In Phoenix, Arizona, Hilker became affiliated with radio station KZZP. Working with radio personalities Jonathan Brandmeier, Bruce Kelly, Steve Goddard and Crazy Dave Otto he opened shows for America (band), Milli Vanilli, Donny Osmond, Tiffany, Mr. Mister, Buster Poindexter, Neneh Cherry, Glenn Medeiros, Apollonia, Klymaxx and many others.

Next Hilker moved to Los Angeles to work for Shore Artist Management where he performed A&R duties for the firm. The company represented the band OXO (band), an act on Geffen Records, as well as several other struggling artists.

David soon decided to head back to Phoenix to continue work on his career instead of working on the careers of others. He quickly teamed with songwriting/production partner John Costello III. The duo opened Wild Whirled Recording Studios to hone their production and engineering skills. Studio clients included DJ Z-Trip, Kristine W, Glen Campbell Music, Jeff Dayton, Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad), Caroline Records, Michael Shenker, Keel (band), MasterSource Music Catalog, Network Music, OneMusic, The Hollywood Edge, Oregon Catholic Press, FirstCom Music and KTVK to name a few. He also established independent record label Fervor Records.

In 1999 Hilker and Costello signed with Fox Family Music to compose for the Fox Family Channel and FoxKids Cartoons. They created custom music libraries for countless shows on both networks. They also composed numerous title themes including Total Access 24/7, a show featuring celebrities including, Christina Aguilera, Lance Bass, Mariah Carey, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, Frankie Muniz, NSync, Ashley Olsen, Mary-Kate Olsen, Pink (singer), Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. They also landed the scoring gig for the animated series NASCARRacers and contributed music to the Transformers: Robots In Disguise series.

In 2002 David and John teamed with Jeff Freundlich to form the Wild Whirled Music Catalog. The catalog services the music needs of the film, television and advertising industries.

Currently David Hilker serves as CEO of Wild Whirled Music, Fervor Records, Trailerville Music and Muzik Headz all based in Phoenix, AZ.

Select discography

Credits

Hilker's compositions have appeared on every major US TV network including:

Current: A&E, ABC, ABC Family, AMC, Animal Planet, Bravo, CBS, CHUM Limited, Comedy Central, CTV Television Network, Discovery Channel, Disney, E!, Fox, Fox Sports Networks, Fuel TV (now Fox Sports 2), FX, Global Television Network, Hallmark Channel, HBO, HGTV, Lifetime Television, MTV, MTV2, NBC, Noggin (now Nick Jr.), Oxygen, Playboy, Syfy, Showtime, Speed (now Fox Sports 1), Spike, Style Network (now Esquire Network), Starz, TBS, The CW, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, Univision, USA Network, VH1 and WE tv.

Defunct: Discovery Health Channel, Fit TV, Soap Opera Network, Tech TV, The WB, and UPN.

ABC

CBS

NBC

Fox

The CW

HBO

OXYGEN

TLC

TV Themes

Films

Video Games

Major labels

Hilker's song 'Everyone's Home For Christmas' appears on Epic Records recording artists B2K release Santa Hooked Me Up

Distribution

David Hilker's music is distributed internationally by:

Awards