In the Beginning…

I grew up in Portishead, near Bristol in the UK. I was the youngest of five children. Music was passed down to me like my brothers’ and sisters’ clothes or toys. At least, I thought they were for me.

I became obsessed with the Beatles really early on, constantly listening to Revolver and studying its crazy cool LP cover. I even made cardboard guitars, complete with rubber bands as strings and a long rule for the neck. My dad got the message and bought me a guitar and a practice amp for Christmas in 1980, much to the horror of my siblings!

I was determined to learn how to play and grow up to be like my heroes but, during the 1980s, the teachers at my school mostly frowned on the idea and when I was asked, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" I never hesitated, stoically replying that I was gonna rock and roll. “That's not a proper job!” they retorted. We've all heard the story many times, but I can safely say that they were wrong – love that!

There was another kid in the classroom next door called Geoff who shared the same passion for music. We soon began to talk about music during our lunch breaks and playtime. He had a drum set and I had a guitar, so naturally we decided to start playing together. My dad would drop me off at his house and we'd smash away together until his dad had enough and we'd do it all again the following weekend. We were 11.

The First Gig

Once we got to Gordano Grammar School, we started to use our lunch times to practice in the school’s music classrooms with some more mates joining us to try and sing, play bass or trumpet. We had our first concert on the school's huge stage in front of the entire 1st year and staff. We were very excited and managed to stumble through, Howard Jones' ‘Pearl in the Shell’, Survivor's ‘Eye of the Tiger’, ‘Green Onions’, ‘The Entertainer’ and ‘Nelly the Elephant’. We were called Blue Tomorrow.

We continued to jam during our lunch breaks until we left school and even took jobs next door to each other. I learned to be a master engraver and Geoff learned the printing process.

Geoff went on to have a hugely successful career with his group Portishead and we have remained the best of friends. We still enjoy regular episodes on the road together and sometimes in the studio.

Airbus

When I was about 15, I heard there was another kid (Nick) who was playing guitar. He was interested in jamming with me and wanted to form a band. Nick had a drummer lined up (Chris) and there was another lad (Simon) who was into rock music. We soon talked him into getting a bass guitar.

We are still making music together today, but that is a whole other story: https://jamescharliechilds6.wixsite.com/airbus/history

Airbus's success provided me with the opportunity to learn how to record on analogue gear and then, as technology evolved, on digital formats.

Moving to the USA

Eventually, Airbus travelled to America to play the famous Viper Room on Sunset Strip and several other venues in the hope of finding a producer in Los Angeles. That we did, working with several renowned producers. This is when I met Andy Sturmer who introduced me to the world of music to television.

It was during this time that I met my wife-to-be, Dana, who worked at World's End Producer Management. They handled people like Steve Lillywhite, Don Was, Chris Goss etc. Life was becoming more complex as our relationship grew, travelling backwards and forwards from the UK to the USA.

Dana & I were married in 2002 and decided that we were going to make a go of things in the USA rather than in Britain. The other members of Airbus all had their own situations to deal with and it was impossible to sustain the band in another country. 9.11 had thwarted plans to sign with LA based label Emergent Records that veteran producers Richard Dashut & Ken Caillet had lined up for us. So, I immediately began playing sessions for Andy Sturmer and tech-ing guitars for Dana's clients. I also found a job as Master Engraver at a company in the San Fernando Valley as soon as I filed for residency.

Vic du Monte

At my engraving job, I met another musician, Chris Cockrell. He was from Palm Springs and had been in the desert stoner rock group Kyuss. He had a beat group called Vic du Monte's Idiot Prayer.

We soon got chatting and I found myself recording his band with two laptops and two Mbox Pro Tools stereo interfaces – guitar and bass drum on one computer and snare with overheads on the other computer. I lined up the tracks by ear and worked into them that way. It was a bit like using two bedside cassette machines to make overdubs when I was a teenager.

I had almost no gear to record with. After having a complete studio in the UK with Airbus, starting over again in another country was difficult. Nevertheless, we got a deal and released the album called Prey For The City on Duna Records.

Each cut on the album heavily featured farfisa and hammond resulting in the band insisting that I join on keyboards!

By 2004, my touring career started again. It feels like I’ve been on the road with all my various projects ever since, ironically heading back to the UK and Europe with most of them.

Recording & Theme Tunes

In between records and tours, I found time to continue working with Andy Sturmer on various projects that he was hired for. Eventually, I was invited to co-write the theme tune for Disney XD cartoon Kick Buttowski and write some of the incidental music within the episodes. We were nominated for an Emmy for best theme tune in 2011.

I also gained really good experience at Local 47 as an assistant engineer, recording orchestra for UCLA students’ scores. This provided me with the opportunity to work with some of Hollywood's finest musicians. That was a real eye opener!

Little Villains

I became friends with ex Motörhead drummer Phil Taylor and we started a project together called Little Villains. Sadly, he passed in 2015, but our music did get released on Heavy Psyche Sounds Records in Europe and Cleopatra Records in the US. I now play Little Villains’ music, record and tour, together with Airbus drummer Chris Fielden to this day.

Touring

I spent a year in the UK when my dad became ill. My old friend Geoff put me to work, engineering at a local Bristol venue to get me ready for going on the road with his progressive group, Beak>. I worked as their live sound engineer and we toured extensively in Europe and America. These days, I look after them in America and in Europe every so often.

On return to the USA, at the end of 2012, I found myself on the road all over the world with an Australian company called Showtime. I was a musician with 4 different tribute acts. I played bass in a Michael Jackson show and a Queen show. I played guitar in an Abba show and a Whitney Housten show. All four were hugely successful.

Once I was done with Showtime, in 2014 I settled back into recording and touring with my original groups based in California: Lakota and then Avon, who I formed with ex Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age drummer, Alfredo Hernandez. I think all these experiences have helped me to understand the composition of a really wide range of classic music, recording techniques and performance.

All of this whilst maintaining a home and raising a family… I'm not complaining, I'd do it all over again!

I am currently looking to write cartoon themes and score, write and record music for advertising and would love to score drama, sci fi, horror and war movie genres.

                             

                            CONTACT ME AT

           james@jamesalexanderchilds.com