Bradley James is a name destined to become household in dance music terms before very long. Since bursting onto the scene with his unique brand of Electro-House that saw none other than BBC Introducing take note, the 20-year-old from Staffordshire has regularly added to his discography with ever-increasing praise from the dance music public and industry figures alike. Labels such as Matchbox Recordings, Treatment and T.H.E have all rushed for his signature in recent months, while it can be certain plenty others are keeping close tabs too.
With his musical and production style maturing over the past year we tracked Bradley down to ask what he’s been up to and how his summer has been.
T.H.E – Hi Bradley, thanks for taking time to have a chat with us about your summer so far. For those who aren’t familiar with you as an artist, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Bradley James – Sure! I’m a 20-year-old music producer from Staffordshire, England. I’ve been producing music for around 6 years now and it’s actually been the past 12 months where I’ve had a change of style and really focused in on making better music, rather than just trying to copy whatever is in the Beatport Top 10.
T.H.E – Can you describe how 2016 has been for you so far?
Bradley James – To sum my summer up, I’d have to say it has been very productive, game-changing, exciting and quite interesting.
T.H.E – How has your summer been so far in terms of your musical career?
Bradley James – Although I haven’t had lots of tracks released, this summer has been pivotal for my career. About 12 months ago I kind of stepped back and thought to myself, “is the music that I’m releasing really what I want to be producing?” and the simple answer was no. I was simply trying to recreate whatever song was in the Beatport charts, or copy the sounds of Spinnin’ Records biggest artists. This summer has changed all of that. My entire process and sound has changed for the better. I’ve been a lot more creative and experimental in order to find unique and higher quality sounds, which will definitely give a boost to my musical career.
T.H.E – Can we hear any summer influences in any of your latest productions?
Bradley James – I spent a lot of the summer listen to releases on Mau5trap Records, so there are some big influences there from the likes of No Mana, Rezz, ATTLAS and, of course, deadmau5. Although I’ve taken influence from these incredible artists, I believe I’m still creating my own feel to the songs so that they can be identified as a ‘Bradley James’ song.
T.H.E – What have you planned in terms of new releases for the forthcoming weeks and months?
Bradley James – I actually have an EP that will be going out to labels very soon. I am aiming for a label that I can work with in order to get the right music out there in the right way whilst also helping me develop as an artist, as opposed to labels I have worked with in the past that are only interested in releasing a single then nothing else.
T.H.E – What have you been up to outside of the studio and away from music?
Bradley James – Honestly, not much. The joy of doing your hobby as a job is that you tend to ‘work’ even when you don’t strictly need to. It will probably sound boring for a 20-year-old but fun for me is playing around with new plugins and effects.
T.H.E – Have you had the joys of going to Ibiza or any festivals?
Bradley James – Not this year unfortunately. I’m not a massive drinker or clubber, so Ibiza doesn’t appeal to me in that way – it would’ve been great to go over there to perform, but fingers crossed I’ll be able to next year.
T.H.E – What achievements are you most proud of that happened in 2016?
Bradley James – I’m actually proud of accepting the fact that the music I released in 2014 and 2015 kind of sucked, which gave me a clean slate leading to better music being created – learning your trade is absolutely imperative in this industry.
T.H.E – What can we expect from Bradley James in the latter part of 2016?
Bradley James – A 5-track EP will be coming, along with other single releases and some free downloads. Hopefully these releases will be supported by a great label that will help build my career. I also hope to release more remixes, as I haven’t remixed a song in years!
