James was born on a chilly October morning under a Waxing Gibbous Moon and from a very young age he showed an incredible love for music. After trying his hand in many high school bands he realized something was wrong. He sucked as a guitarist and would never be like the players he admired most- Jimmy Page, David Gilmour and Jeff Beck. “Oh well”, he thought, “I guess this landscaping job will be the rest of my life”.
Then one day while lamenting to a friend on the phone about his crappy chops and inability to come up with any tasty licks a revelation was made. He loved trying to figure out how all the sounds on his favorite records were made and tinkering with all the gear. Why not look into what it would be like to be on the other side of the glass?
EUREKA! He attended Five Towns College in Long Island and graduated with a degree in Audio Recording Technology and loved it! After a short internship at the famed Electric Lady Studios, built by Jimi Hendrix, he got a gig as an assistant at The Hit Factory Mastering. It was there during it’s heyday, under the tutelage of masters such as Chris Gehringer, Herb Powers Jr. and Tom Coyne where he really came into himself.
It wasn’t long before he was doing sessions for major artists and gained his first number one Billboard hit (“Feels So Good” by Mase), first gold record (“Elevators” by OutKast) and first gold album (“Hard Core” by Lil’ Kim). There would be many others. He also worked on projects by Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton and George Clinton (a highlight). He was there for 9 years before needing a change.
The change came by taking a Senior Mastering Engineer position at Sony Music Studios in New York. The hits continued to flow with projects for artists such as Juvenile (and all the Cash Money artists), The Wu-Tang Clan, The Fugees, Natasha Bedingfield and more. He worked on projects for Mary Mary that won Grammys. Projects for Three-6 Mafia that won Oscars and even projects for Calle 13 that won Latin Grammys. International recognition was gained and he made connections all over the world. As his experience grew so did the styles of music that he worked on. From hip-hop to R&B, from rock to folk and even reggae and dancehall, James worked on it all. Artists from as far away as Serbia, England, Australia and Japan call James for his special touch.
Sadly, Sony had to shut its doors so James made the decision it was time to open his own studio. Armed with the knowledge of 15 years in the business, countless gold and platinum records, a few Grammys and a very respectable client base he got to work. In August of 2008 Zeitgeist Sound Studios was born. Built in a former auto parts manufacturing plant in Long Island City it represents the future of the Mastering Business. Not bad for a failed guitarist.