His live project, “Facets,” is a love letter to complex identities. In “Facets,” the message is clear: identity has no boundaries; all of my parts make me whole. The sounds of deep, melodic club music blend seamlessly with broken beats, afro-influenced rhythms, haunting melodies, and samples of spoken word poetry, all played on a custom mix of hardware synthesizers. Raised in a mixed Black, Vietnamese, and Italian-American family, James completed his studies in the sociology of mixed-race in 2010, since then living on three continents. James musical influences trace back to late-90s trance and rave music - discovered through a youth spent on Kazaa and Limewire - genres which found their place in James’ headphones alongside major influences like The Gorillaz, Nas, RJD2, Imogen Heap, and Thievery Corporation. James composes and performs on a custom hardware setup of synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, sequencers, and effects units, painstakingly devised over the course of two years. For James, hardware-only was a deliberate choice. In an age of “pressing play,” where a polished-sounding, on-the-rails performance has never been more accessible, intentionally embracing complexity is a risky, yet rewarding decision. Whether shuffling rhythms, modifying melodies, building and releasing tension on the fly, it’s worth it to James to have the flexibility - and vulnerability - of something truly “live.” The risk of improvisation and imperfection conveys to the audience, “this is real, this is me.” When possible, James plays down on the dancefloor, eye-to-eye with an audience that can see and engage with him and the instruments, creating intimacy rather than the anonymity of being hidden away behind the booth. As with his liveset, James’ selections as a DJ have long defied genres, preferring to tell a story via the emotions of the material, regardless of dancefloor conventions. Living in Turkey in 2011, James regularly played the local Istanbul club circuit while also organizing a series of club events with a group of Turkish and German friends. In 2013, he moved to Berlin, where he continued to organize and DJ events and open airs. From 2013-2017, James lived in San Francisco, where he became a regular in the deep, melodic, Burning Man-adjacent club scene, performing at venues and festivals around the Bay Area and at Burning Man. In 2015, he was tapped to follow local legend Atish as the resident DJ for the decade-long Tutu Tuesday series; his residency lasted nearly two years. Notable acts James has provided direct support for include Francesca Lombardo, Atish, Hoj, Kalabrese, Tara Brooks, Clarian, Mark Slee, Oona Dahl, and Brian Cid, and at camps like Pink Mammoth, Monks of Funk, and Sanctuary. In 2017, James moved back to Berlin, where he’s regularly joined lineups in the local Burner and festival scene, including performances at Underworld, Garbicz Festival, Hedoné, Kiez Burn, Birgit and Bier, KitKat Club, Beate Uwe, Lusatia, and many others. More than just a solo-act, James is deeply invested in creating, curating, and fostering creative community. In early 2021, James launched Resonance, a series of retreats for electronic and electronic-adjacent musicians, leveraging his experience in self-organized, participatory communities and events to spearhead event production. The retreat saw its second evolution in 2022, with nearly 30 musicians gathering to host workshops, jams, experiments, constructive critiques, and collaborations over the course of a week, set on a former water mill in the German countryside. In the months following, the growing Resonance community has already launched several ongoing collaborative works and EPs.