David James (American artist)

David James (born July 30, 1983) is an audio mixing/mastering engineer and art professional in the South Eastern U.S. His mix credits include artists Kanye West,  Sammie, 2 Pistols, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League,  Bobby V,  Rick Ross,  Gucci Mane and  X Factor (Italy series 6) winner Morgan Ics, and his work has been featured on television, notably the show Bad Girls Club's episode Hate lanta. His mixes are also featured on MTV and Worldstarhiphop.com.

Singles

 * Richie Wess feat. Drake and Yung Dred "Play Ball"
 * Richie Wess feat. Rick Ross "Pretty Down"
 * Richie Wess feat. Gucci Mane "Loyal"
 * Richie Wess feat. Gucci Mane & Yung Dred "Throwin Racks"(Over 3 million views on Worldstarhiphop.com )
 * Richie Wess "Fame" ( Worldstarhiphop.com)
 * Richie Wess "Oil" (Over 100,000 views on Worldstarhiphop.com)
 * Richie Wess feat. Verse Simmonds "Put it Down"( MTV )
 * Richie Wess feat. Sammie & Yung Dred "Shawty is a Freak" (Over 400,000 views on Worldstarhiphop.com )
 * Richie Wess "Lady in Red" ( Worldstarhiphop.com )
 * Richie Wess "Jordan" (Over 100,000 views on Worldstarhiphop.com )
 * Mike Gomes "We All" (Featured on Bad Girls Club  episode Hate lanta )
 * Morgan Ics feat. David James "Verita Relativa" (Italy 2012)

Whole Albums/Mixtapes

 * Jnan - Fast Food Mixtape (over 100,000 downloads on DatPiff.com)
 * Jae Luis - I am Jae Luis (DatPiff.com)
 * Richie Wess - J.O.B. (Joints Ova Blunts) Mixtape(DatPiff.com)
 * Richie Wess - All Ears Mixtape(DatPiff.com)
 * David James - Cheap Sunglasses the EP (Bandcamp.com)

Early Years
James was born at home in Spokane County, WA, shortly thereafter moving with his family to Topeka, KS where he was raised. His parents taught him to read at an early age, and they were also musically inclined, and urged David and his brother to take up music and singing as well. He began recording audio clips, skits and mock radio shows around age 7 with his older brother Daniel, on a small monophonic Boom Box that belonged to his mother. Over time, he gained experience recording with several other kinds of media such as Hand Held recorders (Both Digital and Analog), computer-based recording software, and other low-budget audio devices. At age 11, he started rapping with his brother and a few of his friends, also experimenting with audio-looping, and music production. All of his first songs were composed entirely of freestyled hooks and lyrics.

Early Education
Because of domestic problems, James failed to graduate from Topeka Public Schools.

Early Career
James moved away from his home town when he was 18 years old. He began to focus entirely on his music, and began developing his style, and his skills as a producer, unknowingly preparing himself for a career as a sound engineer. While working as a limousine driver, living in rented room in Seminole, Florida, James finished building his first small-scale recording studio. He had constructed it in a workshop style storage garage in Rodger's Business park in Largo, Florida, and recorded his first song on Jan. 15, 2005. Having never paid for studio time before, being unsure of the quality and unaware what others were charging, his starting rate was a modest $10/song. The studio was dubbed "The Hot Box" by frequenting artists, because of the studio's lack of A/C and proper ventilation. In July 2005, David James started running his project studio full time at $10/hr, the highest wage he had earned up to that time. It stayed that way until October 2005, when he finally got an A/C unit, and upped the hourly rate to a still economical $15/hr He would carry on at $15 an hour until March 2007, at which time he partnered up with a local music promoter and began doing local shows to promote the studio, and raised the rates to $20, in order to save for new equipment.

Radio Credits
David James now has engineering and production credits for over 1500 artists and over 15,000 songs created across the U.S. and internationally. Eventually his business outgrew the spot in which it began, in the form of an eviction notice. The reason for eviction was "sound violations and parking violations" a fine indicator that the studio's clientele was expanding in excess of the park's limitations. In fact, before the studio finally closed at the end of May '08, it had been running 24 hours for a month and a half. He had trained other people to use his engineering template, and he even built a snack shop, splitting profits with people who stayed to watch over the studio while he was gone. On the last day his first spot was open, he tore down the walls himself, and loaded everything in the back of a borrowed pick up truck. James used the pieces from his old studio walls to build a new booth, and his recording studio reopened in Clearwater, FL, on U.S. 19, but closed after two months. Rock-O Studio, a new studio that had recently opened in Largo, was in need of an experienced engineer, and contacted David James. James worked for Rocko for over a year, and gained clientele like 2 Pistols and Young Joe, who put David's work on the radio for the first time when they made the song "Lights Down Low" (with DJ engineering) which aired on radio and in clubs worldwide in 2009. James's work has made it on local and national radio several times since, his mixes have appeared in music videos on MTV, Worldstarhiphop.com and his work also has been licensed on television for shows like Bad Girls Club.

Career Contraction and Expansion
Rocko eventually shut down and moved to Miami, leaving James with little recording equipment. James struggled to get his own studio running again, and within a couple of months, while working out of his friend's house and out of others' studios, he was able to get a spot in Dunedin, FL, which he outfitted with equipment he bought with student loans. The spot became busy and profitable enough to bring David's right hand man Jeremy 'Trump Savage' Stevens on as the studio's second engineer, and he also brought on his first booking assistant. However, most of his equipment was stolen, and for the next 6 months he worked as a freelance writer for various "how-to" sites, specializing in studio equipment and electronics, while still attending school. He also worked as a freelance audio engineer in any studio he was invited to, which gained him experience in all types of recording environments from closet studios reminiscent of his earlier experiences to commercial studios like Springs Theatre Studio in Tampa, and Clear Tracks Studio in Clearwater, Florida. He traveled as far as Chicago to do mixing and mastering work for local and mainstream artists.

Currently
Eventually he took out another educational loan and put new equipment in the same spot in Dunedin, only this time securing the windows with wire and installing a series of sturdy locks on every door. He again resumed recording and mixing his personal clientele while attending college, bringing Trump back on, and he began cycling through booking assistants. Unfortunately, none of the new booking assistants worked out, and eventually Trump got into some trouble and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.. James ended up running the recording studio and booking by himself while awaiting Trump's return in July 2013, and completed the requirements for his Associate's Degree in Electronics Engineering July of 2012. Since then, David James has worked with local and mainstream artists from around the globe via the internet, most notably Morgan Ics, who won X Factor (Italy series 6) in 2012 and Grammy Winning J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League's newest artist Prime. James is currently seeking a Bachelor and Master's Degree in Electronics Engineering, while honing his skills as a mastering engineer and planning to open a second studio location in Orlando, FL.