James III

Posted on Jan 16, 2012 in House, Mix

James III (aka James Seabrook) is a talented new artist out of New Jersey and a friend of ICGYH. His recently released “Freak Your Sheets” mix shows he’s ready to put dance floors to the test as he starts to play clubs on the east coast. Here’s what James had to say about how he started to DJ and what influences him:

I’m James III. I’m 23. I’m a DJ out of a small town in the southwestern tip of the Garden State. I grew up listening to the angst-driven hardcore of youths like The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Thrice and Underoath. Very melody/harmony driven stuff with a grating, screaming edge to it. When I made it to Syracuse for college in 2007, a good friend and Los Angeles import (who is far cooler than I am) introduced me to the electronic scene. I started out listening to two heavy hitters in particular. ATB and Eric Prydz. From there, I was introduced to Deadmau5 circa 2009, saw him play a four hour set at Webster Hall in NYC when he was still out to prove (four hour Deadmau5 set!?! sadly a thing of the past) and from then on I became rabid for electronic. I started consuming all the electro I could. I love all the sub-genres, anything electronic will do, but what I love most is house music. I try and mix it up when I play, throw in a little trance, a little tech, a little dub, but kind of stick to the four on the floor house for the meat of my sets. I try and balance between the harmonic stuff and a hard edge, transmuting my early taste for hardcore into house. If you listen carefully, you’ll know what I mean. I like to play really provocative, really emotional records. The number one job a DJ has is to make the room feel something. Avicii has been a huge inspiration to me the last couple of years. Norman Doray, David Tort, John Dahlback, Fedde Le Grand, Axwell (pre SHM) and Dirty South have all been favorites for a long time. Thanks, hope you enjoy the mix!

Check out James III on January 21st @ Ultrabar in Washington D.C. 11pm-3am with more dates to come.

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