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Biography
James' early childhood, was filled with music. As a baby, he spent most of his time in a play-pen, at his parents record store, where he was handed vinyl records to play with as toys. He was constantly surrounded by the soul sounds of Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, etc. His teenage years were spent, in his bedroom with a drum machine, synthesizer, and a small four-track recorder, on which he wrote and recorded original songs, every chance he had. Towards the end of his high school years, he was introduced to a family friend with industry contracts, who agreed to pass his home recordings on to a publishing company. James went to work recorded some material, and passed it on to the family friend, who in turn, gave it to the publishing company. James eagerly awaited for an answer. Unfortunately, the answer was "Don't give up your day job". James was disappointed, but not put off by this reaction. If anything, it made him more determined to succeed, and prove he could do it. He spent the following year, working on new material. The new material was then passed on to the head of Warner/Chappell, who instantly saw potential. Warner/Chappell, paid for James to go into the "E.M.I. 301" studios (in Sydney, Australia), to record his demo. James did, and the re-recorded tracks secured him a five year publishing deal with Warner/Chappell, and an advance, with which he bought new recording equipment. Not long after that, a 'one single' recording deal was negotiated and signed, with a small independent record label (D.S.K.). One of the demo tracks was then re-recorded, and released as a single. The song was 'I don't want your love'. Several live performances followed, to promote the single, including night club appearances, shopping malls etc. The band of the moment (at the time) enjoying club and commercial success, was 'technotronic', they were to tour Australia, and a support act was to be found. Hundreds of artists' material was submitted in, with every new-comer desperate to be the support act of the hottest dance band around. Included in these hundreds of entries was James' single, along with some new tracks he had been recording. James was quickly snapped up by the band as their support act. This took him to Melbourne, for live shows at the then hugely in demand Metro nightclub, and to Sydney's Homebush stadium, where along with his dancers, James sang three songs to a screaming crowd of five thousand people. The first pressing of the single had all sold, but the small independent label James was signed to had fallen into financial trouble. The problem could not be resolved and unfortunately the company folded, along with James' contract. A year later, after negotiations, a second single was released under another small independent label (Possum). The single was a double A side, with a new original track ('Love is everywhere'), with several remixes, and a remake of the old Diana Ross song, 'Upside down'. Both tracks enjoyed club play, especially on the gay scene. Much to James' disappointment, the owners of 'Possum' (A husband/wife team) split up, and so did their company, which left James, (and other acts like 'Ace of bass', which were represented by the same label in Australia) without a recording deal, once again. Without a record deal, and his publishing deal now expiring, James had to plan carefully. The only thing clear was that he did not want to make any bad choices. He put all his finances into setting up his own midi studio, which he nicknamed 'The red room'. Here he has spent the past two and a half years developing and polishing his style/writing, and putting together his latest material. The fruit of his past two and a half years labours, is the new demo CD, which has eleven new original tracks, and three remixes. On his latest demo CD, James plays all the instruments, does all the vocals, lead and backing, and he also did the entire production, arranging, and programming. James also wrote the entire album except one track which he co-wrote. Lyrically, the album is very emotional, ranging from the ironic mood of 'Little superficial love', the maddening relationship battles of 'Over the edge', and the hauntingly beautiful 'Why should I love you', to the uplifting 'Thank you', and 'Heaven everyday'. 'Cowboy' is a light-hearted dance track, with a Spanish flavour, while the socially-conscious 'Just a murder' really says something about the attitude of today's society. The whole album rolls, grinds, echoes in your ears, long after it has stopped playing. James is now look for a management deal, a recording deal, and a new chapter in his recording career. We have snippets of some of the latest tracks from his new demo CD here on the website. If you would like to hear them, click HERE. If you are a recording company or manager, interested in working with James, you can contact him via email, by clicking HERE. If you would like to visit the James De Metrio photo gallery, please click HERE.
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