C James

Open Labs Exclusive Artist Interview - by Tatiana Ryckman, Open Labs Staff Writer Tucked away in college housing and knee-deep in the books, snacks, and gadgets that come with it, Cory Washington, also known as C James, has somehow found the time and the room to make himself a professional. Thanks to his Open Labs NeKo TSE, his studio doesn't get tangled with his ramen noodles and shaving kit. C James considers the mess he could be tied up in, “I had about three different keyboards, an Akai MPC 1000, M-Audio Project Mix, and my Mac. Those were the main things I used, and it got annoying because I had to keep unplugging and plugging stuff in and out of my pre amp. Looking back on it, I was really doing more than I had to do. On my NeKo I don't have to deal with cables and stuff. I have all of my plugins on it.” While C James likes to keep his cables in neat order, music is something he's been intertwined with since his youth. Growing up in Houston, he sang under his brother's leadership in the youth choir. In middle school he picked up trombone, and by the time high school rolled around he was arranging music for the marching band. Weaving his way between structuring sound and scholastics he finally combined the two, and today he's in his last year at Berklee College of Music. Keeping with his history of moving both on and up, C James found himself a sophomore and already producing music that was gaining recognition outside academia. “I produced a song for an upcoming artist named Kevin Ross called Adore You. He performed the song on BET's “106 & Park”. Then it was also made a ringtone. It's cool to hear your music on the radio as well on people cell phones.” Although Berklee is renown for superior programs and instruction, C James says going above and beyond isn't always typical, “Berklee students get caught up in just Berklee. They forget that it is not what you do in Berklee, it's about what you do outside.” While attending the school is a mark of achievement in itself, the senioritis, or maybe just the longing to continue his musical climb, is starting to set in. “Berklee has been a good experience. I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of different people. But it is time to move on to bigger and better things.” And he'll use his NeKo to get there. “I am basically spoiled by it. The NeKo is nothing like anything else on the market. I love everything about it.” It's easy enough to like something that looks nice, or provides your living room with an interesting conversation piece, but when he talks about what he's done with the board, it's not hard to understand why he loves it. He spouts out a long list of projects, “We recently did a song with Miss New York 2008, and her name is Danielle Roundtree but [she] goes by Danni. Also, we're doing some production stuff with a team called Tag Team who are brothers, their names are David and Gerald Langford.” Harking back to his choir days, C James says he's “working with a gospel artist named Ayana McDonald, and a gospel group called Tremayne Evander & Prophetic Worship.” If that's not enough, songwriting with Kevin Ross, Amy Ellis, and Orlando "The Professional" Dixon, are just a few of the things he's looking forward to as he closes out his tenure in Boston. Luckily for him, C James' constant attitude of looking to the future and accepting that his time at Berklee is not indefinite will save him from coming to that harsh realization on graduation day. In fact, he's already made plans for the future, and if having high hopes is a crime, C James is guilty. “I submitted three songs for Jordan Sparks next CD and I am working on a song now to submit for Ruben Studdards next CD as well. So if everything goes as planned, I want to be producing for major artists in the industry.” Lofty as his dreams may seem, C James' accomplished just about everything he's set his mind to thus far, so it isn't hard to believe that he'll do it again. And, with the web of college classes out of the way and the power of his NeKo TSE backing him, he can back all the artists he dreams of.Endorsements: www.openlabs.com