James

Newcastle born and bred, 33-year-old DJ and producer James Wilson grew up listening to his fathers' jazz records, being totally immersed in the voices of Bille Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald and the off-kilter sounds of Miles Davis. He then took his broad musical influences from synth-pop pioneers Depeche Mode (who still remain James' biggest influence today), innovative rock act Radiohead and indie legends Stone Roses. Since then, celebrated DJ / producers Deep Dish, Steve Lawler, John Digweed, Slam and near-legendary local club night Shindig have shaped James' musical tastes, and helped him develop a great passion for what he calls "proper house music".After promoting his own successful nights around Newcastle, James wanted to further broaden his musical horizons with an idea he had to set up his own label. This label would give him a base from which to release the music he has great passion for.Upon setting up the label, Climax Recordings, James has built up a good following with a varied-style release policy that has seen the label's tracks received fantastic across-the-board support from DJ's such as his heroes Deep Dish, John Digweed & Steve Lawler to the likes of Sasha, Erick Morillo, Sander Kleinenberg, Chris Fortier, James Zabiela and DJ Hyper, to name a few.With the label's ever-growing reputation, James has been able to call upon the services of a varied range of producers. Starting off with the likes of Fretwell, Paul Lancaster and FaceDown, Climax has gone on to release the talents of the more established acts like Mara, Earth Deuley, OkoTek and Mick Wilson (of Tilt / Parks & Wilson fame) and more. All this goes to show the genuine progression the label has made and also shows that James has an eye for talent as well as an ear for quality music. 2003 was the year that saw Climax really take-off, with Radio 1 plays from Pete Tong and Seb Fontaine, as well as tracks signed to his Perfecto Presents mix compilation, and also two Global Underground compilations - Steve Lawler's Lights Out 2 and the chill-out mix Electric Calm 2.On the DJing front, 2003 to 2005 saw James take his DJing talents to headline gigs in Russia, Italy, Romania, Poland, Washington DC and various UK venues, with slots alongside the likes of Barry Gilbey, Fabric's Tyler Stadius, Bedrock protégé Jonathon Lisle and USA's Steve Porter & Randall Jones.2006 saw James play clubbing mecca Ibiza for the first time, as well as start a monthly internet radio show on Proton Radio, Glitch, which he co-hosts with Xeton Records label boss Dom Kane.2006 has also seen James actively seek remix work for the first time, and has gone into the studio properly, undertaking the following remixes under his Climax guise: - Randomize - Dom Kane - 'Revolution' (Climax Remix) - Fragile Recordings - Deepdownandirty - 'Acid Jammin' (Climax Dub) - Xeton Records - Dom Kane - 'Numbers' (Climax Trip)In 2007, James ended his label Climax Recordings to set up a new digital-only label, Second Coming. The new label is an outlet for all new artists and their material as well as for James own remixes and productions.2007 also saw James earn two residencies, with undeground rave promoters Detox, and up-and-coming house night Absorb, alongside one of his new labels artists, Glide.Musically, James fuses tech, electro and house together with a dash of acid, whilst never losing that basic foundation funkThis is all evidence that both James Wilson, Climax Recordings and second coming have come a very long way in a relatively short space of time.