Do we make our own luck? How I’ve gotten to make a living out of my imagination is still part mystery, part fact. Today I am an Audio Engineer and Producer but I got here through a series of events.
These are just a few
01/03
The “Random Calls”
My band, The Spades, toured Canada for 10 years. Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip produced our albums But the road is a long haul and I wanted to see if I could take what I had learned and bring it back to the engineer/producer’s seat. It wasn’t long after taking a “break” from touring that I got a call from Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo “yes, James, It’s Greg Keelor I have 4 albums to make in the next while, can you help me with those?”.
02/03
The “Wooden Shed”
My fascination with recording music began the instant I started playing music. The shed behind my childhood home became “the jam space” for my first garage band. I got a 4 track recorder and a couple microphones and immediately started moving the mics around the room. “What does it sound like if I hang them from the rafters?”.
03/03
The “What Are You Going to Do With Your Future, Young Man?”
To keep me from being a hopeless and wandering musician my parents enrolled me in The Recording Arts Program of Canada and I graduated with a degree in Audio Engineering.
For the next 7 years I recorded radio commercials, bands, spoken word, just about anything I could to cut my teeth on.
If you told the 16-year-old me that I’d get to have some hang time and record some of my peers: Blue Rodeo, Ronnie Hawkins, Gordon Lightfoot, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, I’m not sure I would have believed it.
From the studios to Greg’s farmhouse, halls, churches, anywhere I’ve recorded, I have to say it’s been unique every time.
What’s your story? It’s not lost on me that when I’m making a recording for you it is YOUR life, your story. How can we best translate what you need to say? Let’s find the human element. Lets talk music, lets talk shop!
Jm Event Design
“Beyond the reach of your expectations is where your guests experience will begin”