Austrialian DJ and songwriter Hayden James started DJing when he was about 16 years old.
"I was playing anything I could… weddings, house parties, underage club nights, where ever I could play I was there," James says. "Fast-forward a couple years and I was playing local clubs in Sydney whilst i was at university but it didn’t get serious until I started writing music, and specifically ‘Something About You.’ Everything really took off from there."
James says that it's hard to describe his sound today.
"If I had to I would say chill house.. not sure," he says. "I just write what feels right. Sometimes it’s chill, sometimes it’s not."
His recent release is "Patience."
"This record feels really special to me," James says. "It’s almost a ‘Just Friends 2.0’ to me. It’s very pop vibe and very classic HJ sounding. Karen Harding has such an incredible vocal and just hits right with this style of production."
As for gear: "Almost every record I write has the Dave Smith Prophet 6 in it. It’s my fav synth and just a versatile beast," he says. "I use a whole bunch of software plugins of course but I feel my songwriting comes to life with outboard gear."
Looking ahead, James has plenty planned for the remainder of 2024.
"This year I’m releasing my third album called We Could Be Love," he says. "It’s honestly the most exciting and vibey music I’ve ever written and I can’t wait for people to hear the whole thing. I’ve been getting so much love on the first couple of singles which is so great. I’ll be touring all across North America this fall with the album."
