A Day In The Life Of: Bradley James
Establishing himself as one of the fastest rising talents within the Dance music scene, Bradley James has managed to put his name on the map in 2015. Having had a marvellous debut with his single ‘Charger’, Bradley got signed by Treatment, putting himself in the spotlight within his first year in business by getting on BBC Introducing’s radar.
Following up such incredible feats, 2015 has seen Bradley James very busy on the production front, putting his signature on remarkable efforts like: ‘Visionary EP’, ‘Groseille Remix’, ‘Caiman’, ‘Amnesia / Taipan’, ‘Lynch’, ‘Infinity’, ‘Breakthrough’, ‘Fire’, ‘Akula’ and his latest wonder ‘Tommy Gun’.
Whilst 2015 has certainly been an important year for Bradley James, he surely has some exciting plans to kick off 2016 with a bang. We’ve decided to have a chat with Bradley about how he spends his day and how he goes about his production and DJing tasks.
Hey Bradley, thanks for having us. First of all, at what time do you wake up?
I’m lucky to work from home, so I wake up at 8:45 – give myself 15 minutes to properly wake up and then get up and about at 9am.
Give us an overview of your first activities in the morning?
First thing I’ll do is check my emails for anything urgent, then I’ll do the usual social media and sports news-check whilst in bed. Then, once I’m up and at my desk, I’ll do a quick check of my Soundcloud page – checking stats, as well as new tracks posted by the people I follow.
At what time do you usually head to the studio?
After checking and responding to any emails and sorting out anything else, I’ll move on to working on a track at around 9:30 – 10:00.
Do you have a ritual of things you do before getting started on actual production?
Not so much a ritual but I don’t like to force myself into working on something because I find that production starts to get sloppy, so some days I won’t start working on a track until quite late in the day.
What do you drink when you’re working in the studio?
Have to start off with a nice cup of coffee, but then it’s pretty boring after that with just bottles of water.
Do you take walks, have snack breaks etc. to help you get inspired or restore energy levels?
A lot of my inspiration will come from listening to new music on Soundcloud, so if I’m lacking some inspiration, I’ll spend half an hour or so just searching for new music and different sounds.
Do you like to switch off your mobile phone and other electronic devices whilst working on a track or do you prefer to stay connected?
Definitely stay connected – I like to respond to important emails and text messages as fast as possible so that nothing is waiting on me for long. Plus, I take mini breaks every couple of hours to try and save my head from exploding, so I’ll use that time to check social media and sports news on my phone.
On the day of a big gig, how do you prepare?
Check I have all of the right cables one hundred times – there isn’t a worse feeling than thinking you’ve forgot a cable!
What’s the very first thing you do when entering the venue before the show?
Just relax a little because no one wants to see a DJ scared stiff and looking uncomfortable.
What’s lunch/dinner like before an important gig?
For me, not much different to any other lunch/dinner. You have to keep yourself feeling as normal and relaxed as possible, so just eating a normal meal is fine for me.
Do you head straight home after a show or do you like to hang out?
Personally, I like to head home straight after a show. As time goes on and hopefully shows start to get bigger and at festivals, I’d like to hang around afterwards and check out some other acts.
How do you spend your days off?
I tend to do the usual kind of stuff – playing games, watching films, maybe go shopping. It’s a huge bonus that I love what I do, so I don’t really see it as a job – more of a hobby that I’m lucky enough to do as much as I want, so days off just allow me to switch off for a sec.
Thanks Bradley!
Bradley James Online
www.bradleyjames.co.uk
www.facebook.com/BradleyJamesMusic
www.twitter.com/bradleyjame5
www.soundcloud.com/bradley_james
