It's All Geek To Me: Music Topic: Up and Coming Artist, Chris James

I know I don't normally post about music topics, but I couldn't help but share this awesome artist and his songs with all my readers. It's a lot to take in, so get ready!

Chris James is releasing a new album titled World War 3 which is a creative mix of politics, broken hearts & human emotions all rolled into pop composition. On the follow-up to 2013’s Return to the Scene of the Beat, Chris James has created and proved his vocal ability and artistic talent with his positive energy, experimental new sounds, and intimate detail-driven lyrics.

The first single, “Take Me to Heaven,” is the most up-tempo thing CJ has produced to date, changing his dance sound to straight up pop. “I feel like I found myself as an artist on this album,” James says. “It’s a clear change from what I’ve been doing. I worked with new sounds and took more risks in writing; I went to the deepest places of my heart for lyrics, places I haven’t gone within me before. Words that come from your own heart are the most powerful sound, rather than hitting a high note.”

“It’s like I can finally say I am proud of myself, musically,” he says. “It’s crazy. I have been making music for ten years, and now I feel at home, like I belong.” James is referring to the commercial success of his 2005 debut release “…Make Me Scream!,” an “independent, underground pop record” (as Broadjam.com had put it) written and produced by CJ, the album reached the top ten on the Euro Pop Charts via broadjam.com. “Right Here”, the lead single, provided Mr. James the coveted 101.5 NJTS Radio Award presented by DJ Big Joe Henry. After the success of the Scream album, by 2009 it was time to hit the music scene with his sophomore effort “Coming Back Around” which took on a more rock/pop sound than his dance pop roots that gave him his start. After minimal airplay of the lead single, “Moving On Without You”, the album saw success with “I’ll Survive” which was a top 50 single on AmericanIdolUnderground.com. The album spawned two more singles, “World We Live” and “Not Ur Mr. Right”. It was at this time that Chris was focusing on his acting abilities. “I was over the music at the end of my second album. I was in such a dark place personally that it was starting to show in my music. I was lost. I wanted to do something else, and I do that often.” He said jokingly. Chris turned to acting. He went on to perform in several theater productions such as, “Arsenic & Old Lace” as Officer O’Hara, “Beyond Therapy” as Bob, the Perry nominated “5 Minutes to Curtain” as Max, and the performance of four roles in “Twentieth Century” as Porter, Jesus, Detective & Max the Producer. With the bug bit, Chris went on to write, film and direct two web series titled “My Saturday Night” a talk/variety show and “the Chris James show”, a web series poking fun at Chris’ struggles as a singer living with his wild drunk roommate. Once again with his been there, done it mantra, Chris was ready to release music again. In 2011, CJ released several singles, “Never Again”, “Jealous” and “Call Out My Name” to test audiences if Chris was still wanted. And he was! In April 2013, CJ released “Who is Chris James: A Collection of Hits”, a compilation album of his first two records which included rare songs and remixes. Then, On July 23^rd, 2013, Return to the Scene of the Beat was released. The Lead single “So Over You” was a top 20 international internet radio hit in Israel and Germany. The album gained Chris access to TV and Radio interviews, and performances including the Matt Martin show & the Wendy Williams show. With the album in full swing and the holidays approaching, CJ needed a challenge. In December 2013, Chris James released his very first all original holiday album I Put the Chris in Christmas. The lead singles, “This Holiday” and “Hey Santa” were nominated for ASCAP’s songwriting contest.

Those who saw Chris James perform at several festival, night clubs or theatre over the past ten years have seen him mature in to what people are now calling up and coming. “I will always make music,” he says. “When I am in the studio, I am comfortable and I can say what is on my mind. It is an outlet that I use to keep me sane, keep me smiling. That is my thing. Even as kid, other guys would say they want to be play football or be a doctor, I wanted to be in music –any type.”

Look for Chris James’ new album World War 3 on iTunes due out this summer. The single Take Me to Heaven is available on June 1, 2014. For all things Chris James; be sure to check out his website at iamchrisjames.com