Matthew James

Born to a simple working-class family in Chicago, IL, his first exposure to music was akin to his humble upbringing, initiated by a $1 Christmas stocking stuffer received at age 7. Little did he know that the fondness for his new “play-by-numbers” toy keyboard would be the tiny spark to ignite the roaring blaze that would become his lifelong passion.

His early years quickly shifted from simple music lessons with his father on a Casio keyboard, to becoming an award-winning clarinettist in school band. During this time, his fascination for the sound & music of the world only grew stronger. His inclination for improvisation and natural ear inspired him to pen his first tunes at age 11. It was at this time that he discovered his love for the art of recording as well, using his father’s old reel-to-reel to document the rudimentary experiments. As a teenager, he focused solely on composing his own music. By age 18, he had developed into a self-taught, multi-instrumentalist, band leader, audio engineer, producer and songwriter well known in the Chicago music scene, recording & performing in some of the city’s most famous venues.

In 2016, guided by the encouragement of a dear friend in the film industry in Hollywood, Matthew shifted his focus to music for picture. His admiration for film music quickly came to fruition when he was hired to compose the score for what would become the Emmy award-winning PSA campaign, Life After Hate. This opportunity became the prelude to many further opportunities in film & television. Winning another award for his first short film ultimately leading him to network television. In late 2017, Matthew relocated to Hollywood, CA for a job offer as assistant, performer and writer with on Being Mary Jane, The Quad, Stitchers  and the CW’s hit super hero series, Black Lightning. 

Fast forward to April 2018, days before his one year anniversary in Los Angeles, Matthew began building out his own studio suite in Burbank, CA located in the state of the art Aura Sound & Color post production audio facility owned and operated by Emmy Award winning Sam & Melani Lewis.  Matthew presently has started off  2019 with a bang, landing his first of a series of feature films. Spring/Summer 2019 continue to look up with multiple feature films added to the docket. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.