James Chase-Mills is a British musician, composer and singer-songwriter based in Norwich, United Kingdom.

 

Born in 1992 and raised in the Norfolk countryside, James began his musical journey at the age of 11 when he was inspired to start learning guitar after hearing the iconic riff to ‘Smoke On The Water’ in a television advert, and then subsequently seeing Marty McFly shredding in the classic film ‘Back To The Future’. After spending his teenage years playing local gigs in a pop-punk band (which split due to “creative differences”), he was keen to explore different musical styles and embarked on learning piano and finger-style guitar songs, with the aim of eventually creating original music of his own.

 

Following completion of a university degree in Environmental Sciences and then commencing full-time employment - with a number of scrapped musical projects in the intervening years - fuelled by his passion, James began working on new original material in 2019 using his small home studio setup. The result was his debut album, ‘Elements’ (2023), consisting of fourteen primarily instrumental tracks.

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After reflecting on the work of his favourite artists and considering the direction he wanted to take next, James began writing vocal-led songs with more traditional structures and melodic hooks. The result of this is a series of singles released during 2024-25, which will eventually culminate in a second album.

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James cites influences including Tom Misch, Matt Corby, Jordan Rakei, Chet Faker, John Mayer, Billie Marten, Radiohead, Patrick Watson, Tears For Fears, and FKJ, to name a few.

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