James has been a freelance drum kit and percussion player for 15 years, and has been involved in multiple bands, orchestras and ensembles during his career. He has been the regular drummer at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena for Shone Productions pantomimes since 2018, where he has performed alongside Gareth Gates (Pop Idol) Jake Quickenden (Dancing On Ice, The X Factor, I'm A Celebrity...), Mark 'The Beast' Labbett (The Chase), Barney Harwood (Blue Peter) , Shapphire Elia (Emmerdale, Britannia High), and JJ Hamblett (Union J, The X Factor). James has also performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, playing kit for the University of Manchester Musical Theatre Society’s 4-star production of ‘Godspell’. He is also regularly gigging with his function band Candy and the Sound, performing across the Midlands and beyond for weddings, parties, festivals, award shows and hospitality events. Other performance work has been with Motown Gold (function band), the University of Manchester Brass Band as principle percussionist (winning the UniBrass Contest with them in 2015),  the Bristol Symphony Orchestra, University of Manchester Symphony Orchestra, and the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra. 

As well as performing at live events and theatre shows, James records drums and percussion as a session musician from his home studio. His playing can be heard on tracks used on Disney+, Channel 4, ITV and BBC1, in addition to supplying drum tracks for various Shone Productions pantos for their 2021 season.