James Warburton (Composer)

James is a composer and sound-artist who specialises in giving each project a unique sound-world; crafting his own unconventional sounds to create bold, visceral and emotional music. He takes influence from the worlds of ambient, drone, electronica and contemporary orchestral.

He is a multi-instrumentalist from a background of experimental bands and live performance which led to showcases at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, plays on BBC Radio 1 and 6Music and his work being widely licensed for international TV and film including ’ HBO’s ‘Succession’, Netflix’s ‘Dope’, the original score for Endemolshine/Banijay’s hit TV series ‘Murdertown’ and NBCUniversal’s ‘Faceless’ podcast.

He has recently assisted on two major BBC and ITV documentaries – ‘Manctopia’ and ‘In Cold Blood’ and is a member of the BAFTA Connect talent scheme. He is equally at home on stage or in his studio.

He utilises experimental production and processing techniques: sending unusual acoustic instruments and synthesisers through industrial distortion pedals, tape loops, modular units and vintage reel-to-reel machines, slowing down and stretching sounds to their limits to search for the unheard spaces between the notes.

His initial sounds are often sourced organically from nature or the environment of the project, taking a series of percussive and tactile field recordings; elements of which are cut up and manipulated into atmospheric textures and minimalist rhythms, layered with processed piano, bowed stringed instruments or the human voice; contrasting the natural with the un-natural.