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James Pickering is a Film Composer, Songwriter and Music Producer.  

Mark Kermode described his 2020 score to Henry Blake’s twice BAFTA nominated 'County Lines' as “Majestic!”. His score was released on Lakeshore Records.  

Shortly after moving to London in his early twenties, and influenced by bands like The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, UNKLE, Radiohead, DJ Shadow and Spiritualized, touring with the latter, James’s band were signed to BMG Publishing and Manchester Indie label Faith & Hope.  

After the band ran its course, James decided to build on his untapped composition interests. On the strength of some contemporary pieces he’d scored but not previously shown anyone, James received private tuition in composition from a professor at the Guildhall.  

Using his fairly mixed musical education, James often blends sampled/found sounds with synths and acoustic instruments.  

James can often be seen around East Kent, sampling the environment and creating his own instruments from the sounds.     

The Fake Arts was created in 2016 as a space to release a bunch of music made with fairly relaxed boundaries, involving lots of different collaborations. Mixing up electro, indie, orchestral and whatever other music comes along, The Fake Arts is always about getting stuff made that feels right at the time and avoiding boredom as much possible.

James formed an incredibly productive Songwriter/Producer duo Fuse in July 2021 with Nathan Smoker (semi-finalist of last year’s Voice UK) who contacted him after watching County Lines. Tracks so far range from pop/indie pop through house and garage to indie electronica. This is a massively exciting project for both James and Nathan with lots more to come throughout 2022 and beyond…