James has dedicated his life to bringing people together through music. He put on his first events as a teenager in Kentish Town, North London in the 90s and has gone on to stage 100’s of events, spanning 4 decades.

He has put out dozens of releases, both as a producer and through his label, providing a platform for both up and coming artists as well as some of the biggest stars of the scene. His tireless work has made Reggae Roast one of the leading independent bass music labels in the UK.

James fell in love with reggae music from an early age. His older brother Joe was a huge reggae collector with an entire wall of yard tapes & vinyl that he would blast out of his enormous hi-fi speakers from his attic.

As he grew up, he followed soundsystems like Jah Shaka, Solution Sound and Aba Shanti, which inspired him to form his own soundsystem and label.

James started his music career at 17 when he threw a party in the back room of a kebab shop in Kentish Town, North London (Kentish Delight, if you know you know ;). The night was such a success, that people were queuing around the block to get in. 

Soon after he and a group of friends started a weekly UK Hip-Hop and Garage night at a Caribbean bar and restaurant in Tufnell Park called Posh Nosh. Every week was a roadblock and it gave him a taste for the thrill of running his own events. Little did he know at this stage where his journey would take him...

Around 2019 they formed a collective of DJs, rappers, and producers called Underground Alliance, launching their own label Undali Records, hand-to-hand hustling cassettes, vinyl and CDs from the bridge in Kentish Town and to record shops throughout London.

On Saturdays he would stand on the bridge at Camden Lock with a ghetto blaster selling mixtapes & CDs and went on to have a stall in Camden Market. This was the start of his entrepreneurial journey. 

James’s first release came out in 2004 under the name DJ Moodie, it was a UK hip-hop mixtape extravaganza, featuring some of the biggest rap artists in the UK at the time including Roots Manuva, Skinnyman, Task Force, Rodney P and many more.

One of the things that always frustrated him about playing in the bars and clubs was the quality of the sound systems he had to play on. Having heard the big soundsystems that inspired him, he wanted that chest-rattling bass at his events.

He knew the only option was to build his own sound.

In 2007, at another bar in Kentish Town called The Grand Union; James threw his first Reggae Roast party using his ad hoc soundsystem. It was an all-day event with free entry and the kitchen was cooking up… you guessed it: Sunday roast! Which is where the name came from for those that didn’t know.  

The event quickly grew in popularity and by the third one, there were so many people that they drank the bar dry. Yes, they completely ran out of alcohol. It was a sweaty, bass-heavy dance in the basement venue that night, like an old-school shoobs from yesteryear. From that day James knew this was his calling.

Around this time James had some of his mashups released through the now hugely popular Nice Up Records, run by DJ Shep Dog.

Shepdog was also playing at that early Reggae Roast event in Kentish Town when they drank the bar dry. Shep had recently become the booker for Big Chill House / Festival. He immediately asked James to run their next event at the Big Chill House in Kings Cross and booked Reggae Roast for a stage takeover at the Big Chill Festival.  

Soon after they went on to build their first proper soundsystem with Noise Control Audio and started running regular Soundsystem events at warehouses in Hackney Wick and on Shacklewell Lane.

Alongside the live events, James formed the Reggae Roast label imprint with co-founder Greg Burnell to release music from the artists they were working with such as Mungo’s Hi Fi, Brother Culture, Dandelion from the Hempolics, Earl 16 and many others. 

More hugely successful events took place at Big Chill House confirming Reggae Roast as one of the new leading lights in the resurgence of the UK Reggae scene, but James’s quest to build the ultimate sound became an obsession... and he took things one step further.

Working with Al Cree at Meta Acoustics, Reggae Roast built their legendary bespoke sound system in 2014. The 52KW system AKA "The Beast" brought Soundsystem design into the 21st century, both aesthetically and sonically. The 3m long Terra Horns, mean it can recreate frequencies as low as 20 hertz, lower than any other system on the market.

Old-school Reggae Roast heads will remember these stacks from the events at The Forge in Camden and warehouse parties at Styx in Tottenham Hale and Hackney Wick.

Over many summers, Reggae Roast became a mainstay on the UK festival circuit running dozens of stage takeovers at Glastonbury, Bestival, Secret Garden Party and Outlook Festival amoung others

Then in 2016 James linked up with Matt Interrupt to start working on some original Reggae Roast productions, recording tracks with some of the biggest names in the world of Reggae including Horace Andy, General Levy, Johnny Clarke, Tippa Irie, Mr Willaimz, Top Cat and Gappy Ranks. 

Their debut album 'Turn Up The Heat' Was signed by the legendary Trojan Records and released in 2021 to critical acclaim.

That same year, James hooked up with Raver Tots to create Reggae Tots a reggae dance aimed specifically at families with younger children. These events were immediately an incredible success as families loved the safe and friendly environment to spend quality time together dancing to great music played by their favourite DJs.

James has even had his 11-year-old son Jesse (AKA DJ Jesta) DJing at some of the events, inspiring a younger generation of soundsystem fans.

 Then in 2022, Reggae Roast supported the great UB40 for a one-off show. UB40's management were so impressed that they asked Reggae Roast to be their support act for an 8 date UK/Europe Arena Tour. They performed at the O2 Arena in front of 20,000 people, a long way from James's humble beginnings at the Kentish Town kebab shop

James independently released Reggae Roast's second album “More Fire” in 2023, it featured Horace Andy, Johnny Clarke, Gappy Ranks, Donovan Kingjay, Soom T, Horseman and many more. 

Growing up in North London in the 90s, James was lucky enough to experience first-hand the emergence of some of the genres that owe their origins to soundsystem culture; from UK Hip-Hop to Jungle, to UK Garage, Grime and Dubstep.

As a result, Reggae Roast has always incorporated elements of these genres in both live shows and productions, with many of their releases featuring Jungle / DnB remixes from legendary producers like Ed Solo, Benny Page and Kenny Ken.

Through Reggae Roast, James has built a thriving community, celebrating the soundsystem culture that inspired him so much growing up. His goal is to develop Reggae Roast into the world’s number one resource for soundsystem culture; promoting both the originators of the sound and up-and-coming artists to celebrate a love of Reggae music and all the genres it has inspired.

Check out a selection of the Reggae Roast back catalogue below and sign up to the mailing list to receive updates.