Daniel James (born 21 July 1975) is an Australian record producer and songwriter. His genres include pop, dance, electropop, as well as

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

Life and career

Early life

James was born in Sydney, but grew up briefly in New Zealand until the age of five, when he relocated back to Sydney. Around age 12 he began singing and performing in church, which inspired him to begin a career in music. He started writing songs at the age of 17 and became involved with various touring bands, as well as his solo project Eden. Eden received airplay on

2Day FM 2Day FM (call sign 2DAY) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on a frequency of 104.1 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network. History 1980s 2Day FM was one of three radio ...

, Sydney's top pop station as part of a song competition.

Career

In 2002 James and wife

Leah Haywood Leah Jacqueline Cooney, known professionally as Haywood (formerly Leah Haywood), is an Australian record producer, songwriter and singer. Born in New Zealand, she grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and recorded a top 40 album, ''Leah'', re ...

met and began writing together on a duet electronic project "Dreamlab"; they went on to write "Top of the World" performed by

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy (Mandy Moore song), Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her de ...

featured on the '' Stuart Little 2'' soundtrack."Stuart Little 2 Soundtrack"
IMDB. Retrieved 9 March 2012 They continued producing and writing together creating the production company under their most recent artist endeavour, Dreamlab."Daniel James and Leah Haywood (Dreamlab)"
Advanced Alternative Media. Retrieved 9 March 2012 In 2004 James alongside Haywood co-wrote and co-produced

Aly and AJ Aly & AJ are an American pop rock duo that consists of sisters Alyson (Aly) and Amanda Joy Michalka (AJ) and signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2004. Their debut album, '' Into the Rush'', debuted at number 36 on the US ''B ...

's debut top 40 single " Rush" and produced 8 tracks on the record; which has sold in excess of a million records worldwide. James also co-wrote half the tracks and produced the entire record '' The Moon Under Water'' for

Ryan Cabrera Ryan Frank Cabrera ( ) (born July 18, 1982) is an American musician. He began his career as a lead singer for the Dallas band Rubix Groove before pursuing his solo career. Following the 2001 release of independent album '' Elm St.'', he released ...

."The Moon Under Water"
Artistdirect Ryan 13 March 2012 With his initial mainstream success James went on to produce and write "Promise", "Drive", and "Afriad" off

Vanessa Hudgens Vanessa Anne Hudgens (; born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in '' Thirteen'' (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the ''High School Musical'' film series (2006 ...

album '' V''."Vanessa Hudgens"
Artistdirect Vanessa 13 March 2012 In 2009 he produced and co-wrote the hit single "

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

" for

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...

off the album '' Hannah Montana 3'', which debuted at number five on

Billboard's ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Chart. During this time period he also produced and wrote "Masquerade" for Ashley Tisdale off her album ''

Guilty Pleasure A guilty pleasure is something, such as a film, a television program, or a piece of music, that one enjoys despite understanding that it is not generally held in high regard, or is seen as unusual or weird. For example, a person may secretly like ...

''. James later went on to produce and co-write 3 tracks off Demi Lovato's album '' Unbroken'' as well as " Hit the Lights" for

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

which is her next single off the album '' When the Sun Goes Down''. From then he has worked with

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nominated artist

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

, co-producing and co-writing the track "Marilyn Monroe". After his continued success, Dreamlab set up the imprint Layer Cake Records with their first signings of Neon Hymns and Hunter Parrish.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Daniel 1975 births Living people Australian record producers Australian songwriters Musicians from Sydney