
James Heather
As a child growing up in Southampton, James Heather’s Grandad on one side of the family taught him composition techniques and how to manipulate the tuning of piano strings, whilst his Granny on the other used to dabble with dreamy improvisations on the instrument. Inspired by a love of Beethoven, Debussy and hearing his older neighbour’s Acid House pirate radio station, Heather spent many years honing his piano playing alone. He imagined composing for a collective of some sort one day, but a mixture of shyness and the different trends of the day meant things mainly evolved privately, expressing the band he imagined in his head, but using only solo piano.
Debut album hits the charts with over 120 million streams
After a near death experience, he had the energy to step out finally as an artist. The result was to bring a fresh take to piano music which on streaming services have been played over 120 million streams in just a few years and his debut album charting at #14 in Classical Crossover in the Billboard (USA) charts. Influence wise, the music takes as much from electronic music in structure, ambience and sensibility, and post-rock in its exploration of building meditative tones as it does its classical and jazz grounding. Heather proves adept in the intricacies of composition from the tender to more propulsive, trance-inducing dynamics, always highly personal and with warmth and hope in the sadness, it belies the fact the music is often coming from just one acoustic instrument.
”Composing these songs gave me an anchor to feel more present in life”
Grander, deeper, broader
In 2022 Heather releases his second album, “Invisible Forces”. The album is about becoming aware of invisible forces around us to help deepen understanding of self and our connection to the world, from tuning into the natural world and getting lost in its patterns and energies to gaining more knowledge around ancestral lines such as the concept of epigenetics. It’s about looking that bit deeper into things, into areas that are not instantly visible but are all around us to achieve this. “Composing these songs gave me an anchor to feel more present in life after some troubling times and sent me on a journey to rediscover a kind of wonderment with the world. I hope the Invisible Forces universe will bring warmth to other people too.” A step forward compositionally from his 2017 debut album ‘Stories From Far Away On Piano’, the songs are grander, deeper and broader in emotional range and are developed through a series of improvisation techniques rarely seen in the often notated world of classical music. He describes his music as “pulse music” with each track performed in a single take and each with its roots in this improvisation, as the compositions evolve gradually.
”He describes his music as “pulse music” with each track performed in a single take and each with its roots in this improvisation, as the compositions evolve gradually.”
One of the most versatile artists from the post-classical genre.
Heather is one of of the most versatile artists from the post-classical genre including notable performances at Green Man Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Berlin Planetarium, Wilderness Festival, and Dublin National Concert Hall in 2021. Furthermore he collaborated with Ryuichi Sakamoto and contributed piano parts to the new version of “Autumn Leaves Return” by Coldcut & The Irresistible Force. He worked with artists such as Dawn Richard, Coldcut, Mumdance, and Roger Robinson (King Midas Sound) and his music has been reworked by various artists, including DJ Seinfeld, Aparde, Echo Collective, Mary Lattimore, Chihei Hatakeyama and Sarah Davachi. Heather enjoys gained support from notable figures and groups such as James Lavelle (UNKLE), Nils Frahm, Cillian Murphy, DJ Seinfeld, Emika, Mary Lattimore, Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label, and The Cinematic Orchestra, for whom he reworked their song “A Caged Bird / Imitations Of Life” for their ‘To Believe’ remix album.
Listen to James Heather

PRESS
“A masterful set of contemporary piano pieces. The sound Heather makes is captivating.” Electronic Sound
“Superb instrumental music.” CRACK (8 Stand Out Moments from Green Man Festival)
“A special voice…” Headphone Commute
“Capable of supreme tenderness and yet, tonally, hugely powerful.” Mixmag
“Incredibly emotive pieces. A tender, touching album.” Loud and Quiet (Albums of the Month)