James forbes
Mastering engineer
A multi Grammy-nominated engineer, James is the son of famed sportswriter Gordon Forbes (USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Sports Illustrated, NFL Pro Football Hall Of Fame). The family moved north to the Southern New Jersey/Philadelphia area when James where James spent most of his youth. Drawn into music at an early age, James recalls fond memories hearing Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd for the first time and being blown away with the sonics of the music along with the amazing songs and players.
James started playing guitar in his early teens but was fascinated with how records were produced, engineered, and mixed. This world was opened up when James had the chance to study audio production in the early 80’s under engineer/producer Joe Alexander (Dream Theatre, Vinnie Moore, Patti Labelle, Vanessa Williams, Teddy Pendergrass) at the legendary Kajem Studios in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Over the years James has grown to appreciate all styles of music and learned various production techniques and studio work ethic from the best in the business. Being a great music engineer involves growth and dedication to the art of music production.
Since this time James has logged over 35 years in professional recording studios and has worked with artists on Warner Brothers, Epic Records, Metal Blade, Universal Records, Roadrunner, Sony Music, TVT, Sensory Records and Arista Records, The Sound Of LA, Pure Steel Records Germany among others. James is an ASCAP member and co-owner of Jacoda Music Publishing Inc with his partner Jayar Mac as well as a voting member of the Recording Academy. James spent 7 years as an audio instructor at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida before relocating to Tampa Bay in 2007. James taught audio production at International Academy of Design and Technology Tampa campus from 2007 till 2015 and has been focusing on his company Vortex Music Productions going forward. James currently engineers at Clear Track Studios as well as serving as an audio instructor with Clear Track owner Mike Johnson who together teach audio production classes for the “Art of Sound Recording”. James and Clear Track Studios have offered their expertise and studio resources to assist with the mastering process on Rock Against Trafficking's “Set Them Free” album.