Born Howard James Havens on January 2, 1971 to American father and Japanese mother on Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan. Family and school friends call me by my first name, but I started using my middle-name in my early 20's due to a mix-up in names. (The Japanese pronounciation of Howard, sounded like another foreign employees name) Being a military brat, we were always on the move. Looking back now, the moving back-n-forth from Japan and the US, and father being out at sea most of the time, left me lonely, and I often turned to radio and music for comfort. Yet, the many 'good-byes' and 'how do you dos' made me a stronger person, and also established my social skills which is now the very foundation of my success! But music has always been a part of my life, and I appeared on a couple of TV shows and karaoke contests before forming my own band in junior highschool. Always the 'entertainer' and class clown, I knew the 3 year experience of being a 'salaryman' and truckdriver wasn't for me! While living near Tokyo, I decided to pursue my highschool dream and began song writing and recording. Sending hundreds of demo tapes and auditioning here and there eventually landed me at a new radio station in Nagoya, Japan. CHECK OUT MY RADIO STATION: ZIP-FM 77.8!The new station, ZIP-FM 77.8, started-up in October of 1993, and boy. in the beginning, it was rough! Despite having NO experience in being a 'Navigator' (DJ) I was appointed the weekday morning slot, Monday thru Friday 7 to 10AM! In radio, the morning time is 'Golden Time' (Drive Time), and soon I was the No. 1 'Morning Man' of this new city I still call my home. Besides the radio shows, I appear in many events, talk shows and concerts in the region, and I also try to do my share of charity and volunteer work. In 2001, I started up my own production/advertisement agency 'STUDIO JANDEC' and I now write and produce my own radio shows, radio & TV commercials, and albums! CHECK OUT MY COMPANY: STUDIO JANDEC!My hobbies are: talking (goes with the territory), making and performing music, racing and owning exotic cars, drinking aged Kentucky bourbon and Californian red wine, smokin' an occasional Cuban cigar, and being in the company (or in bed) with beautiful girls. carpe diem, 'nuff said. Although my Official Website WWW.JAMESHAVENS.COM is mostly in Japanese, musical accomplishments include writting Anniversary songs for the radio station; writting the Official theme song "HERE FOR YOU" for the (then) newly built baseball stadium NAGOYA DOME and also performing live there; (Although I mainly perform my own material or cover American rock songs, I also sing in Japanese. Here I'm singing a medley of popular Japanese songs for the 15,000 strong crowd. check-out the vid!)NEW YEAR'S CONCERT at the NAGOYA DOME
Also, coming up and collaborating with the song "STILL RED HOT" with my favorite hard-rocking band FIREHOUSE; winning the NIPPON DOMANNAKA FESTIVAL 'Song of the Year Award' with "NAGOYA REGGAE"; and writting the Support Song "THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY LIFE" for the JAPAN ORGAN TRANSPLANT NETWORK. A matter of fact, this is the live performance from the 2005 JAPAN ORGAN TRANSPLANT NETWORKs charity gig called "Swinging Session". The last song of our set was Bon Jovi's "Have A Nice Day", with some help from the audience! ２００５年の「日本臓器移植ネットワーク」のライブの 映像だ。毎年行っているこのチャリティー・ライブ… ジェイムスは同組織の応援ソングも作詞作曲しているが、ここでは最後の曲: ボン・ジョヴィの "ハバナイスデー "を歌っている！
.why don't you check-out "Swinging Session" 2008 while you're at it!
My band, appropriately named "JAMES BAND", is a ever-changing group of wannabies and mediocre musicians because i can't afford the real deal, and i suck anyway. (does anybody actually read this shit?) lmao
This is the 'lost' vid of our band CASSANDRA when we won first place at the "Battle of the Bands '88" held at ASIJ, Tokyo. Bands from all the international highschools in the region compete in this annual contest, and although our school sucked big-time athletically (then), we sure kicked-ass musically ! The members are: Dave Odegaard on guitar; Tommy Phillips on drums; Perry Stevens on bass; and yours truly screamin' his head-off ! Tell me us half-Japanese teenage military-brats didn't rock the stage way back then !! This is our encore performance of Whitesnakes "Give Me All Your Love" after receiving our award !俺が高校２年生の時にバンド・コンテストで優勝した直後のアンコールの映像だ! 会場は, 宇多田ヒカルやMay J., そして"ＲＩＺＥ"の JESSE らが通っていた母校「ＡＳＩＪ」 (アメリカンスクール・イン・ジャパン) の体育館だ!!
.and our "LAST PERFORMANCE" vid from the last highschool assembly in 1988. Rockin' in front of students, faculty, and parents. obviously shy (wha?), I take the stage one last time with the graduating fellow members.
