Shinra

Inspired by the sounds of Aphex Twin, Luke Vibert and DJ Stingray, Shinra sent his first demos off in 2005, scoring his debut gig at the now legendary Bang Face night in London. The show led to several more gigs, and an appearance on London's Resonance FM.
In summer 2006, Shinra released his debut EP, 'Demons', on Net-Lab, leading to regular gigs across the UK, and airplay on Mary Anne Hobbs' Radio 1 show. After entering the 2006 UK Laptop Battle championship where performers are judged on composition, live technical manipulation, and crowd response, Shinra walked away with the crown.
2007 saw Shinra join David E. Sugar's live band, using a laptop to perform live effect processing on vocals and instruments. The band played live sessions on Radio 1 (Rob Da Bank) and BBC 6Music (Tom Robinson) and performed at venues across the capital . Shinra then entered and won a competition to remix Unique 3's anthem 'The Theme', which received a digital release via bleep.com.
Since then, Shinra has been working on new solo material. His compositions have veered from the frenetic cut up drum patterns of his debut EP, moving towards a more dancefloor friendly acid-infused electro bass. This new style was showcased in April 2008, when he played a well received set at the first Bang Face Weekender. Around the same time, these new electro tracks found their ideal home at WIDE Records, where Shinra joined a roster including Paul Blackford, Debasser and Smashback. September 2008 saw the release of 1986, his first EP on WIDE, which was quickly followed by a string of well-received remixes.
2009 brought a new set of challenges. Shinra worked on some exciting mash-up remixes featured in the smash hit 'DJ Hero' game on XBox 360 and PS3, as well as turning in remixes for the likes of PainStruckStanleyDumb, Egyptrixx and Decoder (Darren from Kosheen). He was also welcomed into the Mutate Records family, where he joined an impressive roster of artists including Unique 3, Si Begg, Milanese, Akira Kiteshi and lots more. Shinra contributed the track 'Edge' to the 'Mutations Volume 2' compilation. The year was finished in style with a storming booty bass remix of Chrissy Murderbot's track 'Thighs', which gained support from the likes of Keith Tenniswood and Rob Da Bank, and received airplay on Radio 1.
2010 is looking good too - some tasty electro remixes of Debasser and Espion, and a new EP too!



For gig bookings or remix requests, email james dot shinra at gmail dot com.