Eli James
Elijah Harvey James Rehaume (born November 18, 1982 in Seattle, Washington), better known as Eli James, is an American fashion designer and founder of the lifestyle clothing brand GhostCircus Apparel. Previously, he was the drummer for Tim Sköld's industrial solo project, SKOLD, the Electronic rock / indietronica / dance project, Julien-K and Dead By Sunrise, the alternative rock side project of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. He also performs as a solo artist as The eli james Experience! and with fellow drummer Elias Andra in their joint project E.L.I.
Eli James | |
|---|---|
 Eli James of GhostCircus Apparel | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Elijah Harvey James Rehaume |
| Born | November 18, 1982 Seattle, WA |
| Genres | Industrial rock, electronic rock, alternative rock, indietronica, synthpop, new wave, dubstep, electronic, rock, house, drum and bass, electro, Eurodance |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, drummer, DJ, producer, fashion designer |
| Instruments | Vocals, drums, percussion, personal computer |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Warner Bros., Metropolis, Relativity, Wax Trax!, Nothing, Interscope Level 7, Circuit Freq Records, Tiefdruck-Musik |
| Associated acts | Julien-K Tim Sköld Dead By Sunrise The eli james Experience! |
| Website | |
Early life
Eli James grew up in the Pacific Northwest – born in Seattle, WA, but constantly moving from place to place with his brothers and father, Izzy Rehaume, bass player for the metal band, Rottweiller.[1] Without Eli's mother in the picture, Izzy raised all of the boys on his own which meant staying with various members of the family, limited resources and Eli and his brothers shared everything they had. As a child, Eli would spend countless hours going to his father's band practices and rehearsals. After years of growing up in his father's end-of-the-80's, hair metal lifestyle, Eli realized his calling was to be a musician as well, allowing him to channel a rough childhood experience through his music into positive inspiration for the youth of today.
Even at the age of 7, it was obvious Eli had performing in his blood when he and his brothers put on tumbling/acrobatics shows for neighborhood and school friends in their backyard. He did this up until the age of 12 when he received his first drum kit. Throughout all of his years in elementary, middle and high school Eli took part in every musical activity offered – marching band, jazz band, choir, school plays, musicals, school bands etc. He was also very active in all sports throughout school, in particular – football, soccer and wrestling. His sights were set on becoming a pro athlete after graduating until a football injury sidelined him and he had to re-examine his options.
In 2000, after finishing high school, Eli moved down to Los Angeles and spent the next 4 years acting in both commercials and films. To date he has 250 stage performances, 7 films, and 1 television show appearance. By the year 2005, after attending the Tsunami Disaster Relief and witnessing and participating in the effects of goodwill first-hand he decided that music was his true calling, and through it he would realize his humanitarian efforts. Attending the International Music Convention in 2006 with David Campbell, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Juliette Simms and many others in Barbados only re-affirmed that he'd chosen the right path.
Music career
At this time, Eli put himself in a position to travel all over the U.S. and Canada to write music. After a few years of traveling and creating his studio he had the opportunity to work with producer John Ryan (Styx, Santana, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Doobie Brothers, Seal, etc.).
By 2008, Eli was living in downtown LA in an artist loft with his brothers, Joseph and Patrick, and friends Davan and Sonny Moore. It was during this time Patrick, aka DJ Magi, taught Sonny the DJ skills he would go on to use as Skrillex. As Sonny began to play more and more gigs and eventually book a tour as a DJ act, Eli decided to go on tour with him to drum tech for drummer, Sean Friday, however illness kept him from doing so. While he was recovering, he realized he needed to focus on making his own music again and once better, he hit the ground running full speed in that direction.
In May 2008 Eli ran into a close friend, Jason Spallino, aka Zuzu Gold, at a local LA show where Sonny Moore, Dead Sara and Endless Hallway were performing (The Knitting Factory). This is where Jason and Eli spoke about drumming for Little Red Radio.
After Eli joined Little Red Radio – whose members included Jason Bradly Shaffer (keys/programming), Jason Spallino (lead vocals) and Lara Meghan Anderson (lead vocals) – the band was on a non-stop ride towards success getting "Local Track of the Day" on LA's Indie 103.1 FM within 6 months and performing with bands such as Black Eyed Peas, LMFAO, The Pussycat Dolls, Mickey Avalon, Neon Trees, Kelis, Skrillex, Steel Panther, Spazmatics, Policics (Japan), Ebony Bones (UK) and many others. During this time Eli James began working with lighting designer, Adam Williams. Adam and Eli worked hand in hand continually pushing the envelope with Little Red Radio's level of live entertainment. With the energy and music of the band, plus the light sequences that Adam helped Eli develop, there was no other show in LA quite like it. Little Red Radio played many packed out venues such as The Key Club, On The Rox, The Roxy, The Viper Room, House of Blues, Silverlake Lounge, The Satellite, The Echo, The Echoplex, Club Avalon, Steve Aoki's Dim Mak, countless warehouse parties and club nights. Creative differences amongst its members proved to be too much for the band's survival, so Eli left the band in April 2011.
In doing so, and with Adam Williams' help, The eli james Experience! was born. Playing a packed house at his first show in Los Angeles (Club Bardot) lead to Eli immediately going on 4 solo tours nationwide. He wrapped his 3rd tour headlining The Viper Room at The Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF) 2011 where he and good friend/sponsor, Scott Dowers (Hairroxx), met DJ Ashba.[2] After Scott Dowers and DJ Ashba caught a few of Eli's live shows they both later decided to join AWP and help support/sponsor "The eli james Experience!" with their companies, Hairroxx and Ashba Swag. After Eli finished his 4th tour doing double duty as The eli james Experience! and drumming for (UK's) Viva City,[3] he was referred through friends to replace Elias Andra drumming for the bands Julien-K and Dead By Sunrise. Instead of going with just one drummer, it was decided to have two, Eli and Frank Zummo of Street Drum Corps. At that time, Eli was also drumming for a few of LA's local bands including The Dark and Vera Mesmer, Nadja Peulen's (Coal Chamber) latest endeavor, plus making appearances in music videos for Julien-K's "We're Here With You"[4] and September Mourning's "Before The Fall".
Eli's first show with Julien-K was at The Roxy Theatre, August 2012, direct support for Filter. Eli then drummed for Julien-K's 2012 European Tour which then lead to Julien-K jumping on MSI's European tour as their direct support. During this tour Eli got offered to drum for Deuce's USA tour which began in December 2012. After coming home from the Julien-K tour, Eli released his first EP "Fashion and a Toy" November 16, 2012.[5] Then it was right back out on the road, drumming for Deuce and doing a remix for his single, "America". On March 29, 2012, the single "Unforgettable", with singer/rapper Av Does It was released on which Eli did all of the production. He then produced, wrote and sang on his own first single, "Heart Attack!", which was released July 19, 2013. In August, Eli drummed with Julien-K for The V-Rox Festival co-headlining with Mumiy Troll in Vladivostok, Russia.[6]
As soon as Eli returned from Russia, he went out on his 5th US tour as The eli james Experience!, playing clubs of all shapes and sizes after a very successful Kickstarter campaign which helped fund it.[7] During this tour he met up with good friend, Bones Elias, which led to the creation of E.L.I. (Egotistical Loud Instruments). It fell into place and they played their first show at The Roxy Theatre December 6, 2013 to help support Toys For Tots. After this 5th run, Eli decided to take The eli james Experience! worldwide, traveling to Australia at the end of December 2013 and spent the first 2 weeks of 2014 touring Down Under. Once back from tour, the pre-production for the "Heart Attack!" music video went into full effect.
In 2014 Eli celebrated EJE's 3-year anniversary mark/welcome home show in collaboration with brother/illusionist Joseph Réohm at The Federal Bar in North Hollywood. After a brief stint filling in as Wayne Static's drummer for a couple of months, which included a performance on BiteSizeNetwork's online metal show, and with the "Heart Attack!" music video in post-production, Eli went back into the studio with Julien-K on their 3rd album.
Fashion career
Eli started making his own clothing for photo shoots and stage performances while in his various bands in order to create his own unique look as an artist. His musician friends began to take notice and request their own versions of his clothing, so in early 2015 he launched GhostCircus Apparel with the idea to create unique and one-of-a-kind specialty garments for performers in the music/entertainment industry.
He has made clothing for Tim Skold (Marilyn Manson/KMFDM), Frank Zummo (SUM 41/Krewella), Josh Dunn from 21 Pilots, Adrian Young from No Doubt/Dream Car, Adam Ross (Demi Lovato), Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh from Julien-K and Dead By Sunrise, Bryce Soderberg from Lifehouse and Komox, Robbie Angelucci (Dee Snider/Twisted Sister), Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf from Krewella, magician Joseph Réohm, Kevin "Thrasher", Robert Ortiz and Craig Mabbitt from Escape The Fate, Tara Conner (Miss USA, 2006) and many more.
After achieving such a positive response to his designs and rapid success with GhostCircus, he expanded the brand to include his own eponymous clothing line, Eli James clothing, in 2017 and launched GhostCircus Merch where he helps other clothing brands grow their companies and brand visions in every step of the garment making process - cut and sew, bleaching and dyeing, in-house embroidery, and wholesale ventures.
Discography
References
- "Rottweiller". metal-archives.com. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
- "Sound Spotlight: Who The F*ck Is Eli James?". craveonline.com. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
- "Viva City & Eli James". www.k95tulsa.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
- "Julien-k We're Here With You" Archived April 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. FDRMX. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
- "Eli James Fashion and a Toy". badassbandsblog.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
- "FILTER Magazine – News – FESTIVAL WATCH: Russia Presents “V-ROX” Festival Showcase". filtermagazine.com. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
- "Eli James Kickstarter campaign". kickstarter.com. Retrieved April 13, 2014.