Starting his career in-house at Electronic Arts in the mid-1990s after a short stint in television, James later based himself at Pinewood Studios in West London, accumulating four BAFTA nominations for music and a win with Electronic Arts in 2000. His credits include Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest, Primeval (ITV; Series 3), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, Red Alert Uprising, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, Freelancer, Republic, Evil Genius, entries in the Warhammer series, Brute Force, Catwoman, Reign of Fire, Conquest, Grand Prix 4, Mr Bean, Sim Theme Park, Theme Park World, Lost In Space (sound design) and many others.