James Kumo grew up in Kent during the 1980s listening to London based KISS 100fm. It was here where he first heard many of his musical influences - dj’s such as Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson, Dr Bob Jones, Gilles Peterson, Danny Rampling, Patrick Forge & Colin Dale, listening to anything from jazz, funk, latin, disco, soul to house & deep electronic grooves. James especially favouring Dales ‘Outer Limits’ show, where he delved into some of the deeper electronic music.
By the early 90s, he’d moved to West London and was a regular at many London club nights where the djs were playing the kind of music he found inspirational, including the The Drum Club (Soundshaft), Shiva Shanti (The Gardening Club), Trouble’s House (The Loft), New Hard Left (Bluenote), Open all Hours (Ministry Of Sound), Strutt (The Cross), it was also around this time he visited the Balearic Island of Ibiza, where he frequented night spots like Amnesia, Ku, Space and of course, Cafe Del Mar.
The exposure to this music developed James’ own eclectic taste even further and soon he was djing himself at various nights in and around London. This included a two year residency at The Langley, Covent Garden, plus nights at Cherry Jam , Notting Hill Arts Club , Bridge & Tunnel (Shoreditch). Further afield, he has also been a guest at The Bomb in Nottingham, Discotonic in Dublin, Development and Sankeys in Manchester.
As passionate as ever about the diversity of music styles, today you will find him playing music from Quincy Jones to Underground Resistance, Rhythm & Sound to Grace Jones, Francois K and many many more.
In May 2006 James began a monthly club night in Manchester entitled Kumo , along with his two partners Paul Hughes and Marc Kets. “Kumo is all about having an intimate gathering, with an up for it crowd who’s musical love is as varied as our own, people who aren’t afraid to hear lots of different genres within the night”. Previous guest dj’s have included Balearic Mike, Rekid (Matt Edwards/Quiet Village/Radio Slave), Moonboots (Aficionado), Philarmonix, Diesel (X-Press 2/Balistic Brothers/Heavy Disco), Terry Farley (Faith/Junior Boys Own), Mark E (Jiscomusic) & Kelvin Andrews (Soul Mekanik).