James was raised in Auckland, New Zealand, where he attended Saint Kentigern College. James taught himself how to play the guitar at the age of 14 by studying YouTube tutorial videos. James has stated that school "wasn't fun" for him and that music became something of a refuge. At age 16 James found inspiration in the likes of Ben Howard and Ed Sheeran. At age 17 James finished school and travelled to London on a one-way airfare in pursuit of a break into the music industry.
2015–16: Breakthrough and early releases
In 2015, while in Europe, James began recording and editingcover videos on his phone and sharing them on Facebook and Youtube. In 2016, New Zealand musician Maala spotted one of the videos and shared it with A&R staff at Sony Music New Zealand. James returned to New Zealand and signed with the label shortly after. On 1 December 2016 James released his first single "No Fixed Abode" along with its accompanying music video. On 9 December 2016 James released his second single "Move On". Later that month James made his debut festival appearance as a featured performer at Rhythm and Vines in Gisborne, New Zealand. In January 2017, James performed at Bay Dreams festival in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. In March 2017, James completed The Humble Roadie Tour, a ten date national tour of New Zealand. James and his crew travelled the entire length of the tour in a custom Kombi van. In mid 2017 James released four singles through Sony Music: "Won't Bother Me" on 29 June 2017, "Saving Time" on 6 July 2017, "Lucid" on 13 July 2017 and "All The Ways To Say Goodbye" on 27 July 2017. All The Ways To Say Goodbye was later certified Gold by RMNZ in October 2018. James indicated he intended to release his debut album in October/November 2017.
2018–present: Debut Album
In May 2018, James released "21", the first single off his debut self-titled album, which was scheduled to be released in September 2018. 21 peaked at #2 on the NZ Singles chart. By October, "21" was certified Gold by RMNZ. 21 was then nominated for "Single Of The Year" at the New Zealand Music Awards. James then went on to release his self-titled debut album "Mitch James" on September 14, 2018. The album debuted at #2 on the Overall NZ Music Chart, and #1 on the NZ Albums Chart. The album has garnered over 100,000,000 streams as of 1 September 2019 and has since been certified Platinum in New Zealand. James embarked on his first major headline tour of New Zealand shortly after release. James was nominated and won MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Zealand Act in October. In March 2018, James opened for Ed Sheeran on his ÷ Tour for all 3 Dunedin dates. In Summer 2019-2020 James opened for Six60 on their World Tour.
