James Hester
Principal Lecturer, Drums
James Hester teaches Drums at BIMM Music Institute Bristol. He has played in bands for his entire life and has been lucky enough to work for major, minor, and indie labels - primarily with the band Malachai (Island Records/Domino Records). He's also toured extensively, performing at major festivals such as 02 Wireless, Glastonbury, Sonisphere, Download, Hevy, and Boardmasters.
He's performed on live TV and Radio including XFM, BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music and at iconic live venues such as Maida Vale, Brixton Academy, Nottingham Rock City, Manchester Apollo.
Since then, he's focussed mainly on studio work, playing for composers, producers and songwriters for TV, movies, games, albums and demos, both as a drummer and as an engineer/producer in commercial studios. More recently, James composes music for Epidemic Sound, primarily for videos.
A truly gifted drummer, James is able to play everything from metal and jazz to drum ‘n’ bass, and has recorded sessions for DJs Zane Lowe, Gilles Peterson and Annie Mac, has played live on BBC TV for Lily Allen, and live on radio for Tom Robinson.
James has toured the UK with Mr Hudson, Groove Armada and Doves, and has played alongside fellow drummers Chad Smith, Jojo Mayer, Neal Wilkinson, Ian Matthews and Steve White. He’s written for Drummer and Rhythm magazines, and is the author of the drum tuition book ‘Mind Over Meter’.
