Born and raised in Paris, Raphaël first took interest in music production at the age of 16, finding musical influence in the hip hop and lounge genres. Over time he began to explore the more electronic side of music, finding inspiration through artists such as Mango and Dinka, which eventually led him in the direction of producing melodic and progressive house. Once finding his stride, he soon decided on the alias of James Woods, a simple combination of two names that have stuck with Raphaël over the years and seemed a fitting alias to go by, thus James Woods was born. Releasing his first track in March of 2011, James quickly began signing new productions, gaining a solid amount of followers and support in what most would consider a short amount of time, thus firmly establishing himself in the progressive house community. Since March of 2011, James has had over 50 releases on multiple different labels, spreading his signature melodic sound far and wide to all corners of the world. Currently James’ true signature sound lies within the progressive house genre, delivering a strong trademark style that delves deep into the melodic and emotional aspects of this universal genre. On top of his passion for progressive house, James is currently putting time and effort into establishing a new side alias titled My Own Fear, which will be dedicated to the lounge and chillout genres. With so much amazing support and so many great things on the rise for this amazing talent, it’s not hard to see why James Woods is a name that many recognize as a leading purveyor of quality melodic sounds in the progressive house community.