John Lewis talks to the former Dunedin singer who will open international star Ed Sheeran’s show at Forsyth Barr Stadium later this month.
If anything can prepare you for the hard knocks in life, Mitch James says living rough on the streets of London, being robbed a few times, beaten up and bearing witness to a stabbing will do it.
The 22-year-old singer said the eight weeks he spent living on the streets was a low point in his life, but he would not have it any other way.
It was one of the major factors that pushed him from zero to hero in just under two years — from having nothing, to having a Sony recording contract and a deal to open Ed Sheeran’s three concerts in Dunedin on March 29, March 31 and April 1.
Auckland-born and raised, James started playing music when he was 14.
On morning tea and lunch breaks at school, he would take himself off to the music room and teach himself the guitar, and by his own admission, he became quite a good singer.
But when he finished secondary school, all his friends came south to study at the University of Otago in Dunedin and not wanting to miss out on all the fun, he went, too.
"I crashed on a bunch of mates’ couches on Castle St.
"I had all the fun of university without having to do all the hard work."
They were good times — so much so, he affectionately calls Dunedin "Duds".
"Even though I grew up in Auckland, my heart still lies with Duds.
"I feel a bit out of touch with Auckland. For me, Duds is a place where there are like-minded people."
While living in Dunedin, he visited Europe several times in the hope of hitting it big as have many of those wannabe singers before him.
He arrived in London with a £20 note, zero contacts and zero experience at performing live.
He attended open mic nights and played, hoping to land a paying performance gig, which he eventually did for a short time, until the venue closed. During his time in Europe, he spent eight weeks living on the streets, played 230 gigs, busked over 100 times, was robbed twice, beaten once and witnessed a stabbing.
"I didn’t have anybody and I was on the streets seeing the underbelly of the world.
"It was a pretty intense crash course in life on the streets."
While living in Germany, he started recording cover videos of other artists’ songs, and put them on social media.
They eventually attracted the attention of Sony Music New Zealand, which offered him a recording contract.
"When I got the email from Sony, I thought it was a prank.
"After a bit of social media stalking, I worked out that the person sending the email really did exist.
"It was a pretty crazy feeling when I found out it was legit."
Now, he is working on his first album and is excited about performing as a warm-up act, alongside former Dunedin band Six60, for Ed Sheeran’s concerts.
"I was blown away when I first heard about it.
"It’s kind of crazy how it’s all turned out, especially with all my history in Dunedin.
"Six60 are my number two or three, all-time high favourite bands.
"It just seems like all the stars are aligning — Dunners, Six60, me and Ed Sheeran. It just seems like the perfect storm."
James said it had been a hard road to finding his place in the world and he was "super proud" of what he had achieved.
"The universe has presented me with a whole bunch of opportunities that don’t come around too often, but I also think it’s because I’ve been willing to take risks that other people haven’t.
"I went out there and put myself right in the deep end, whereas a lot of musicians are super precious about taking risks.
"It’s a mix of hard work, good fortune and good management.
"I’d do it all again in a heart beat, minus a couple of things, like taking a beating and witnessing a stabbing."
