Q. You’ve auditioned for X-Factor, tell us about that.

I auditioned for the X Factor in 2006 when I was 23 years old. I believe this was the same year as Leona Lewis. I must say the experience was fun and invaluable because it sculpted the type of musician that I wanted to be.

Q. How did you then come to perform for Gary Barlow and Kelly Rowland?

It was when I was in a Welsh choir called The Phoenix, I was a second tenor at that time and the producers of the X Factor asked the choir to perform in 2011 for the judges when they would arrive at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena. I have to say it was a unbelievable experience; and the icing on the cake was the choir got asked to perform ‘Delila’ for the audience in the arena.  

Q. You went to France to find your sound, tell us about that?

In 2016 I went to St Etienne with a Welsh musician called Sam Baggot to work with a French musician called Max Season on a music project. During that time, I developed a passion for electronic music and Max became a major inspiration my creation of that electronic sound.

Q. How did the electronic vibe come about?

After France, I knew ‘electronic’ was the musical direction I wanted to take. With the guidance of my long-term music producer Olli Daffarn at his Blue Dot Studios in Brighton, we developed my current, which evolved into this electronic/folk fusion.

Q. Your new single is called ‘This Life’ what’s the story behind that?

It’s actually a biographical tale about my mum, who had been diagnosed with a rare condition called Scleroderma. I suddenly realised how short life is. That’s when I decided that life really should be embraced, no matter what is happening.  I wanted to give empowerment to everyone to go for what they want to do before we die. This song was originally written for my mum; but I feel its message belongs to everyone who has gone through similar experiences.

Q. You’ve linked with a charity for this new single, can you tell  us why you chose that charity?

From a personal connection I’m really honoured to join forces with UK charity SRUK, to create awareness for Scleroderma. It’s not a well known condition and it could be life-saving if Scleroderma become more well known. Creating awareness for Scleroderma is so important because some sufferers aren’t diagnosed fast enough. If we can create more awareness it will result in faster diagnosis, and then hopefully sufferers can have a better outcome for their future. 

Q. It’s a beautiful video for ‘This Life’, where did you get the inspiration for that video?

I had a vision for the music video almost immediately after I completed the song, I definitely knew I wanted contemporary dance and after discussing with the music video director, Glen Jevon we thought having two dancers doing interpretation of the song would be a cool direction.    

Q. What’s next for James Millier, is more music on the way?

Oh yes! I’m definitely will be releasing a EP next spring and once again I’m going to stick with the electronic/folk fused sound of ‘This Life’  for the EP, but a few of the songs will have a ambience vibe to them. I definitely will be travelling to Brighton to write and record for the EP and I also will try to do as many gigs as possible. Personally my next step is to keep building myself as an artist and spread the word about the type of music to as many people as possible. 

Q. Any final messages for our readers?

I’d like to say thank you to all the support for ‘This Life’,  because everyone on the social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are helping to bring awareness to Scleroderma,  and personally I think it’s amazing because you are changing people lives. If you feel like you want to play your part in creating awareness for Scleroderma, then you can you share the story of this song on social networks.  Or instead, you could just listen or download the song and I guarantee you now that part of the proceeds will go to SRUK.   In addition, you could even go on the SRUK website and make a donation if you really wish.