In 1996, at the age of six, James started his drumming and musical journey. He studied with two local drummers in Albuquerque, NM which laid the foundation for the love and learning of playing drums. At age thirteen, James began his professional career playing with his father’s (Paul Gonzales) Jazz groups. A few year later, he began to explore different genres such as Rock, Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal.

Out of high school, James met up with a couple friends he had met while in school. The group would go on to be called Dread, a thrash and heavy metal band. In 2010, the band released it’s debut album “Brace for Destruction”, which was James’ first studio recording. Through the bands three and a half year stint, they would go on to support acts such as Fueled By Fire, Warbringer, Merciless Death, Enforcer, Fear Factory, Havok and many others. The band would end up disbanding in 2011.

Later in the fall of 2011, James and a few members of Dread would go on to form a new project which was later called Nuclear Reign. In 2012, the band would release it’s debut and only album, “Won’t Survive”. This would be James’ second studio album. The band supported acts such as Prong, Havok, Cephalic Carnage, Arsis and many others. Nuclear Reign would disband in 2013.

During his stint in Nuclear Reign, James would join another band by the name of Torture Victim. Being friends with the members of the band, James was called up to fill in on drums due to the band needing a drummer. After being given a five song demo and only four rehearsals in two weeks, James played his first show with Torture Victim in May of 2012. From then on it began an eight year stint with the band. The band would go on to record two studio albums, “Of Darkness and Power” in 2012 and “The Gate of Eternity” in 2016. They would support acts such as Anthrax, Morbid Angel, Over Kill, Death (DTA Tours), DRI, The Casualties, Vital Remains, Goatwhore, Havok and many others. The band would end up disbanding in 2020.

While in Torture Victim, James would co found a new project called Viperwitch in Denver, CO during late 2017. Through the two year stint, the band would support acts such as Lita Ford, Dokken, Dangerous Toys, Warbringer, Enforcer, Seax and many more. In 2019, the band participated in the Wacken USA Battle for the right to play the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany. No recordings were made while James was in the band.

In 2020, after a brief stint in Viperwitch and moving back home to Albuquerque, NM, James got a call to join a new project. The band would be called Funeral Relic. During the majority of 2020, the band wrote material and would record demos. The band played their debut show in 2021 supporting Flotsam and Jetsam. The band will hit the studio to record their debut album in 2022.