Whats up Steemit! I’m Cody James, a Plant Based Warrior, producer of music by night, barista by day, full time daydreamer!

Hey guys! My name is Cody James and I am a 25 year old Brummy living in New Zealand (If you don’t know what a Brummy, click here… you’ll have a good laugh lol). My family immigrated to New Zealand from England when I was 15 and ever since then life has been a crazy roller coaster of ups and downs. Moving from England to New Zealand is almost like moving from Earth to Mars; two very different cultures and ways of life. I was once a very typical British kid; my love for football out shone my love for anything else. I lived and breathed it and so did all my friends. That life seems like a blur now, and even though I miss my family and leaving a brother and sister behind, I wouldn’t change any of it.

I remember sitting in the living room one Winter’s day in England, my mom turned to me and asked what I thought about moving to New Zealand. To me, at age 12, I didn’t really understand what that meant or how far away New Zealand was, but being the enthusiastic and optimistic kid that I was, I was up for it. My mind soon changed when that day finally came and all my family gathered at my nans house to say our final good byes. It hit me that I was going…for good! Driving away looking through the back window wondering when I was going to see my family again was a horrible feeling! You never really understand how much something like that affects you until you reach adult hood. I’m constantly wondering what my life would have been if I had stayed in England? I wonder if I would have turned vegan or met my partner Ana? Times like that you have to be positive and believe that all these things happen for a reason. You have to make sacrifices in order to find your life purpose and your soul mate.

My love for music started at a very young age of about 8. I always felt like I had a deeper connection to music than most people - the lyrics would touch me and in most cases give me goosebumps and bring tears to my eyes. I would memorise every lyric and beat (which is funny because my mom used to ask me why I couldn’t apply that same memory towards my school work lol). Soon enough I realised that it wasn’t just the lyrics that would give me goosebumps, it was the vibe of the whole song. The strings that flow with the melodies, the breakdown of the beat, the hit of the snare and the bounce of the kick. To me it was genius how it all mixed together!

Fast forward to about 10 years later, I was about 19-20 and finally saved enough to invest in a brand new mac book pro and took up beat making. It’s a feeling I can’t explain…creating something that didn’t exist before, creating sound out of your emotions, having an idea and bringing it to life. I’m sure thats why it’s addicting, as a lot of producers will tell you, you’re constantly wondering what you’re going to create next.

My main goal at this moment is to produce and find the next up and coming sound of the music industry with a focus on cosmic sounds and vibey beats. I’m still finding my sound and audience but I feel like I’m making good progress each time I sit down to create. There is still so much for me to learn about this industry, but that’s what’s so great about life, you can never learn too much. I will be sharing my music and music creation videos exclusively through Steemit for others to learn too.

Here's a beat that I'm working on that I'll be sending out to a few artists. It hasn't been shared before so Steemit has the exclusive! Comment here and let me know what you think.

► Listen on DSound

Now to talk about another of my many passions lol…

VEGANISM!

Prior to turning Vegan a few months back, I had been Vegetarian for almost 4 years. I remember the first time I went fishing while we were visiting NZ with my parent’s friend; at first it was fun, I really enjoyed being out on the open ocean and it was exciting for me. The first fish was caught and I thought “wow, this is incredible!” but for some reason it didn’t resonate with me that we were going to kill this fish for food. I know, strange right? You go fishing to catch fish to throw back in the ocean right? Well that was what I thought at the time and I watched as my dad’s friend, without flinching or any sort of sympathy, stabbed the fish straight in the brain. To say I was shocked was an understatement. I screamed “WHAT THE HELL! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?” and started crying and I spent the rest of that night hiding underneath in the hull. It was a real eye opener to me and was definitely a sign of me being Vegan in the near future.

Photo credit: @thetinykitchen

It was hard transitioning to a plant based diet at first as it is for everyone but thanks to my partner Ana and her delicious food creations (you might know her as @thetinykitchen) I finally went completely Vegan a few months back and it’s honestly the best decision I have ever made! Fish, eggs, and cheese just weren’t doing it for me anymore. I felt horrible after eating it and after being such a preacher of Veganism for a while, I felt like a massive hypocrite. Veganism, for me, isn’t just about food though. It’s a way of living… a mind frame, a different energy, a feeling that you’re doing something for others that isn’t in any way selfish.

You hear a lot of stuff about the benefits of being Vegan and one of that is having more energy and I found this to be really true! Crazy right? You think yeah right, more energy? Impossible! But through exercise and a plant based diet I have definitely been healthier and more lively than before and I hope to channel this through my music and creativity as well as my fitness to show the world what we are capable of. That we can indeed live and succeed without harming and destroying the world around us!

If you have taken time out of your day to read this then thank you. I’m so excited (and slightly nervous) to share my journey through this platform and can’t wait to share my music with you all.

UPCOMING POSTS:
How and Why I went Vegan
My inspiration for creating music

Follow me on my Instagram @cj.sound to see more of my music and live stories!