James was born and raised in western Scotland but at the age of 10 he emigrated with his family to California. There he briefly studied classical guitar before playing bass in high school bands. He developed an interest in recording and studied music at college, obtaining his certificate in Recording Engineering.

 

By his mid-20s James had played, recorded and performed with a series of West Coast garage bands; but eventually he settled down in a career as a sound system installation engineer. He spent sixteen years in that industry before realising that he rarely picked up an instrument anymore and was neglecting one of the most important aspects of his life, his music.

 

Moving to Seattle, he built himself a recording studio in 2014, recording his own material and playing in three rock bands simultaneously. James relocated to London in 2019 where he continued to compose, record and play – now with a local prog rock band – before coming full circle with his return to Scotland in 2022. He joined Blackstar Falling in 2024.

Edinburgh born and bred, Dave wore a big hole in the arm of his mum’s couch as a boy pretending to be the likes of Phil Collins, Jet Black and Bill Bruford. It wasn’t long before she bought him his first second-hand drum kit in a desperate attempt to prolong the usefulness of her next couch.

 

He soon upgraded to a shiny new red Premier set and embarked on a career in a variety of local bands like Wasted Days, The James Carr Band, The Business and LAF (Lost And Found).

 

A veteran of hundreds of live appearances all over the UK, Dave and his bands have shared stages and rehearsal rooms with such luminaries as Nazareth, Big Country, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Iain McNabb and has recorded with Ged Brockie.

 

Aside from his drumming he has sung professionally and has even graced the broadcast airwaves with a range of voice-artist roles. He joined Blackstar Falling in January 2025.

Colin’s musical career has been eclectic. He got his first guitar for Christmas 1971 and has been playing and composing ever since. He came third in the Scottish heats of the Melody Maker band competition in 1976 with proto-punk band the Stick Insects and pursued a career in ambient electronic music for theatre from 1978 to 1995.

 

With folk-jazz-pop group Jump the Pig he played the East Yorkshire circuit in the 1990s, supporting Jools Holland on one occasion. Colin hosted electric and acoustic open-mic residencies in Cumbria in the early 2000s before moving to Edinburgh.

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There he began a new career as an author of books about rock, pop and other subjects. Longing to play new music again, he answered a Gumtree ad and found himself in the band which became Blackstar Falling. He still has his first guitar.