by Debra Au
Daily Lobo
As Bruce Springsteen would say, sometimes it takes a leap of faith.
For Madison James, dropping out of a prestigious medical school and setting out to form a band was nothing short of venturing out into the unknown. Even before being accepted into the New York University School of Medicine outside Manhattan, James had established herself in the halls of academia.
"I was working in a neuroscience laboratory at Columbia University doing experiments in electrophysiology with dopamine and serotonin transmission, which is currently in review for publication," she said.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Her decision to leave the medical field first took root during a karaoke session.
While attending a friend's party, James' vocal prowess surprised everyone as she sang karaoke. She sounded good - really good.
"It was a moment of utter euphoria. I had never heard my recorded voice before, and upon listening back I was shocked," she said.
It stirred something in her that made her rethink the course of her life.
"After that night I felt I had a choice to make. A window had been opened and something was calling me. After several weeks I decided I had to try to write and sing and perform. School could wait," she said. "I knew I would have regrets if I didn't at least see where this road would lead."
However, while James was set to take the music world by storm, there were those who were a little apprehensive. "My family was initially not very supportive of my decision to leave school and pursue music," she said. "Although it had never been their idea for me to study medicine, no one in my family is in the arts, so it was never seen as an option. Everyone thought I was being careless and silly. Nobody understood."
Even though they have come around after seeing how serious she is and watching her popularity grow, it was her friends who supported her from the moment they passed the microphone to her.
"My friends, on the other hand, were behind me 100 percent from the get-go," she said. "They have never wavered. My best friend is my manager. My roommate is my makeup artist. My other friend works with my manager at a record label we started, Gables Records. Everyone is involved in some aspect, and they have been at every show I have ever played."
After sending her original recording via her ex-boyfriend - now manager - to a producer in Los Angeles, who has worked with the likes of Suzanne Vega, Stevie Nicks, Rush, Deep Purple and Duncan Sheik, she was flown out and began writing and recording. However, after changing producers after a bout of creative differences, she has been in New York for the past two years doing more writing and working with her band.
She will begin recording in Miami in May with her band and also with who she describes as her friend/songwriter/producer, Dave Bassett. Her debut album should be out in July.
So what can you expect to hear?
"The music is guitar-based rock, but I like to call it dark pop. It is, for the most part, upbeat, and I love hooks. I grew up on '80s and '90s pop, so it's catchy, but the lyrical content tends to lean to the dark side, but it also incorporates a sense of hope," she said.
She doesn't regret her decision to leave medical school.
"It's like being free," she said.
