James Thomer is an LA-based musician/composer, filmmaker and intermedia artist. He has a BA in English from UC Berkeley and an MFA in Composition & Experimental Sound Practices from the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied with Eyvind Kang, Clay Chaplin, Ulrich Krieger, Michael Pisaro-Liu, Scott Benzel and others.
After releasing music under his art rock project “James The Fifth” for several years, his compositions have expanded into jazz, orchestral music, ambient music, collage pieces and more. He has scored music for television, short films, and has had his music licensed on CBS’ All Rise. In 2022, he released his debut LP Days of Wine in 2022 on Mutation Records (US) and Tearjerk Records (Aus).
As a filmmaker, he got his start writing and self-directing his own music videos. In 2023, he made his first short film, Young Phil, which he directed, wrote, edited, and scored, which has been shown at Whammy Analog, SF Indie Fest, the Kansas City Underground Film Festival, the Hemet Film Festival, and more. It is due for public release later this year.
His intermedia art often consists of site-specific installations that play with notions of the real, fake, and the uncanny. In this work, he is interested in creating alternate realities, fake stories, and distortions of history, combining creative writing, conceptual art, video, and installation art within the backdrop of his musical experience.
After releasing music under his art rock project “James The Fifth” for several years, his compositions have expanded into jazz, orchestral music, ambient music, collage pieces and more. He has scored music for television, short films, and has had his music licensed on CBS’ All Rise. In 2022, he released his debut LP Days of Wine in 2022 on Mutation Records (US) and Tearjerk Records (Aus).
As a filmmaker, he got his start writing and self-directing his own music videos. In 2023, he made his first short film, Young Phil, which he directed, wrote, edited, and scored, which has been shown at Whammy Analog, SF Indie Fest, the Kansas City Underground Film Festival, the Hemet Film Festival, and more. It is due for public release later this year.
His intermedia art often consists of site-specific installations that play with notions of the real, fake, and the uncanny. In this work, he is interested in creating alternate realities, fake stories, and distortions of history, combining creative writing, conceptual art, video, and installation art within the backdrop of his musical experience.
More music and short films are set for release in 2024. You can usually find him playing jazz standards at Checker Hall (Highland Park) on Sundays.
Selected Works
Album
Short Film
Installation, Short Film
Music Video
Music Video
Music Video
Installation
Video/Sound Collage, Installation