Who is Gladius James?
New Zealand singer/songwriter Gladius James got his start as a producer, writing for other artists after moving to Los Angeles from Auckland in 2015.
Born James Wong, his early songwriting credits include Justin Bieber's "Company," Demi Lovato's "You Don't Do It for Me Anymore," and more from artists like Olivia Holt, Sage the Gemini, Bebe Rexha, and Fifth Harmony. He branched out on his own in 2017, debuting an R&B-influenced sound on first single "Too Bad," which was included on his 2018 Revelation EP (Island Records). The EP also included the singles "We All Got Issues" and "Rich," the latter of which featured an appearance by Wiz Khalifa.
Revelation
As a biblical reference, it is the last chapter of a story that is about to be retold throughout this new chapter of my life. The themes of love, sensitivity, romance, passion, sexuality and longing are shown by the different shades of red throughout the artwork. The distorting black shadow on one side of me represents the search for my identity. That is what darkness is- just a part of yourself you have yet to discover and integrate. It appears to be moving like a cloud, symbolizing that we will be forever searching & changing. There is a revelation throughout the artwork, in which I am slowly opening myself to the audience.
Too Bad
Shrouded in darkness, staring down into nothingness, the first picture depicts the idea that there is something standing in between the audience and Gladius. However it is not specifically his own darkness, it is the darkness that prevents everybody from feeling their true self. “Too Bad” addresses this with women in a simple, yet fun light hearted story. To contrast the fun nature of the song, his pose is one of concern, because it concerns me that women have been bullied into feeling the need to dress themselves up so they can “feel” beautiful. The artist just wants women to feel good about themselves the way they are; to not feel the need to impress men and other women. Because ultimately, its the soul we fall in love with, not the body.
Higher Than The Drugs
The colors begin to melt and emanate from within, moving out into every direction. Gladius is beginning to open up, yet he still has not turned his body. “Higher Than The Drugs” marked the realization that darkness, anything we relate to uncertainty can be beautiful, that it is apart of us. The psychedelic nature of the picture correlates with the ecstasy that was felt when the idea of this song came to me. The woman Gladius was with in that moment literally made him feel high, in a totally different way than he has ever felt.
Rich feat. Wiz Khalifa
The beauty of the darkness has been fully realized at this point, and the true colors are beginning to shine through; but Gladius looks down because he still feel unworthy of your love. If you dig deep enough, every one of us has some kind of residual unworthiness. From the day we find out that there are forces more powerful than us we begin to feel some kind of powerlessness. But it’s through trust and faith, that we allow somebody to look after us until we can look after them. “Rich” was written about all the women who made Gladius feel like he didn’t need to feel unworthy anymore; their generosity, kindness, nurturing love showed him how valuable love is.
We All Got Issues
Now completely exposed, open to love, criticism; Gladius faces directly into the audience with his eyes, his body, and his energy (shown by the soft change in color) revealing that he is no longer afraid to show the world his true self. “We All Got Issues” is a song about acceptance, that everybody has darkness within them, and those troubles can never disappear, they ARE the story. So willing to tell his story, and his current view of love & life, Gladius encourages people to do the same, showing that we are all on this journey together.
