Biography
Hailing originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, James McAlister now makes his home in Los Angeles, where he functions as a drummer while also accumulating credits as a composer, engineer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He first surfaced in the music world through membership in the indie-rock band Ester Drang, which paved the way for session and touring drum work across dozens of artists and a sustained creative tie to singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens. Electronic material issued under the 900X alias rounds out his output.
Ester Drang itself took shape in suburban Tulsa with frontman Bryce Chambers, Sterling Williams, and Kyle Winner. Their debut album, That Is When He Turns Us Golden, appeared on Red Crown Record Empire in 1999. David Motter joined the lineup for the 2002 follow-up, Goldenwest, issued by Burnt Toast Vinyl; the subsequent Infinite Keys, released on Jade Tree in 2003, featured the four-piece configuration of McAlister, Chambers, Winner, and Jeff Shoop. The 2004 Pleasure Themes and Get Rich Schemes EP, again on Burnt Toast, enlisted guests such as the Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd. McAlister next spent a brief period as drummer and keyboardist in David Bazan’s Pedro the Lion, contributing to their 2004 album Achilles’ Heel. Around the same time he supplied drums for Sufjan Stevens’ Illinoise and Aqueduct’s I Sold Gold, among other sessions, before Ester Drang reconvened. The remaining trio—minus Winner—delivered Rocinate in 2006 and then entered indefinite hiatus.
Further joint projects with Sufjan Stevens encompassed the latter’s solo albums, the film score for The BQE, and a track on the soundtrack to the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There. Additional studio appearances during the ensuing years encompassed LPs by Karl Blau, Denison Witmer, and David Bazan. Under the 900X name, McAlister released Library Catalog Music Series, Vol. 1: Music for Lubbock, 1980 on Stevens’ Asthmatic Kitty label in 2009; for Vol. 3, Music for Drummss, he collaborated with Casey Foubert of the Shins and Crystal Skulls. Throughout the early and mid-2010s his drumming appeared on albums including Avril Lavigne’s Avril Lavigne, Eric Hutchinson’s Pure Fiction, Ivan & Alyosha’s All the Times We Had, and Pillar Point’s self-titled release, among others. In 2017 the 4AD label issued Planetarium, a Solar System-inspired collaborative album uniting McAlister with Stevens, composer Nico Muhly, and the National guitarist Bryce Dessner.
Ester Drang itself took shape in suburban Tulsa with frontman Bryce Chambers, Sterling Williams, and Kyle Winner. Their debut album, That Is When He Turns Us Golden, appeared on Red Crown Record Empire in 1999. David Motter joined the lineup for the 2002 follow-up, Goldenwest, issued by Burnt Toast Vinyl; the subsequent Infinite Keys, released on Jade Tree in 2003, featured the four-piece configuration of McAlister, Chambers, Winner, and Jeff Shoop. The 2004 Pleasure Themes and Get Rich Schemes EP, again on Burnt Toast, enlisted guests such as the Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd. McAlister next spent a brief period as drummer and keyboardist in David Bazan’s Pedro the Lion, contributing to their 2004 album Achilles’ Heel. Around the same time he supplied drums for Sufjan Stevens’ Illinoise and Aqueduct’s I Sold Gold, among other sessions, before Ester Drang reconvened. The remaining trio—minus Winner—delivered Rocinate in 2006 and then entered indefinite hiatus.
Further joint projects with Sufjan Stevens encompassed the latter’s solo albums, the film score for The BQE, and a track on the soundtrack to the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There. Additional studio appearances during the ensuing years encompassed LPs by Karl Blau, Denison Witmer, and David Bazan. Under the 900X name, McAlister released Library Catalog Music Series, Vol. 1: Music for Lubbock, 1980 on Stevens’ Asthmatic Kitty label in 2009; for Vol. 3, Music for Drummss, he collaborated with Casey Foubert of the Shins and Crystal Skulls. Throughout the early and mid-2010s his drumming appeared on albums including Avril Lavigne’s Avril Lavigne, Eric Hutchinson’s Pure Fiction, Ivan & Alyosha’s All the Times We Had, and Pillar Point’s self-titled release, among others. In 2017 the 4AD label issued Planetarium, a Solar System-inspired collaborative album uniting McAlister with Stevens, composer Nico Muhly, and the National guitarist Bryce Dessner.
Albums
