James Cole is a Nashville based musician and vocalist. In November 2024 he re-launched the band Apparitions under the name Aphonia. After filming and releasing three successful music videos with Aphonia and playing a few shows, the band had an unfortunate falling out with their guitarist and the band broke up.

Since that time, James has been working on new music for his solo project under the name "James Cole IV" and on October 27th 2025 he released "Pretty Farm Girl," the first of several more songs to come out for this new endeavor.

Joining us on the podcast is Clarksville drummer Josh Ray who is a longtime bandmate and collaborator of James from the band Aphonia. Josh also plays drums in technical death metal band Deathless and has also played in Clarksville metalcore act Meditator.

In this episode we talk about the difficulties of playing in a band, the commitment that's required to keep it going, the struggles of life, addiction, faith, extreme metal drumming and so much more. Thank you for listening to the Shred Sessions Podcast.