James Malikey is a 23-year-old Belgian pianist, composer, artist and singer-songwriter. James creates and performs his own relaxing, cinematic and emotional piano music. He also writes orchestral and ambient music. He makes covers and mashups from famous songs in different music styles. He started playing the piano when he was 4 years old. He studied a lot of classical pieces and won several prizes in classical piano competitions. His favourite composers were Chopin and Debussy. From the age of 15, he started composing his music, inspired by his difficult youth and the works of Einaudi, Yiruma, Hans Zimmer and Tony Anderson. At the end of 2019, he participated at the TV show Belgiums Got Talent and impressed the jury with a self-written arrangement for piano and orchestra - performed on a grand piano and accompanied by a full orchestra. He eventually won Belgium's Got Talent with his cinematic piano music. Which was supposed to be the start of a successful artist career, ended abruptly due to the covid pandemic. All his upcoming concerts after Belgium's Got Talent were cancelled, as his record deal with Sony Entertainment. Most of his fanbase from the TV show disappeared. He dealt with financial problems and the suicide of his best friend, but he never gave up and kept going for his dream of giving international concerts. Several popular quotes by James. "The answer is hidden in the Waves, somewhere between Low and High tide. That's what I told my psychologist." "Imagine a Different World and Create it." "There are only Black and White keys, but the challenge is to play all colours in between." "In a World of Glass, you can try not to cut yourself - staying prisoner - or free yourself - bleeding." "When the darkness rules, there will still be ashlight." --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/steven-cuoco/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/steven-cuoco/support