James Freud began his music career in 1979 as lead singer in Melbourne punk band Teenage Radio Stars. The band was signed to the Australian label Mushroom Records by Gary Ashley (VP Universal USA and A&R for A&M) on the punk label Suicide after just one show. The first single I Wanna Be Ya Baby followed soon after. The band earned critical praise and several TV appearances.

Due to issues within the band and further offers from the record industry, James decided to part ways with the Radio Stars and formed James Freud and the Radio Stars with a fresh injection of talent. This reincarnation toured Australia until reforming and becoming Berlin.

In 1980 Berlin’s debut album Breaking Silence was released with the single Modern Girl shooting into the Australian Top 10.

Berlin played a national tour supporting British synth-guru Gary Numan (In Cars).

Numan was so impressed with Freud that he took him to London to produce a solo album. James wasn’t happy with the end product and the album was never released but is a much sought after bootleg recording.

In 1981 James returned to Australia and joined Melbourne band The Models who had reached a certain amount of success but with no charting evidence. In this outfit James was reunited with childhood friend and past band member of Teenage Radio Stars, Sean Kelly.

The band toured extensively supporting David Bowie, The Police, The Human League and INXS. In 1982 The Models recorded their album The Pleasure of Your Company with UK producer Nick Launay (silverchair, Midnight Oil, Public Image, INXS) and released their first Top 10 hit I Hear Motion. The album received glowing reviews and is still rated in Australia’s Best Albums Ever Recorded.

The band were about to make the crossover into mainstream pop and returned to the studio, this time with Reggie Lucas (Madonna) to record the No 2 single Barbados. Reggie wasn’t a great fit though so they completed the album with legendary Australian producer Mark Opitz (INXS,The Divinyls, AC/DC). The band completed the platinum selling album Out of Mind Out of Sight and released their first No 1 single Out of Mind Out of Sight.

A&R visionary Gary Gersh signed the band to Geffen USA and Out of Mind Out of Sight began steaming up the Billboard charts with MTV high rotation. Sadly the US Independent payola inquiry was launched as the single hit No 36…where it stalled.

The band toured the US for 2 months playing sold out shows.

1985 saw the Models hit Trevor Horn’s Sarm Studios in London to begin recording their last album Media. They teamed Mark Opitz up with Trevor Horn’s engineer Julian Mendohlson but the session’s were strained as cracks began to appear within The Models. The album produced 3 Top twenty singles in Australia. The band returned to the US to play a nationwide tour with OMD before touring Australia as part of the hugely successful Australian Made festival but the writing was on the wall and the band played its last show in 1987.

James decided to go solo and flew to New York to start recording at The Power Station with iconic producer Bernard Edwards (Chic, Sister Sledge Dianna Ross, Rod Stewart).

The album was the most expensive Australian recording in Australian music history but it only sold moderately as the Grunge Era arrived.

In 1991 James was hired to play bass for Kylie Minogue on her first World Tour.

After the Kylie tour wound up in Bangkok, Freud returned to Sydney to work on new material. In 1992 he was signed to Sony BMG to collaborate on a project called Beatfish with Mental as Anything front man Martin Plaza. The album was a departure into trance/synth pop. Although sales were moderate, the album led to Beatfish playing two shows at The Ritz in LA.

Freud semi-retired from performing and concentrated on studio work in advertising. Between 1993 and 2000 he wrote and produced music for major clients like Coca-Cola, Honda, Qantas, Mars, Singapore Airlines and Kellogg.

In 2000 The Models reformed for a sold out tour of Australia. James then signed a book deal with Harper Collins to write his autobiography i am the voice left from drinking. The book was a best seller and in 2006 he released the follow up i am the voice left from rehab through Random House.

In 2001 Freud was elected to the board of the prestigious MADC (Melbourne Art Directors Club) and in 2003 was hired by the Queensland Government to head up a project called Elston Records that was a streaming vehicle for inexperienced musicians, PR officers and promoters  into the music industry.

2005 saw James relocate to Los Angeles with his family. His two sons Harrison and Jackson were now 17 and 18 and had finally decided to work together on a new band called Sonic Dogma. In the winter of 2006 Sonic Dogma recorded their debut EP in Canoga Park and returned to Australia to get some live performances under their belt.

James worked closely with the band on development for three years. In 2008 they changed their name to Attack of the Mannequins and cemented their relationship with JRF Management.

JRF Management is now based in Los Angeles and is currently seeking a deal for Attack of the Mannequins.