In 2006, at the age of 17, James Byous came to Los Angeles to chase his dream of being a musician. He arrived by way of scholarship and student loans to an acting school— his ultimate goal to play and sing his own songs in Hollywood and be discovered. After school, James would play his guitar on the street corners of Hollywood to make money. Shortly after graduating, he became disheartened by the audition process of the acting business and began working a series of odd jobs before eventually deciding to become homeless in order to focus on his music.