INFO
| Name | Jess Fu (she/her) |
| Also known as | 付光兰 |
| Born | 1997 |
| Country of Birth | Aotearoa |
| Place of Residence | Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland |
| Ethnicities | Chinese |
| Artform | Music |
| Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Jess Fu is a freelance writer and DJ based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. After she graduated from AUT in 2018 with a conjoint bachelor’s degree in communications and business, Fu lived in Los Angeles, where she began hosting a show every third Sunday of each month on Dublab called APEX (Asia Pacific Exports), in which she highlights music from the Asia Pacific.
Fu has built a name for herself in the underground club scene in Aotearoa New Zealand and has opened for horsegiirL, Interplanetary Criminal, Main Phase and Ben Rau. She moves across different genres, creating mixes she describes as “eclectic and unexpected”. Her mix ‘家 Home’ tells her story of going back to China in 2018 and ends with a snippet of her granddad singing a song about a mother’s love. With no ability to return to China, the mix is the one way for Jess to reminisce.
After volunteering and working as a radio host and programming assistant for 95bFM, she was a music reviewer for RNZ from 2021 to 2022. In 2022, Fu hosted Amplified, a five-episode RNZ documentary that spotlights artists who use music to embrace, connect to and explore their cultural roots. She is passionate about building and providing a platform for local music and talent. Fu works as a booking agent, working with RIIKI REID, hanbee, Jujulipps, BBYFACEKILLA, D.C. Maxwell, DARTZ and Paige.
As a freelance writer, she has written for Under the Radar, NOISEY and Earmilk.
LINKS
Jess Fu, ‘Noa Records makes an Alternative Space for Māori and Pasifika Musicians’, Bandcamp, 14 May, 2020
Key works / presentations
Key awards
2023 — NZ On Air Outstanding Music Journalism Award: nominee (Amplified)
2022 — NZ On Air Outstanding Music Journalism Award: finalist (95bFM’s Long Player ‘Milk III – Reuben Winter’ episode)