james fish
live electronic music with soul
about
Electronic liveact, producer, DJ, and community organizer - in every role James Fish plays, his passion for dance music borders on obsession.
His live project, “Facets,” is a love letter to complex identities. Raised in a mixed Black, Vietnamese, and Italian-American family, James completed his studies in the sociology of mixed-race in 2010, since then living on three continents.
In “Facets,” the message is clear: identity has no boundaries; all of my parts make me whole. The sounds of deep, melodic club music blend seamlessly with broken beats, afro-influenced rhythms, haunting melodies, and samples of spoken word poetry, all played on a custom mix of hardware synthesizers.
James musical influences trace back to late-90s trance and rave music - discovered through a youth spent on Kazaa and Limewire - genres which found their place in James’ headphones alongside major influences like The Gorillaz, Nas, RJD2, Imogen Heap, and Thievery Corporation.
Watch:
Live at Lusatia Festival 2023
electronic live act
James composes and performs on a custom hardware setup of synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, and effects units, devised over the course of two years.
For James, hardware-only was a deliberate choice. In an age of “pressing play,” where a polished-sounding, performance has never been more accessible, intentionally embracing risk is a rewarding decision.
No two performances are the same, and the risk of imperfection conveys to the audience, “this is real, this is me.”
When possible, James sets up directly on the dancefloor, eye-to-eye with an audience that can see and engage with him and the instruments - creating intimacy rather than the anonymity of being hidden away in a booth.
Watch:
Live @ Public Works SF
(w. Acid Pauli & Nicola Cruz)
genre-bending selector
As with his liveset, James’ selections as a DJ have long defied genre conventions, preferring to tell a story via the emotions of the material.
Living in Turkey in 2011, James regularly played Istanbul’s club circuit, while also organizing a series of events with a Turkish and German collaborators. In 2013, he moved to Berlin, where he continued to organize and play “open air” parties.
From 2013-2017, James lived in San Francisco, where he became a fixture in the deep, melodic, Burning Man-adjacent club scene, performing at venues and festivals around the Bay Area and at Burning Man.
In 2015, he was tapped to follow local legend Atish as resident for the decade-long Tutu Tuesday series; his residency lasted nearly two years. Notable acts James has opened for include Francesca Lombardo, Hoj, Kalabrese, Tara Brooks, Clarian, Mark Slee, Oona Dahl, Atish, and Brian Cid, and at camps like Pink Mammoth, Atlantis, Monks of Funk, and art car Sanctuary.
In 2017, James moved back to Berlin, where he’s regularly joined lineups in the local Burner and festival scenes, including performances at Garbicz Festival, Lusatia Festival, Hedoné, Kiez Burn, Birgit and Bier, KitKat Club, Beate Uwe, FAME, and others.
Listen: DJ sets
community organizer for emerging artists
More than just a solo-act, James is deeply invested in creating, curating, and fostering creative community. In early 2021, James launched Resonance Collective, a community by and for emerging musicians. Leveraging his experience in self-organized event production, James and Resonance have organized multiple creative retreats, workshops, and events showcasing the community’s talent.
At Resonance’s second retreat in 2022, nearly 30 musicians gathering to host workshops, jams, experiments, constructive critiques, and collaborations over the course of a week, set on a former water mill in the German countryside. In the years following, the growing Resonance community has already launched several ongoing collaborative works and EPs.
