Building an Inclusive Electronic Scene in the Midwest

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Jessica Fenner is a DJ and activist who performs as Fortune. Originally from England, she’s been DJing since 1999 and has since performed all over the U.S. She is the founder of Apart, an agency and events promoter working to build a more sustainable and inclusive electronic music scene here in the Midwest.

Apart was originally founded in 2004 as For U Events, Fenner explains.

“The scene is different now in so many ways. The ‘90s and early 2000’s was a time where electronic music was really popular in a different way than it’s popular now, like we didn’t have the big commercial festivals then but raves were popular. Underground culture was big; we were going to a lot of basement parties and warehouse parties for house and techno.

“Then we had the invention of the Top 40 DJs in the early 2000s and they took over a lot of the clubs in Milwaukee. I was always a proponent of EDM going mainstream because I grew up in England where house and techno were embraced sooner than they were here, and acts like The Prodigy and The KLF being #1 really helped our scene so the businesses were down to invest. Of course, I didn’t know it’d go so commercial, because that didn’t kill underground back in England whereas it had a negative impact on it here.”

When it started, For U Events was mainly just for throwing solid parties. Over time, however, Fortune began using her platform to uplift marginalized communities in the electronic scene.

“For the first six or seven years, I bemoaned about feeling like the only woman playing in the bars and clubs but I didn’t really dig deeper to understand why. It just didn’t make sense to me. I did do a show called Lady Beats for a while which was an all-women lineup but it wasn’t because I felt I had to do something to involve more women; I just wanted to meet more women in the scene in general.

“It wasn’t until later when I learned from other people talking about it, like reading it in the press or seeing it online. Raves were a little more diverse as far as having Black and Brown DJs but Milwaukee kind of lost that as things started moving into the clubs, and those DJs were pioneers of the whole sound, which a lot of the audiences now just don’t know about. What we see is so instrumental to what we attract, and I realized that seeing women like Superjane DJ was what made me really want to do that, even though I probably always wanted to do it.”

Safe for All

As such, top priorities of Apart are to ensure that the scene is safe for all.

“It’s simple to book Black and Brown DJs, but when we talk about really dealing with whiteness, if we really want to be inclusive then we need to involve people who are representative of those identities in our operations. In a lot of areas there hasn’t been a sincere push to do that. In some areas there has been but sometimes it’s a performative push.

I understand that there’s challenges to it but I don’t know how much venues and promoters are thinking about these things. As far as safety goes, people tend to think of keeping women, non-binary folks and LGBTQ+ people safe. I think there has been a better push towards that, where people are making sure there’s educated security and that we’ll kick someone out no questions asked if something’s happening, or to have Narcan education. But it’s absolutely doable to do better.”

Trusted Network

As mentioned, Apart serves as a talent agency as well, which has been a new development in the last year. Artists are plugged into a trusted network of industry professionals to properly support their own unique creative directions. The current roster consists of Milwaukee DJs and artists Delilac, DJ Dripsweat, Phox, SubXtort and Nu-Stylez. From Chicago there’s Jerome Baker, DJ Lady D, Jevon Jackson and Blu 9 and then there’s Madison-based DJ Boyfrrriend and Minneapolis-based Niki Kitz.

Fortune explains, “A couple of them are from the original Apart artists, which was a music collective rather than an agency. Niki Kitz is the longest running one but Blu 9, Jevon Jackson, and SubXtort were also all with me when I just wanted to help elevate music that I believed in. I don’t have some international platform but I do have something that can help the artists around me looking for that first legitimization that the industry wants. It’s hard to get that representation sometimes and I can offer that. I have everyone from veterans like Jevon and Jerome to emerging talent like Delilac and Dripsweat. They excite me and they’re doing something extraordinary. The other qualifier is if they’re looking to do music seriously, perhaps full-time, as a long-term passion.”

From Summerfest to Quarters

Not only did Apart’s agency launch in 2021, but Fortune got to work closely with Summerfest, securing gigs for six artists on the roster including herself. She threw two other events this past year—one at Cactus Club and the other at Quarters Rock ‘n Roll Palace.

Fortune shares her goals with Apart for the year to come.

“I want to do more with the agency but it’s tricky with events right now. No one really knows what they’re doing as far as festivals this summer, but I would love to find an underground spot to do events at. We’ll see if that happens but I think it’d be really important for me. I want to be able to curate the atmosphere and lineup without things already being dictated by the kind of venue we’re in. I also hope to keep working with people who are survivors of abuse in the scene and keep expanding the network in our region to keep having conversations about this stuff.”

For updates about Apart, visit their website: apart-music.com.