FORtUne

Bio
Born and raised in England, Jessica Fenner (Fortune) grew up in a family that loved to throw parties with live music, plenty of wine, hours of dancing and 200 or so incredibly happy people - the foundation of a passion for musical events! Her childhood was spent largely in Bristol, where innovative music acts such as Massive Attack, Morcheeba, Portishead and Roni Size were also coming of age. Classically trained in flute, piano and tenor saxaphone, she became hooked on electronic music during the eruption of rave culture in the late 80s and early 90s. Impacted by acts such as Carl Cox, The Prodigy, Jumpin Jack Frost, The Shamen and KLF she left home and school at 17 to become more involved with a local promotions outfit.
In 1993, a month after turning 19, she had an unexpected opportunity to go to California and ten days later was crossing the Atlantic with $140 and a suitcase. Dr. Dre had recently dropped the Chronic and Pharcyde and Tribe Called Quest were at their peak; Fortune was enamoured by the sharp contrast to English music culture and embraced the chance to get a hip-hop education. After a year she returned to England , but stayed only 6 months - long enough to take in the new genre called jungle that was sweeping the nation and check out many of the djs who were blowing up the club scene, such as Grooverider, Fabio, Sasha and Boy George!
At the end of '94 Fortune moved to Milwaukee where she has lived ever since, and watched a club music scene develop out of practically nothing, fluctuate up and down, but ultimately always grow better. In 1999 she finally started djing herself, playing mostly hip-hop. Two months later she played her first gig and soon had residencies at underground Milwaukee hip-hop establishments Mars Hotel and Quarters. She quickly developed her style to include house, breaks and techno and the elements she grew up with, and went on to play almost every venue that Milwaukee had to offer, from Dish to Thai Joes, Three to Mantra Lounge, as well as playing Streetside, DarkRoom, MoonShine, Visions, Zentra and SmartBar in Chicago.
Her achievements include: winning the Triple Threat DJ Battle in 2003; being the featured Info DJ in 2004; being nominated as an '05 Scion Emerging Artist; founding LadyBeats, a monthly event promoting the female DJ as normal not novelty, in 2005 (still going strong in '07!); founding For U Events in 2005 which currently holds down one bi-weekly and two monthly nights as well as several one off events; in 2006 she was asked to organize and co-ordinate the six date Milwaukee leg of the national Scion/Imeem BEAT Tour. She has had the privilege of opening for numerous talented artists, including Green Velvet, Kaskade, Colette, Dayhota, Lady D, Joshua (Iz), JT Donaldson, Stacy Kidd, Jesse De La Pena and Boo Williams; but the highlight of her dj experience so far has been visiting Qbert at his home in 2001 and having the honour of scratching with him and Flare at the Octagon.
Fortunes main mission will always be to make people happy. "Some dj for the buzz of controlling the crowd, some for glory, others for the creativity. Since I was a child I have always been literally moved by music; from those first family parties, music has been presented to me as something that goes hand in hand with moments of happiness. Providing the medium that brings that same enjoyment to others, making them smile, dance or just close their eyes for a moment, is what really fulfills me."


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