Big Fan Announces Two Initiatives For The Pan-Asian Music Community

BIG FAN is continuing to expand and open their doors for music creators from all walks of life, today announcing two five-day opportunities at the BIG FAN recording studios to support and foster the talents of Pan-Asian music people in Aotearoa.

FAN CAMP and RESIDENCIES programmes have so far given 58 creatives from across Aotearoa the ability to explore their music creation process, and BIG FAN is thrilled to dedicate these two rounds to the Pan-Asian music community. These programmes have a collective goal to build connections and collaboration, remove barriers, and to continue to provide equal opportunities for creatives across Aotearoa from a multitude of backgrounds. 

The third edition of BIG FAN’s Fan Camp will give a minimum of 9 Pan-Asian creatives the opportunity to collaborate on a new song in BIG FAN’s professional-grade recording studios every day for 5 full days, for free. Over the week, participants will have the opportunity to work and collaborate with their peers, with no commercial release expectations. Fan Camp aims to inspire the creatives to build connections to their culture and community for further collaboration, and help them to come away with demo-quality songs to use to further their musical journey.

This fourth round of BIG FAN’s Residencies offers three placements for emerging Pan-Asian producers, songwriters, and artists to have access to a BIG FAN recording studio for five consecutive days. Creatives will have access to the studio to experiment, write, produce and record music, however their creative process allows. The mission for the Residencies is to continue to break down barriers that limit access to recording studios.

Travel and accommodation will be covered for one person who resides outside Tāmaki Makaurau for each programme. Creatives can apply for both programmes should they wish – selecting either programme as their first choice. At the conclusion of the programmes, there will be a listening party to share the songs made from both weeks with all participants, friends, whānau and members of the music industry. There will also be a showcase with Pan-Asian artists in May, free and open to the public.

General Manager of BIG FAN, Savina Fountain says “I am so heartened by the new generation of Kiwi Asian creatives. They are rightfully proud of their culture and heritage, with some creatives literally flying the flag publicly. It’s not something I saw when I immigrated to from South Korea to Aotearoa in the early 90’s.”

“BIG FAN is excited to make this connection and give back to the next generation of Kiwi Asians. Representation matters. More so than ever in this ever-changing landscape, we need a range of perspectives and diverse voices coming through to enrich and reimagine what the industry and the future can be. Some Pan-Asian artists have already started paving the path and it feels like the perfect time to create opportunities for more Kiwi Asians to break through the barriers.”

“NZ On Air is pleased to support the BIG FAN Fan Camp and Residences programmes – it marries in superbly with our New Music Pan-Asian funding round that we launched in 2023 and will now be annual, and which was created to address the lack of equitable representation of Pan-Asian artists in our music sector,” says Teresa Patterson, Head of Music at NZ On Air.
 

KEY DATES
FAN CAMP VOL. 4 PAN-ASIAN: Monday 22 April to Friday 26 April 2024 
RESIDENCIES PAN-ASIAN: Monday 6 May to Friday 10 May 2024

Applications Open: Tuesday 19 March 2024 at 10am
Applications Close: Sunday 24 March 2024 at 10pm

Find a document with FAQ’s and more information HERE
Assets and Images available HERE

FAN CAMP Vol.3 and Residencies: Pan-Asian are made possible with core funding from NZ On Air and with support from APRA AMCOS NZ.

© Scoop Media