By Scarlett Kersey
Image, CD - Hope Glassel // HMUA - Rory Alvarez // Styling - Heidi Cannon // Editor - Scarlett Kersey
Through the glow of a laptop screen, I could see the streets of Berlin bustling behind a warm café window. Across from me sat Fumi: sleek silver jacket, big hoop earrings- beaming, a smile so unmistakably hers. Warm and genuine.
I was elated I could catch her in her week of downtime before she flew off to Luxembourg, then Paris, Amsterdam, and Madrid.
Her rise in techno has been so rapid you’d assume she's been at it for nearly a decade. What stayed with me wasn’t the success she had found in such a short time; it was the untold stories about her introduction to nightlife and the unspoken family roots tying to her practice- shaping how she shows up not just on the decks but in her personal identity.
Only a few years into DJing, she’s peeled back the polished image of touring and revealed what being a tastemaker is really about. Making the experience more meaningful than I would have ever guessed.
1. How have you been handling constant traveling? I’m sure you’re used to it by now.
“Yeah, I would say I'm used to it. The beginning was hard when I first started touring often, because it was like training your body for something that it's not used to– like going out and doing sport."
2. When did you start touring?
"It's probably been about one-year now of proper touring every weekend and having gigs. I've only been DJing for three and a half years now, so it's not been a long time, but it's gone very, very quickly"
3. I know that your name is Fumi (foo-mee). Is that how you say it?
“Exactly, but my real name is Hannah. That’s just my artist name. I took the name from my grandmother. When I was choosing the name she had passed away that week. She had this quiet confidence and strength to her.”
4. How did your family end up in Berlin?
“I'm American-born and raised in the US. I moved to Germany when I was 22, four years ago. I grew up outside of Boston in a suburb, and then went to Boston College, where I graduated in 2021.”
“I studied abroad in Jordan– Middle Eastern politics and international studies. Living in Jordan for six months completely changed my whole perspective on the world and my life and everything,” she says. “I started this program and got randomly placed. There were 70 Americans who were placed in different cities around Germany, and I somehow got placed in Berlin– the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.”
Though she didn’t see the significance of this placement at the time, this was the start of Hannah’s earliest encounters with techno. She decided to dip her toe into the vast pool that is Berlin techno, and her journey began with none other than a dinky borrowed deck and a Bumble business account.
“I got a really sh*tty DJ controller from a friend, and taught myself how to do everything. I made a Bumble business profile,” she adds, "I ended up connecting with one other person, who I started a collective with, and we began hosting raves and podcasts, inviting artists onto our label— that’s how I first got my club gigs."
5. What’s something about the Berlin scene that people don’t realize?
“How deeply entrenched the musical ecosystem is in Berlin, and how much there is to offer. When I first moved to Germany, I was so shocked that people were not going out to get wasted and find someone to hook up with. People were going out just to listen to music and dance. It makes up such a beautiful environment that's also really respectful and open.”
6. I'm sure all those underground shows you attended outside the big-name clubs really defined your taste. What was the hardest part about finding your sound?
“The hardest part is just trying to cancel out the background noise, and not thinking about what other people may feel about what you're doing. I think finding your sound– it sounds so cliche, is just staying true to yourself. I have this warm feeling in my chest when I play the music that I love. That's how I know it's the right thing.”
7. What’s something people wouldn’t see behind your sets?
“My sets are very high-energy. When things are going well, it gives me so much energy even though this lifestyle can be exhausting. When people see me enjoying a set, they can trust I'm right there with them on the dance floor, feeling exactly what they're feeling.”
"It’s so cool to share that experience with so many different people."
8. When you think about your next chapter, musically and personally, what feels uncertain and what feels clear to you?
“It's hard for me to look into the future and think of what could come. My life has completely changed in the last three years in a way I never expected. I moved to Germany originally to do social work and study, but I've ended up a DJ traveling the world.”
Hannah hopes to continue the mission that first brought her to Berlin, intertwining her passions for social work and music. She spoke softly reflecting on her original purpose of being in Germany, like it’s still deeply connected to her sense of meaning.
“I came to Germany hoping to do one thing– social work with refugees, and now I've ended up on a completely different path. It would be cool to try and merge the two.”
9. If someone walked away from one of your sets, what would you hope they feel by the end of it?
“I hope it's a mix of relief and inspiration. I'm thinking back to when I go to the dance floor, not as a DJ but as a dancer myself. It's such a full body relief to go somewhere I can feel, let my energy out, and gain new inspiration.”
Whether she's honoring her grandmother's resilience or commanding a high-energy dance set, Fumi gives everything to the floor and pulls the whole room along with her. What she wants people to carry home is that feeling of walking away inspired. If release is the product, Fumi is the instrument.