Spotlight On: The Fu1

To kick off the countdown to our auditions on January 28, we’ll be chatting with previous competitors who have used their experience with Kollaboration Atlanta as a stepping stone to a larger spotlight in the mainstream media. This week, we caught up with Jacob Fu of the brotherly acoustic duo, The Fu, who performed at Kollab 3 in 2010.

1. Tell us what you’re up to these days.

After Kollaboration in 2010, we continued to do live shows and played at bars around Atlanta.  It helped us put together a good repertoire while raising funds for future projects.  In April 2011, we decided to get back onto our YouTube channel and make the effort to do videos on a regular basis.  Since then, we put up over 60 new videos that have resulted in over 330,000 views.

As we put up videos, we wanted to find our style and sound.  We dabbled in some vlogging, did some skits, and even put up a few travel based videos.

In December, we signed on with Big Frame and we’re excited to see what 2012 brings! They represent some of the largest talent on YouTube, such as MysteryGuitarMan, DeStorm, DaveDays, Julian Smith, and Corridor Digital.

Joshua and Jacob Fu.

April 2010 - The Fu performing at Kollaboration ATL 3 at Center Stage

Aug. 2011 - Performing at our first acoustic showcase at Red Mango in Decatur. Photo credit: Johnny Cheng

2. Looks like you guys have been traveling for a bit. Where did you go and what did you do?

We did a cross-country road trip during the summer of 2011 and had the opportunity to do shows in different cities.  Josh got the opportunity to attend the VidCon conference in LA where he met some of the biggest names in YouTube as well as the Big Frame folks.

In the Fall of 2011, we flew out to Indonesia for our cousin’s wedding.  We did our first international show there and had the opportunity to meet some of our amazing fans! We’re hoping to get more chances to travel and meet fans.

Nov. 2011 - Performing their first international set in Indonesia

Meeting Indonesian fans

3. We’re getting our auditions underway soon. Any advice you have for first-time performers?

Meet the other performers!  We had a great time auditioning and, of course, performing, but the best part is meeting other singers, dancers, and all sorts of performers.  We’ve stayed in touch with a few of them and plan on working on projects together.

4. What does an average day look like for you guys lately?

On average, we spend two full days a week working on each video.  Typically one to write, arrange, and record the music, and another to work on the video.  In between, we’re doing a lot of behind the scenes stuff and learning more about the industry!

5.     What are your future plans?

We’ll continue to focus on YouTube this year and we’re really excited to be working with other YouTubers and do more original content.  Be sure to stay tuned by subscribing to us at youtube.com/thefumusic!

Think you’ve got vocal and guitar skills like The Fu? Apply to audition on January 28 for our fifth show in April!