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JAGUAR JONZE
releases
‘PUNCHLINE’
New single & video
featuring all asian-Australian
women & non-binary folk
Watch video ‘PUNCHLINE’ here
Stream here
+ Debut album
BUNNY MODE
out June 3
via Nettwerk Records
+ Touring nationally this
June /July
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Photo credit: She Is Aphrodite
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Taiwanese-Australian singer, producer, songwriter, and multimedia artist JAGUAR JONZE is thrilled to unveil her latest single ‘PUNCHLINE’, the final track to be shared ahead of the release of her debut album BUNNY MODE (June 3 via Nettwerk Records). Also featuring the singles ‘WHO DIED AND MADE YOU KING?’, ‘CUT’, ‘LITTLE FIRES’, and ‘TRIGGER HAPPY’, BUNNY MODE is a personal triumph of resilience and an incredible creative work on which the world-building artistry of Jaguar Jonze shines through.
Jaguar Jonze’s new single ‘PUNCHLINE’ is a playful diary entry about navigating the industry as a woman of colour, while also wanting to authentically represent her culture. Her sharp-edged humour shines through in its lyrics (‘Can’t remember if it’s east or west or in the tropics’; ‘We love culture but make sure it’s to our very liking / Make it milky, make it plain and not too spicy’), cheekily sung through the many eye rolls that come with the turf when making art as a marginalised person. The video, which was directed, edited and produced by Jaguar Jonze, welcomes back the Asian women and non-binary folk who featured in the visuals for ‘WHO DIED AND MADE YOU KING?’, as they all related strongly to the message behind ‘PUNCHLINE’ and wanted to make their voices heard.
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Quotes from talent:
“Once I heard the lyrics to this song, a part of me that had been hidden dormant felt heard. I’ve always felt I had to be the right type of Asian or hide it away, and this song gave me the confidence to let that small hidden Bengali girl scream in anger. I shouldn’t have to contort myself to be heard and I’m so pleased to be working with such a talented artist that understands and helps me unleash the emotions I’ve hidden for so long.” – Narnia Business
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“As an Asian-Australian woman, I instantly resonated with PUNCHLINE based on the fetishisation and stereotypes I’ve faced throughout my life, enhanced by Australian and western media. I’ve always been proud of my Chinese and Lao heritage. We are beautiful, we are intelligent, we are multi-faceted, we are desirable beyond fetishised sex appeal and we are talented beyond our stereotypes, such as in the arts like myself and Jaguar Jonze.” – Charlotte Marnee
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A powerful feminist work that explores her journey as an assault survivor, an advocate for change, and a figure on the frontline of Australia’s #MeToo movement, BUNNY MODE sees Jaguar Jonze radiate confidence, finding strength in vulnerability and tackling dark topics with lightness and humour. Together with her band, she has created a unique and cinematic patchwork of stadium pop and industrial noise, all laced with a punchy-punk energy.
Throughout the album, Jaguar Jonze moves past an old coping mechanism that she calls “going bunny mode” – becoming still and quiet instead of crying out in response to physical, psychological and emotional threats. “This album is a journey of saying goodbye to that ‘bunny mode,’” she says. “Making this album has been this process of saying – thank you for saving me and allowing me to survive up until this point, but I don’t need you anymore.” The album is also a love letter to music itself – she explains, “Most things I did in my life, I did for survival. But, making music was the complete opposite: it was a gift and permission to myself to create, live passionately, and say what I was feeling. It was passion, intimacy, rawness, and connection; it completely changed my life. It made me feel human.”
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BUNNY MODE finds Jaguar Jonze triumphant, unwilling to be complicit in a culture of silence and to speak up to an industry that was banking on her staying quiet. “I’ve given myself permission to feel the emotions that I’ve been holding back on for so long, to find my voice and use it in this world,” she says, “because I know my worth now. And I do have something to say.”
“..nothing short of a manifold visionary” (Flaunt), Brisbane-based Jaguar Jonze has had a non-stop two years, becoming a public vessel for change and accountability in the Australian music industry, while simultaneously focusing on her creative artistry. Her recent singles have received praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, triple j, MTV, NME, and she was named a feature artist on BBC Radio 1’s Future Artists with Jack Saunders. In honour of her advocacy to raise awareness on discrimination and abuse within the music industry, and pushing practitioners to operate in a safe and respectful environment, Jaguar Jonze has been awarded the triple j Done Good Award, AIR Outstanding Achievement Award, and named one of the 21 Most Inspiring Women of 2021 by Vogue Australia. Jaguar Jonze continues her advocacy work including in the group that commissioned the Music Industry Review of sexual harm, sexual harassment and systemic discrimination in the contemporary Australian music industry and recommendations for reform. As best described in her own words, “the heat that is picking up and fanning those tiny fires into a blaze of reckoning” (Billboard).
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BUNNY MODE
Tracklist:
KNOW MY NAME
WHO DIED AND MADE YOU KING?
SWALLOW
DRAWING LINES
TRIGGER HAPPY
LOUD
LITTLE FIRES
PUNCHLINE
CUT
NOT YOURS
MAN MADE MONSTER
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JAGUAR JONZE
– THE BUNNY MODE
Australian Tour
Saturday 18 June – Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Sunday 19 June – The Barwon Club, Geelong
Friday 24 June – Jack Rabbit Slims, Perth
Saturday 25 June – Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
Friday 1 July – Miami Marketta, Gold Coast
Saturday 2 July – The Triffid, Brisbane
Friday 7 July – Kambri, Canberra
Friday 8 July – UOW Uni Bar, Wollongong
Saturday 9 July – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Sunday 10 July – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle
Tickets on sale here
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Jaguar Jonze
on tour with
The Wombats
Sunday 5 June – HBF Stadium – Perth
Friday 10 June – John Cain Arena – Melbourne
Saturday 11 June – Hordern Pavilion – Sydney [Sold Out]
Sunday 12 June – Hordern Pavilion – Sydney
Friday 17 June – Riverstage – Sydney
Tickets details here
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Follow JAGUAR JONZE
Website – Instagram – Facebook – Twitter
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AMNPLIFY – ML
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My nickname is “The Amnplifier”. Why? Because around here my focus is on being a conduit for providing greater outcomes that people come here for. My day to day “work” is living in the moment, and I love helping others concentrate on finding their connection to themselves through their experiences.
Why start a music environment? The truth is I love music, I love writing, and I love life. I work with musicians every day, and I feel certain that I will be until they put me in the ground. I have been managing people in businesses of some sort for over thirty five years so along the way I have developed some “wisdom” from my regular and constant “observations”.
Amnplify your experience. That is what we want you to do here, and if you want to let me know why you do, or don’t, shoot me a message on Facebook.
Hope you enjoy yourself here and find something that hits you somewhere.
