We meet… Dave Stringer Hughes

18th June 2025 Richard Jones

Born and raised in San Diego, California, Dave Hughes made a bold move to New York City on his 20th birthday and has called it home ever since. His love of music began in high school through the radio club, and he first learned to mix on Technics 1210s during college. A digital DJ since 2006, Dave has spent nearly two decades spinning for crowds across the U.S. and Canada. He is currently an organizer and resident DJ for Fuzzy – Fourth Fridays at Nowhere Bar, alongside his DJ partner Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields and host Alex Sarkesian. Although he’ll be away this month, Dave returns to the decks for Fuzzy Pride on Friday, June 27. He and Merritt also co-host Fuzzy Radio on The Lot Radio, which airs every four weeks on Mondays from 8 to 10 p.m. Dave’s next episode will be Monday, June 23.

Dave’s DJ résumé includes residencies at the Crankshaft party at the Bike Stop in Philadelphia (2016–2018), the fetish night Eggplant at Rockbar NYC (2016–2019), and the cheekily named [Large Hardon] Collider at Stonewall Inn with DJ Damian (2012–2015). He has also played the NYC Eagle, the Atlanta Eagle, and events in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Vancouver. Known for his wide-ranging musical taste, Dave’s sets reflect his versatility. Fuzzy brings together a carefree mix of rock, pop, and dance, while Fuzzy Radio explores more eclectic territory with ambient, world, and archival sounds. When spinning solo, he leans into dusty house grooves, psychedelic tech vibes, and shimmering disco. A proud Capricorn, Dave also loves literary fiction, arthouse cinema, and throwing dinner parties — and yes, he’s still single, holding out hope for that one special guy to bring home to the family.

I sat down with Dave to talk about the Bear music scene what that means and his own passions about music and the clubs that welcome the bears:

Richard Jones: Can you tell me about the bear music scene? It seems there are a huge number of DJs and some bands now too (like MAN ON MAN). Is it evolving? Growing? Any new bands you can recommend?

Dave Hughes:
The Bear Community contains multitudes, I think. This is a huge and growing community that’s existed for more than three decades, and it’s so diverse it would be hard for any one person to claim total expertise. I think it’s certainly broader now than it was — Bear used to feel more “alternative,” and now there are lots of different types of people with different tastes who find themselves in the bear soup, you know?

I don’t know if he claims to be a Bear, but the musician Baths recently released a terrific album called Gut that speaks to the social/emotional hellscape queer men looking for intimacy have to navigate, which is made of us.

Babydaddy from Scissor Sisters is a bear too, right? Here’s hoping they have some new music on the way after their big comeback tour this summer — I’ve always loved them!

Prosumer is one of the best house music DJs in the world, and a very, very sexy bear. He was one of the original residents at Panoramabar in Berlin and now he’s a resident at NYC Downlow at Glastonbury. He’s been back in the States recently. I got the chance to hear him play Morning Music at the Black Party and he was amazing. Sleazy, jacking, soulful, beautiful classic house music — he is mind-blowing

BWM: Other than your own parties, what gets you going? What gigs and bands will you RUN to grab a ticket for?

Dave Hughes:
In NYC, I’ve been loving the Bears Are Animals night, Thursdays at Animal in Williamsburg. Nick Schiarizzi promotes it and has programmed a rotation of DJs who keep the music really fresh. A really fun, flirtatious, sociable crowd, too.Quinn Hopkins puts on a party called Gravy that happens every now and then in Harlem that’s been a lot of fun, too.

I’m always interested in whatever my pal Jeffy Fruit is planning or putting on. Back in the spring, his community activist meeting/jockstrap party Bearmaggedon 2 at C’mon Everybody had a big cardboard box sculpture of a Cybertruck studded with glory holes. It was a very hot night.

I’m almost always going to be there if LCD Soundsystem is playing. Excited to see Grizzly Bear this fall, too!

BWM: There are a lot of bear and chub parties now in NYC. Any you can recommend in other cities too?

Dave Hughes:
I’m a huge fan of the Dry Heat guys in Palm Springs — Dr. Time, DJ AA, and DJ E. Feld. I haven’t been able to catch one of their proper parties yet, but they did spin an absolutely bacchanalian Halloween house party I was lucky enough to attend. Any of them are well worth your time in other settings as well.

My good buddy and former DJ partner Damian (aka DJ Double Butter), who legendarily created Buddies at Nowhere (and did [Large Hardon] Collider with me at Stonewall), just moved to Portland and is putting on some stuff — go check him out!

It’s not the beariest crowd, but MENERGY in Paris plays terrific modern Hi-NRG.

BWM: What do you think keeps a party going year on year? Or should parties come to an end so a new one can emerge?

Dave Hughes, *Stephin Merritt, and Alex Sarkesian.*

Dave Hughes:
We’re very lucky, with FUZZY, to throw our shindig at Nowhere Bar, which is really the ideal NYC queer dive bar — such an amazing staff, who set a welcoming tone, and a space that has hosted a decades-long run of parties beloved by sexy, chunky, scruffy fellas. Buddies, of course, but also going back to Big Lug, Stephin’s prior party RUNT, and Double Headed Disco.

We’ve also been grateful, from our very first party, to have attracted a very sexy and friendly group of regulars who keep coming back. FUZZY has been an interesting party for me in that we have a team of three — myself, Stephin, and our host Alex. We make all the decisions collectively and we share the workload. Having people to bounce ideas off of — and also the fact that we all want to amuse, entertain, and show up for one another — has been really good for keeping our collective momentum going.

And every party is different. We’ve had terrific guest hosts and DJs who bring new energy in. Some nights we have a ton of Nowhere regulars showing up at 2 a.m. and we take things in another direction. People also come to our party for the music — this is a party for adventurous listeners and music lovers. You’re rarely going to hear the same tune twice.

We’re always making sure we’re setting a nice tone for the backroom, and we love Madonna and the Pet Shop Boys and Beyoncé like all respectable faguettes, but we’re also going to throw in Ministry, Taffy, Kieran Hebden, Bar Italia, and Sweeping Promises too.

In the almost five years we’ve been throwing this party together, my DJ partnership with Stephin has deepened a lot, which has been really fun. I think we’re always learning new ways to play off each other — and I think our audience has been enjoying it, too. It’s my hope we’ll be able to bring FUZZY to the furry fauna of NYC for many years to come!

Every party has its season, though, you know? I’ve done some longer-term engagements with great people over the years, but every party finds its level and its audience. It’s important to recognize when it’s time to do other stuff. And if you aren’t loving the parties wherever you’re at, that’s a cue to start something new.

I will always, always, always miss Blowoff, though.

BWM: What bear weekends or weeks do you like to go to — or any you really want to get to?

Dave Hughes:
I am always at Mid-Atlantic Leather in DC every January. It’s right around my birthday and I always have a blast. I also love Dore Alley in San Francisco, Palm Springs Leather Pride, and any event held in Los Angeles — it’s always a blast to visit.

I’m really looking forward to getting back to Bear Week in Ptown one of these days, too.

I haven’t ever been to Lazy Bear, and I’m dying to go. I want to DJ there too! I want to DJ anywhere you’ll have me. 🙂

Heres a great recent set by Dave – its awesome!