DJ Juanito was born in Santa Rosa, California but grew up in Oakland from the age of 1. At the age of 3 he started his journey through life without a father, his single mother… abandoned, was forced to struggle on her own and work very hard to provide for her 2 sons. Juan took notice; this is where DJ Juanito started building his hard work ethic and tenacious quality to achieve his goals that he retains to this day. The lesson learned from his mother was to never quick, to never surrender.
At 14 he ran with the wrong crowd and started getting into lots of trouble by being involved with gangs and the bad elements of East Oakland. But at age 16, music changed his life; DJ Juanito didn’t pick up a guitar, nor take up the piano; instead his instrument of choice was 2 turntables. He didn’t take music lessons or was classically trained, but instead he used his ear. He used the turntables as his weapon to get out the dangerous lifestyle he was leading which was bound to cut his life short. While living in the Bay Area he was inspired by all sorts of music; from the popular Freestyle, Hip Hop and Urban music, to the music they call Oldschool today and all the sub-genres of dance including; Disco, High Energy, Modern Rock and Electro Funk. Music saved his life!
In his Oakland basement he set up his first studio and started recording his own non-stop mix tapes on cassettes for himself and for friends, which evolved to producing Megamixes on vinyl records; “Don’t Stop The Mix”, “True Colors Ghetto Mix”, “War of the Worlds”, “Computamix” are among his first records released on his first record label Sound EFX/Funky Mix Records. He promoted those records by throwing monthly dance parties all over the Bay Area, which became popular and helped him start building a fan base. In 1991 he recorded his first album with East Oakland Rap artist Morocco Moe, “Did It My Damn Self” released on his label Mafioso Records distributed by Macola Records in Los Angeles. This was his first attempt at recording original music with a real artist using a Mac computer and Digital Performer, a music production software.
In 1991 after recording 9 vinyl records and 1 rap album, DJ Juanito decided it was time to make a change and moved to Los Angeles. He got into the club scene and began spinning his new love House Music at some of the top clubs in L.A. including the Florentine Gardens, Fantasia, The Grand, Club Jolt at the Variety Arts Center and the Red Onion to name a few. DJ Juanito was among the first to spin and break House Music in the Los Angeles club scene in the early 90’s. Out of this chaos sprang up his first record label in Los Angeles; a DJ specialty label/tool called Bust A Groove Records. Bust A Groove featured techno and house loops fused with more loops and samples stacked and mixed to perfection. Many say this legendary label gave birth to the Mash-Up mixes heard today. In 1993 DJ Juanito hosted his own radio show along with co-host Rudy “Rudedog” Gonzalez on 96.7 FM called “The Vibe” dedicated all to House Music, featuring special guest legendary DJ’s like DJ Orlando, David Alvarado, Steve Loria, DJ Fabian, Bad Boy Bill just to name a few. Also in 1993 DJ Juanito founded Groove Nation Records, the very first House Label on the West Coast.
In 1994 after recording over 75 vinyl records and CD compilations came his first hit single “A Mover La Colita” released on Groove Nation/Scotti Brothers/BMG, in 1995 came his follow up hit single “Esa Nena Linda” released on Groove Nation/Scotti Brothers/Warner Brothers and also in 1995 DJ Juanito wrote and produced the hit single “Feels So Good” featuring Lina Santiago, released on Groove Nation/Universal Records. “Feels So Good” was Universal Records first record and video ever released.
Because of Feels So Good’s success on radio according to the President of Universal Records it was credited for the addition of the Dance category at the GRAMMY’S. The Program Director of Power 106 at the time Bruce St. James confirmed and has said on record that DJ Juanito is on a very short list of producers to have had 3 songs on rotation, at the same time; on Power 106 Los Angeles and on countless radio stations across the country. A very difficult thing to achieve! Because of DJ Juanito’s firsts and his many accomplishments he has earned a legendary status in the music industry and in the DJ community worldwide.