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From the Living Room to the Stage
DJ, aspiring producer, re-mixer, artist or entrepreneur? New Orleans native Jimmy Granados, known to his fans as DJ Jiggy, wears each of those titles proudly.Born in USA but proud of his Costa Rican heritage Granados says his love of music came from listening to the radio and his family's extensive collection of music."My love of music started at an early age," said Granados. "When I was a kid I would improvise with two pencils and a 'Charles Chips' bucket! In my mind I was a professional drummer."That early interest in music followed Granados to Elementary School where he joined the band as a percussion player. Granados credits his knowledge of rhythm can be traced to those years in the band."I played the drums for years," Granados said. "Much of what I know about rhythm and music came from my time in the band. When I finally got a job washing cars, I was able to buy my own music and really explore my love of music."That's when Granados' musical style began to take shape."It's impossible to put a label on my style of dj'ing," says Granados with a grin. "I guess you could describe it as 'body movin' vibes' - house-y tracks with a Latin twist that keep you dancing all night. It's definitely not the typical 'hip-hop/techno/trance/breaks' label you see underneath a dj's name on most flyers."While he was still a senior in high school, Granados bought affordable dj equipment and started playing at the parties and weddings of his friends and acquaintances. It wasn't until Feb.1999, however, that Granados got his first big break."I was performing after a 'Rock en Espanol' concert at Jimmy's, a popular college bar in Uptown New Orleans, and Eduardo Courtade, a House of Blues promoter, approached me about auditioning at one of the House of Blues late nights," said Granados. "I had never even been to the House of Blues, let alone performed there, but I accepted the offer with a lot of excitement. The audition went extremely well and lead to me becoming a resident dj on Friday night."Friday night is otherwise known as Latin Quarter and later RYTMO - and it was the most popular "Latin night" among locals and international college students. Little did Granados know that the best and most defining moment of his career thus far was about to come."We had several months of successful events and that led to national recognition from E! Entertainment Television's 'Wild at' program," recalled Granados. "It was a chance to show off my skills and also make a big impression of everyone watching."With that in mind, Granados dyed his hair blue, wore blue sunglasses and a very shiny and loud shirt - all to symbolize that he "had the blues all over."Granados has held his resident dj status at the House of Blues ever since and has learned a lot in the years since."I've learned a lot about the music business and I know that it is not easy to make it in this field," says Granados. "That challenge has only made me strive harder and set bigger goals for myself."Aside from dj'ing, Granados is working on establishing his own business known as Neoizzm Inc. which includes a Multimedia Co. , a clothing line and also his own Music Group. In spite of his accomplishments in life, Jiggy is now working on establishing his first produced album which he plans to release soon. Jiggy remains levelheaded, modest, optimistic and very motivated about his direction in life. "I'm always thinking about my next future project."
