mickey franco

Mickey Franco has been around music since the tender age of 10 when he played cello in his school orchestra. He later traded in that instrument for a bass and a guitar and started playing in various rock bands. In 2000, at the age of 20, he found a new interest in electronic music when he went to his first raves. He had been captivated by this so called house music and the dj..s that spun this type of music. He knew right then and there that this is what he wanted to do. In 2002 he was able to get a job at a famous local night club in Guatemala called Zeo as a resident dj and started saving up to buy his equipment. At the same time he also started playing with a local music promotion agency called Grooveholics led by Guatemalan dj Julio San Juan as well as obtaining a one night a week residency in a night club in El Salvador called The Third Floor alongside his mate and fellow dj Manolo Martí. 2003 was the year that launched Mickey Franco deep inside the Guatemalan electronic music scene. He started playing at practically every rave or party with an electronic music theme to it, playing in parties such as the infamous Rave del Castillo and appearing in radio shows all over the country. At the end of this year he won a local dj contest that caught the attention of many party goers in his country and abroad. It was during this year that he was catalogued by local newspaper “Siglo 21” as “The most successful dj of the year” as well as being nominated by “Aplauzo” magazine to best dj act of 2003. The next year he formed part of a residency with Heineken music alongside two other local dj..s as well as maintaining a residency with Omega Muzik and El Colectivo. He began emphasizing his time towards his new musical productions and kept playing at every party that he could. 2005 catapulted this young dj..s career in the international scene. It was during this year that he played the infamous Sun Jam party held every year in Utila, Honduras as well as taking part of a three city tour throughout Colombia coming back to Guatemala only to make an appearance in the South American music conference tour held in his home town. In 2007, Mickey joined two of Guatemala..s biggest party promotion agencies, Cube and Selekto, earning himself the honor of being one of the mostly used opening dj..s in the country. Throughout his career, Mickey has shared turntables with a long list of international dj..s such as Loco Dice, Richie Hawtin, Christian Smith, Lee Burridge, Marcelo Castelli, Josh Wink, Misstress Barbara, Martin Accorsi, Austin Leeds, Troy Pierce, Willy San Juan, Karlos Elizondo, Habersham, Dave Preston and Phillip Charles just to name a few. His sets have developed musically through many years as a dj, although his earlier sets were usually defined by driving techno, progressive and house sounds, nowadays he focuses on spinning minimal techno and driving techno during his habitual sets. His musical productions have proven to be a success by getting to the hands of many important producers such as Santiago Niño, Loco Dice, Marcelo Castelli, Martin Accorsi, Magda, Troy Pierce, Francis Dávila and Albert Vera. His first official release, “Digital Imprint” was released under the label Dub Tech recordings in October 2006 maintaining itself in the top 40 downloads in beatport for over a month. Mickey has played in places such as Slak Lounge (Miami), Elements (El Salvador), Mi País (Bucaramanga, Colombia), Lounge 503 (San Salvador, El Salvador), Safari (Neiva, Colombia), Gotika (Bogotá, Colombia), Kahlua (Neiva, Colombia), Ultra Lounge (Tegucigalpa, Honduras), Quench (Miami), La Vela (Honduras) and Modular (Honduras) as well as participating in many important music festivals in Central America such as the Sun Jam (Honduras) and Rave del Castillo (Guatemala).