Member Since: 16/02/2005
Band Website: www.juanjohnsononline.com
Band Members:Juan Johnson was born in Dallas, Texas, per his parents who were Mexican immigrants. Francisco "Juan Johnson" Martinez has always showed strong individuality. He was introduced to music at a young age by his father who taught him how to play traditional Mexican songs on the piano. Although he grew up in a bad neighborhood, he was not easily influenced by the many peer pressures that surrounded him. Music became his escape and it wouldn't be long before you could find him being the DJ's assistant in his early teens. It was his taking classical piano lessons in middle school that landed him in the Arts Magnet High School where he studied Jazz, the recording arts, and music production. It was here that he was introduced in to a world much different from the barrio he grew up in. In an interview Juan Johnson said ".. I remember a lot of the kids that were from the hood saying , 'man I can't handle this school , the shit is too weird for me ', and I just thought it was kinda fly to be around something different other than fights, gangs, and drugs all the damn time, I was like -- well shits different at least , I can see all that other shit at home " Being a first generation American gave him many experiences to reflect on as well, and it was when he learned about Hip-Hop that he felt he could express his new ideologies. He also comments," I love rap so much because it tells it how it is , but I never heard anyone rap about how I saw the world through my eyes." He later went to work at Guitar Center where he bought his first recording system and started recording his friends at his house. He was learning how to produce and make records when one day his best friend decided to rob him. A year later, Juan Johnson was contacted by a local advertising agency that was looking for a Latino rapper to audition for a McDonalds ad. That day would change his life because from that day on he was doing national campaigns for Pepsi, McDonalds and many other companies. His first investment was to buy another studio and to pick up from where he left off. Juan Johnson went to work for an independent label in Oak Cliff, Hardcore Records, where he produced albums for Aztec Tribe, Microphone Killa, Deep South Hoodlums, OB El Immigrante, many mixtape projects, and even his own first album- Uncivilized. He gained much experience and even opened up for acts like Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz, Mystical, Big Tuck, Juan Gotti and many more. After learning about the ins and outs of an independent label from touring, distributing, networking, marketing, and producing, Juan Johnson decided it was time to open up a studio in West Dallas. It was here that Project 1 was born. After a year, the studio was relocated to Oak Cliff, where he started working with many artists, and experimenting with music like he always dreamed of. Currently, Juan Johnson is recording his second studio album- Son Of An Immigrant- , and working with other key artist under the Project 1 team. He has been experimenting with Krunk Cumbias, which is a style of music that was started by Dallas DJ's. He has since then released Kingsz of Krumbia with Pancho T.N.T. and Crunk Cumbia Super Heroes. In a recent interview, he left us with these final comments. " I am so blessed to be alive and to have worked with so many great people before my career has even started. I always did music because I loved it, and that's what we want to do here with Project 1 - Treat everything like it is our first project. Regardless of genre, we know that our key focus is giving people what they want to hear, and that's passion and sincerity behind the music."