DJ Gant-Man

Introduction: Gant Garrard (pronounced Jerrod) aka Gant-Man was introduced to the turntables by his older brother and learned how to count beats and blend records at the young age of 5. He was ready to share his talent with the world beginning at age 10 when the program director gave him his own mixshow on a college radio station in Chicago (WKKC 89.3 FM) where he mixed from 1989 through 1997. At age 14, his first residency was at a roller rink "The Rink Fitness Factory" from 1994 to 1996 where he exposed his house tracks to a large south side audience which helped shape the juke-house sound. In 1995, Gant produced his first EP for Dance Mania Records titled "It's About Time" which spawned the Chicago underground smash "3 Blind Mice" which was built around the theme music from "The Three Stooges" television show. He became known in Chicago as the "youngest professional DJ", and is recognized as being one of the main key innovators of Ghetto house/juke. This EP was followed by several EPs and mixtapes sold locally. In 1998, Gant alongside DJ Puncho, coined the word "juke" by saying it on house tracks and mixtapes which spawned the genre of "juke-house" music. That year, Gant also began releasing house music EPs under the pseudonym "Gant Garrard" to separate his juke music tracks from his house music tracks. At age 18, he began to travel, playing both the rave and club circuits in Chicago, the U.S., as well as in Europe. In 1998-99, Gant toured with Paul Johnson playing in France, Belgium and Switzerland, which prepared him for his summer 2000 residency in Ibiza at El Divino alongside Paul. Gant was the assistant producer with Grammy Award winning remixer, Maurice Joshua, on R&B group Destiny's Child remixes which landed him his breakthrough remix in 2005. This made Gant the first juke huse producer to have a juke remix on a major label with a major artist with his official remix of Beyonce's "Check On It" featuring Slim Thug on Sony/Columbia Records. In 2006, Gant produced a smash remix of Chicago house/techno legend Cajmere aka Green Velvet's "Shake & Pop" single which sold the most downloads on the "Shake & Pop" EP. Gant continues to collaborate with the Cajual Records family to this day. Since then, Gant produced with the Fool's Gold Records family releasing the club smash "Juke Dat Girl" single and remixing Kid Sister singles, "Damn Girl" and "Pro Nails" featuring Kanye West. He also produced her next single "Switchboard" featuring Gant rapping on the 2nd verse in 2008. Gant performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago that year with Kid Sister. Soon after, Gant bacame Kid Sister's tour DJ travelling to New York for CMJ, Brazil for the Nokia Trendz Festival, Vancouver, B.C., and Miami for the Winter Music Conference. This tour was followed by solo gigs in Paris, Brazil, Alberta, San Franscisco, Portland, Albuquerque, Denver, and New York. Most recently, Gant performed as a guest alongside Green Velvet at North Coast Music Festival doing his "Percolator" remix. His track, "Juke Dat Girl" is featured in the latest Tyler Perry's movie "Peeples" released in May of 2013. Gant also performed at Electric Daisy Carnival during its debut in the Chicagoland area in May of 2013. You never know what to expect from the talented Gant or where his music might appear.