12 Aug JoJo Electro

JoJo Electro
By: Amina Otto

Mike, what made you decide to launch a clothing company?

I owned half of a very successful bar/restaurant/club at the Hermosa Pier called Dragon for 7-8 years. I had the best known house music weekly day party in L.A. When we lost our dance permit in a lawsuit years back, I wanted to keep my interest in business and house music alive, so I started selling merchandise online globally to keep my foot in the door of the scene that I’ve been passionate about for a long time.

What’s the design process for your products?

We try and put out designs that won’t be dated (hopefully) and focus only on the different genres of “electronic dance music” i.e. house, breaks, DnB, trance, techno, trap, nu-disco, and dubstep.

How is your brand different from other clothing companies in this scene?

I’d say the majority of brands in this community focus on raves, rave music, glow items, neon colors, furry boots, etc. This is cool, but it is just not what I’m focused on entirely. I’m trying to cover all bases of this wide ranging community by working with people in the classic house world, techno underground, nu disco scene, etc. Our tee designs and other merchandise paint this picture. Plus, we have a news blog that covers world dance music news and an active podcast on iTunes that also covers all genres from soulful house to DnB.

Where do you see this company going in the next five years? Ten years?

Great question. I think about this often. I think the stuff is too niche, so I don’t envision it ever being in chain stores. However, I would like to see it continue to grow online and continue to expand through our “collaborations.”

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