Born in Panama, Central America, the Toronto Native has always been around music. His love for Hip Hop started at the early age of 10, b-boying outside with his neighborhood friends. Realizing he wasn't going to be the next member of the Rock Steady Crew, he began to focus more on the art of deejaying.
Drawing influences from the likes of Jazzy Jeff, Cash Money, DJ Scratch, DJ Aladdin and Richie Rich, Grouch would practice every chance he could on his Pop's record player. He eventually got his first Technics 1200 in 1990. From there he started doing house parties which eventually led him to a gig on CHRY 105.5 FM doing fill-in shows. In 1993, Grouch landed his own time slot (Strait Frum Da Undaground with host K-9) and volunteered at the station for over 15 years. The show changed into the GQ Wake Up Show (with hosts Que and Contagious) in 1995 and into the SoundCheck Show (with host Contagious and Public and DJ Fingrprintz) in 1999-2008. Grouch was also part of the Project Bounce team from 2005-2008.
The exposure on the airwaves, lead Grouch to compete in numerous deejay competitions. In 1995 he won both the Energy108 battle and the Zulu Nation Canadian battle in the same weekend. This was also the year Turnstylez was born. Grouch and his rival D-Scratch realized they both had much in common, so along with Scratch's cousin Lil' Jaz, formed Turnstylez and it's been on ever since. Individually and as team they have acquired numerous titles, but it is the latter that got them the notoriety. In 1998, Grouch along with Turnstylez won the 1998 ITF Western Hemisphere Team Category in New York defeating The Allies (DJ Craze and A-Trak's crew) and the STA's (Mike Relm's crew) among others. They represented Canada in the ITF world finals that year in Amsterdam, competing against the defending champs the Beat Junkies (Babu, Melo D, Rhettmatic and J-Rocc), placing third.
DJ Grouch has definitely left his mark in Hip Hop. He has performed with various Canadian and International Hip Hop stars, traveling across North America (Canada and the U.S.A) and Europe. He has played in almost every club and venue in Toronto. His razor sharp scratches can be heard on numerous Canadian classics such as Saukrates "Father Time rmx" (1995), Elemental "Living Under Water" (1995), Grassroots f/ Arcee "Thematics" (1999) Nautilus "Twelve/Record Making Manual" (2001) and DL Incognito "Rugged Raw" (2003) and was featured on 3 tracks off the Moss produced Special Reserve (2009) by Obie Trice among the many. In 2003 DJ Grouch, along with his partner Contagious Theory, released their own wax under the moniker Pherenziks. He has also deejayed for many home grown and international Artists including Jully Black, Melanie Durrant, King Reign, Kardinal Offishall, Choclair, Thrust, Citizen Kane, Slum Village, Pharoahe Monch, Black Milk and currently djing for Maestro Fresh Wes and Fito Blanko. In 2015, he became a member of Los Poetas, serving as their DJ, as well as producing some remixes for the crew. As of late his main focus has been on his production skills, releasing various edits, remixes and original tracks of different genres.
Grouch is the Canadian Ambassador for the Beat Junkies Record pool. He currently teaches at Trebas Institute, Remix Project, DAIS, Regent Park School of Music, Play De Record, and is a mainstay in Toronto's nightlife.
DJ Grouch will be a featured guest during the seminar entitled "In Rotation with DMC Canada" - Presented by Pioneer DJ on Sunday, March 12th, 2017.