A Bermudian entrepreneur making a name for himself in New York has not only started his own company, but has created an industry.Damon DeGraff, 31, a graduate of the Bermuda Institute is now the man behind DGI Management, a company which markets disc jockeys like Maseraties — only the rich and famous need enquire.

And based on how often his cell phone rings, demand is high, and he's the only one supplying the product everyone wants.

Mr. DeGraff's parents Ernestine and Curtis learned of their son's demand the hard way when they visited a couple years back.

The older DeGraff said: "Every time we try to talk to him the phone rings.

"We had to realise this is his job.

"The phone and the computer are his job. This was before he had an office."

Now the younger DeGraff has an office, three employees, and eight disc jockeys who are the hottest DJ commodities on the celebrity scene — where socialising is a multimillion dollar industry all its own.

None of the disc jockeys gets booked until they go through Damon DeGraff first.

He spoke to The Royal Gazette from his New York City office: "We started with a niche of celebrity DJs. We took those DJs out of the clubs and geared it toward a celebrity and corporate clientele."

The clients are household names: Georgio Armani, Will Smith, and Sports Illustrated.

People looking to throw a high-end bash call DGI Management, negotiate a DJ and a price, then Mr. DeGraff books the gig and the travel. Then he takes a manager's commission — usually between 15 and 20 percent.

He launched his company about six years ago after working in the music industry for a Virgin Records subsidiary.

When the label moved to California, Mr. DeGraff stayed in the Big Apple and created something no one else had tried or perhaps even thought of.

He said: "It was around the time when you had mergers between the model world and the hip hop world and the celebrity scene. A lot of people would come to these parties like Puffy, for example, you have Martha Stewart to Jay-Z, they needed DJs for that kind of market."

And after performing well in that environment, DGI clients were coveted all over the world, and Mr. DeGraff is almost always at the highest profile events to make sure it all goes smoothly and to network for more business.

Last year he was in South Africa for an Oprah Winfrey New Year's Eve bash.Last month he was in the Bahamas for a Michael Jordan celebrity golf tournament.And a few days ago he was in Los Angeles for the Grammys.

His disc jockey spun records at the Mary J. Blige party after the singer won two awards.

One celebrity event usually leads directly to another.

Mr. DeGraff said: "For example Oprah heard one of my clients at an L.A. Reid party. And one of Mary J. Blige's people heard one of my DJs at an Oprah party.

"Once you're at these parties you're networking more.

"We took it to a different level. There were others out there, but people weren't taking it too seriously.

"So I saw this could be a business and if you're good at what you do your reputation proceeds you."

Mr. DeGraff was featured recently in the Sunday>New York Times and also seen in GQ Magazine.

His business has never been more successful and the man himself has never been more popular.

But his father remembers when his son's dreams of disc jockey success didn't make sense to him or to anybody else.

Nonetheless they trusted Damon.

Curtis DeGraff said: "We weren't happy with it, but he said it from his heart and he meant it. So what we did is we just worked along with him."

It has paid off.

And it may only be the beginning.

There are gradual plans to start representing clients in other areas.

DGI has already signed three music producers and one professional athletB>Major League Soccer player Jeff Larentowicz is a midfielder for the New England Revolution.Mr. DeGraff said: "I look at what we do as being lifestyles, not just music. I felt like for us it was just the next step. We're already dealing with fashion corporate clients.

"So we looked at it knowing that MLS is looking for ambassadors for its game.

"With our expertise, we can move our clients into these arenas, it's upping their profile."

Mr. Larentowicz is expected in Bermuda this month as part of the Revolution's annual pre-season training workout.

Although the footballer represents a new direction for DGI, Mr. DeGraff is careful not to go too far too fast.

He said: "We really like the velvet ropeness of it, the eliteness of it. I like knowing we have the best in what we do.

"I don't want it to be huge, but sometimes things take off and you have to roll with it."

In his early 20s, Papa DeGraff conceded he and his worried a little bit about their son, as any Bermudian parent would. He was living in New York, largely alone, tying to find his way.

Mr. and Mrs. DeGraff picked up their son's rent to help ends meet.

Now, of course, they don't have to pay his bills anymore, their faces once covered in concern are now beaming with pride.

Damon finds spinning formula for success