Bermudian Damon DeGraff always knew he wanted to work in the music industry - cut-throat though it is.

In the fast-paced city of New York where who you know is just as important as what you know, the 28-year-old is fulfilling his dream.

For the past three years Mr. DeGraff has run his own Management/Production company in Manhattan called DGI Management, managing DJs and on the production side helping launch the career of aspiring artists.

"When I was in college I started being around guys from New York and everybody was into rap or singing," explained Mr. DeGraff last weekend during a recent short trip back home to visit family.

"I always had an interest in music from being in Bermuda and playing the piano and in school bands. I guess it was always in my blood. I moved to New York in 1994 and went to school (Institute of Audio Research) that specialised in engineering, production, technical as well as the business aspect.

"I gravitated towards the business aspect of it and from them had different internships. I knew I wanted to do something in music, it was the cards I was dealt and I just started to play my hand and ended up where I am today.

"I never really had the nerve to try to be a musician. I was never the forefront guy, I always liked to be behind the scenes, making the deals and making other people's careers happen."

Mr. DeGraff gained some vital experience while working at a management/production company called Cheeba Sound-Virgin Records which had artists like D'Angelo, Lenny Kravitz and others. He stayed with them about two years and three years ago he branched out and started his own company.

"Luckily for me, the management company I worked with I was able to take with me one of the artists from that company and set up a division within the management company which allowed me to propel myself and do my own thing much easier," he explained.

As the young Bermudian quickly found out, the music business, like show business generally, is all about who you know. "I already had the clientele and people knew me, so for me it was just a matter of building on what I had already gained," he said of the cut-throat business.

"It is (cut-throat) but it doesn't have to be. I guess in any business where there is a lot of money being thrown around or a lot of money to gain, you'll have a lot of people trying to steal your artists or trying to discredit you.

"It's all in how you stand and hold your ground, pretty much. If you're a shady person most times than that's the game you're playing, but if you're trying to play right than you pretty much attract a lot of people who will play right.

He added: "Now I have about five or six artists that I manage, who are DJs who provide musical entertainment for Hollywood or entertainment's elite - anywhere from Puff Daddy to Jay-Z to J-Lo (Jennifer Lopez) to some Gucci launch in Paris. On the production side I just signed two artists, but they are not brand name artists yet.

"The majority of the money or the creative control is in the production aspect which I'm gaining now with these two artists. With the DJs, it has allowed me to rub shoulders with major record execs, movie execs and magazine execs."

On the production side Mr. DeGraff says he does anything "from ground zero, cutting records, cutting demos, taking someone who really has a talent and bringing that to the forefront".

But he warns it is not an easy business to break into.

"Like any career that seems lucrative, everybody wants to jump on the bandwagon," he says.

"Sometimes people who aren't even that talented, which is the case most times, want to get involved because they see Puff Daddy on TV wearing $10 million worth of jewellery. They don't realise the hard work that goes into making a career happen."

The management side enabled him to go on a multicity tour with top actor Wesley Snipes, whom he calls a "good friend of mine".

"I've worked with Puffy Combs, Jay-Z, J-Lo, the Rolling Stones, Essence Magazine to Vibe to Vogue, MTV on a regular basis, BET, certain fashion labels," said Mr. DeGraff as he dropped a few names of people he has worked with. "I did a 12-city tour with Wesley Snipes for Blade II. Half went first class and half went on a private jet. Those movie cats do it up, they spend money!"

Mr. DeGraff is happy with the progress he and his company are making, but he still has high goals to achieve.

"I take it hard on myself, I feel I have a lot further to go," he accepts. "But when I tell people where I came from, coming to New York and not knowing anybody to where I am now, they said `oh, that's really great'.

"But I look at it as this is what I came here to do. I still have goals to obtain, but I'm satisfied where I am right now. Not comfortable but I'm happy and still moving forward."

Presently he employs two people, but is careful to keep his overhead to a manageable level while the company is still growing. He is, however, ready to take the company to the next level... "bigger office space, more money, more staff".

"I feel I've been ready for it, because I think I can do anything," he said, not lacking in confidence.

He is an example of what can be achieved when one remains focused. And that is the advice he would gladly offer anybody who sought it.

"You can pretty much do whatever you want to do," he encourages.

"If it is something you want to do you have to be very dedicated because there are a lot of sacrifices. It's pretty much putting your foot to the pedal and going for it. Because there is not a huge music scene in Bermuda, I would suggest they get out and be in a place like LA or New York.

"The advice Wesley Snipes gave to me one time is `if you want to be rich you need to hang around rich people'. I took that not just from the money aspect but also from the mental aspect, meaning that you have to want to be around people who are striving and trying to do the same things that you are trying to do."

As a teenager Mr. DeGraff went to a boarding school in Maryland and then onto college in Alabama (Oakwood College) and then onto New York.

"I've been in New York for eight years," he said. "`To me that's part of the sacrifice. I left my family here, but I wanted to do something and I felt that if this was what I really wanted to do then I had to be in a place where I could get it done.

"I'm still making sacrifices, I would love to be home at 6.00 watching TV and eating dinner, but I'm coming home at 4.00 in the morning and having to wake up at 9 o'clock and be in my office. It's going from the office to a rehearsal session, out to a party for a minute to network, then back to the studio then home and then wake back up to go to the office to handle business and do it all over again."

However, he says he wouldn't change a thing.

"This is what I've always wanted to do and I'm very happy. I believe you should do what you love, that your spirit should be happy with what you're doing.

"I do business worldwide, from New York to LA to Miami, Paris, London, Japan. I've pretty much seen the world doing what I'm doing."

Mr. DeGraff will be off again later this week, this time to Europe to promote one of his artist's new album.

"It's a DJ album with a mixture of hip rock, rock, soul," he explained. "It was released in the US two weeks ago and we're going to Europe to promote it."