Rising Stars: Meet Justin and Jeremy Garcia of Millbrae, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin and Jeremy Garcia

Hi Justin and Jeremy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
When we were 4 years old in 2011, we became an overnight sensation on Youtube for dancing to Hey Ya by Outkast on Just Dance. Our parents posted the video on YouTube to simply show our family back in the Philippines. Surprisingly, it gained millions of views overnight. We enjoyed playing the game and our parents recorded us and continued to post more of the videos on YouTube. We currently have a video that has 10 million views! That opened a lot of doors for us like being o the People magazine, several websites, events, and even got invited to be featured on the Ellen show. That time was very short lived because we were very shy and weren’t really aware of what was going on since we were only 4 years old. After that, we just went to school and explored many different hobbies and interests. We quickly figured out we loved music and playing instruments. Justin started playing the guitar and Jeremy played the piano/keyboard. Then we started learning different instruments while being in band class like the trombone, bass, saxophone, and several other instruments. At the beginning of high school we really got into singing. We then combined our passion with instruments with singing. We loved it so much that we even started a band with our friends called “Unparallel”. In junior year of high school, our older sister, Bianca, encouraged us to audition for the reality singing TV show called “The Voice”. We took a leap of faith and got a 3 chair turn from the 4 coaches. This was such a great time in our lives and we were able to learn so much from everyone involved. We competed in 4 rounds and were in the Top 20 contestants that were selected from the blind auditions. This opportunity opened so many doors for us and we are able to live our dreams and. fulfill our passions in music. From the shy boys we were when we were 4, we really came out of our shell. We love music and want to continue this dream of ours by releasing our own music which we are hoping to release soon.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
2011, Twins Justin and Jeremy ‘Just Dance’ YouTube Sensations! Two kids just having fun dancing in their very own living room and hitting millions of views, magazine covers, news front-headliners just from homemade videos. We didn’t know how or why this all happened, after all, we were only 5-years-old.

Growing up, we didn’t entirely have that expected “twin dynamic” that most would expect. We had such different personalities and we had our own hobbies and interests that set us apart. For example, Justin loved the outdoors and was an adventurous kid, while Jeremy loved to challenge his brain with puzzles and mastered hobbies he found interesting. But, despite our differences, we both had a shared perspective of doing our absolute best that we could, no matter what we did.

No one in our immediate family really had taken music seriously, but Jeremy and I, it was immediate. We would dance, sing, play instruments. Together, we found the passion for music; a deep love and passion for the performing arts and that became the bridge that eventually connected us and brought us together from our totally different worlds.

From then, it was all up from there, as brothers, our naturally competitive spirit continued to drive eachother to improve. Music was our life, but aside from that, being so young, we were hesitant to show our talents because of wanting to be perfect, so we kept it to ourselves, only rarely trying to pick up gigs. And relating to our story on The Voice, our sister, Bianca, actually saw the online auditions for the show and at first, honestly, we thought we weren’t ready. But we knew we had something in us, and with the encouragement of our family, we gave it a shot. “We got nothing to lose, so why not”

Then a few months later, we performed for millions of people worldwide, 5 celebrity coaches, 2 mega mentors, an amazing crew, 40 contestants who we now can call our friends, and an unforgettable experience.
So what we’re trying to say, being 2 teenage highschoolers, that if you have a passion and love for whatever you do, there’s nothing to be afraid of besides the regret of never knowing, so just go for it. You have nothing to lose, and only so much to gain!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We are both musicians at heart. Growing up, we’ve always loved to play instruments, Justin playing guitar, and Jeremy playing the piano. It started out as a little hobby, but then really turned into a true passion in high school. As the both of us explored more creatively in music, learning more instruments, performing at different school events and concerts, and eventually creating our own music, we started to really hone in on our identity as artists. As twin brothers, even through eachothers’ individuality, we were able to unite our musical ability and our voices (which the Season 25 coaches of the Voice called as “blood harmony”). Being on the Voice, it was such an eye opening experience for the both of us. We learned so much about ourselves as singers, musicians, artists, and especially as human beings. It was definitely one of the most memorable experiences we’ve had so far. But this big milestone definitely isn’t the end of our journey. Ever since the show, we’ve been able to perform at sold-out concerts as Front Acts for Filipino artists like Gigi de Lana, and Odette Quesada. And we’re currently continuing to write and produce our own music to eventually share with you guys as well! We would like to say we are currently acoustic pop and ballad genre artists, but we love to listen to all kinds of music from our classic acoustic pop, to soul rnb, to funk music.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Taking risks, being unsure of the outcome of something you do, it definitely is a nerve racking situation. But throughout our lives, we’ve realized that risk taking is a great way to grow. Growing up, we were very shy kids, and we found it hard to put ourselves out there and meet and talk to new people. But, we knew that performing was a passion of ours, so no matter how scared we were, how anxious we got, we continued to pursue that passion. It was definitely a rough start at first, and as we kept going on stage and performing, the anticipation/the anxiety never really went away. Yes, we feared we would voice crack on stage; we were nervous if we memorized the song or not; we were scared if the audience would even like us. But as we consistently fought that fear and just “did it”, you go up on stage and you just forget the worry, the fear, the anxiety, and it truly becomes a feeling you can never forget. Each and every time it helped us become better performers, and not just that, it grew our confidence, allowing us to create so many amazing memories and friends.

I guess something that relates to this is also just taking on opportunities. At first, we didn’t even think that we would ever be on a show like The Voice. It’s always been a dream, but it’s hard to tell when you’re ready for something like that. Well, we’re here now on the other side, having made it all the way to the Playoffs, and it’s honestly hard to believe how far we went. But when taking on something like that, or even just trying to start a project of your own, you never really are ready. You just need to start and keep learning from there.

We were always nervous, asking ourselves if we were capable enough. But it was just taking that leap of faith that we realized how much we could actually do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/justinjeremygarcia
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinjeremygarcia/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dancingtwins/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JustinJeremyGarcia

Image Credits
Pictures 4,6,7 (The Voice USA)
Pictures 1,2,3,5,8 (Bianca Garcia)