Biography
DJ/producer Michael Brun fuses progressive house and other EDM forms with Haitian traditions including the salsa-inflected kompa and rara, whose call-and-response vocals, insistent percussion, and brass sections shape his sound. Following multiple successful tracks such as the 2013 Gravity EP, he established the Kid Coconut imprint to champion fellow Haitian talent alongside his own output.
Born in Port-au-Prince, Brun studied violin and piano during childhood before discovering DJ software a few years afterward; he soon assembled mash-ups and began performing as a teenager. Although his original goal was medicine—he volunteered at local hospitals—a scholarship took him to Indiana’s Culver Military Academy, where the regimen instilled habits that later allowed him to juggle pre-med studies at North Carolina’s Davidson College with his expanding production work.
He launched singles in the early 2010s, among them 2011’s “Shades of Gray” and “Dawn,” the latter appearing on Dutch DJ Hardwell’s Revealed Recordings. “Dawn” attracted Dirty South, who brought Brun on tour and issued the single “Rise” via his Phazing Records label. Phazing also put out the 2013 Gravity EP, which climbed to number two on Beatport’s charts. That same year Brun supplied remixes for Tiësto, Calvin Harris, and Armin van Buuren. His Ultra Music Festival debut arrived in 2014, making him the first Haitian performer on that stage; he simultaneously issued the singles “Zenith” and “Sun in Your Eyes” on Kid Coconut. In 2015 he released “See You Soon,” among his strongest-performing tracks to date, plus the Roy English collaboration “Tongue Tied July.”
Brun additionally serves as an ambassador for Paul Haggis’ Artists for Peace and Justice, an organization advancing education, healthcare, and the arts. One early initiative was 2016’s “Wherever I Go,” recorded with students at Jacmel, Haiti’s Artists Institute and released to support the school. During that visit he encountered Lakou Mizik, the all-star Haitian roots collective; together with Haitian pop star J. Perry they created “Gaya,” a 2017 Carnival track whose proceeds again aided the Artists Institute. Later that year he joined Strong G for “Danse Konsa” and Janelle Kroll for “Easy on My Love.” A series of featured appearances defined his 2018 releases, among them “Positivo” with J Balvin, “Soweto” with Shirazee, and “Spice” with Kah-Lo. In 2019 he delivered the standalone single “How About This” alongside Uniiqu3. That June he unveiled Lokal, his first full-length project and a set steeped in Haitian musical traditions.
Born in Port-au-Prince, Brun studied violin and piano during childhood before discovering DJ software a few years afterward; he soon assembled mash-ups and began performing as a teenager. Although his original goal was medicine—he volunteered at local hospitals—a scholarship took him to Indiana’s Culver Military Academy, where the regimen instilled habits that later allowed him to juggle pre-med studies at North Carolina’s Davidson College with his expanding production work.
He launched singles in the early 2010s, among them 2011’s “Shades of Gray” and “Dawn,” the latter appearing on Dutch DJ Hardwell’s Revealed Recordings. “Dawn” attracted Dirty South, who brought Brun on tour and issued the single “Rise” via his Phazing Records label. Phazing also put out the 2013 Gravity EP, which climbed to number two on Beatport’s charts. That same year Brun supplied remixes for Tiësto, Calvin Harris, and Armin van Buuren. His Ultra Music Festival debut arrived in 2014, making him the first Haitian performer on that stage; he simultaneously issued the singles “Zenith” and “Sun in Your Eyes” on Kid Coconut. In 2015 he released “See You Soon,” among his strongest-performing tracks to date, plus the Roy English collaboration “Tongue Tied July.”
Brun additionally serves as an ambassador for Paul Haggis’ Artists for Peace and Justice, an organization advancing education, healthcare, and the arts. One early initiative was 2016’s “Wherever I Go,” recorded with students at Jacmel, Haiti’s Artists Institute and released to support the school. During that visit he encountered Lakou Mizik, the all-star Haitian roots collective; together with Haitian pop star J. Perry they created “Gaya,” a 2017 Carnival track whose proceeds again aided the Artists Institute. Later that year he joined Strong G for “Danse Konsa” and Janelle Kroll for “Easy on My Love.” A series of featured appearances defined his 2018 releases, among them “Positivo” with J Balvin, “Soweto” with Shirazee, and “Spice” with Kah-Lo. In 2019 he delivered the standalone single “How About This” alongside Uniiqu3. That June he unveiled Lokal, his first full-length project and a set steeped in Haitian musical traditions.
Albums
Singles
