MICHAËL BRUN INTERVIEW: GRAMMY award winning producer/DJ Michaël Brun recently collaborated with J Balvin, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer & Tasan on his track ’Touchdown’. With his annual BAYO party taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 28th, get familiar…

What five words define your sound?

Global, party, island, culture, happiness.

Tell me something unique about your creative process

I really enjoy using voice notes of everyday life as the foundation for new songs. I think when you capture something with a voice note it just feels very present and like there’s a space that’s very distinct in the song.

Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?

Probably ‘Touchdown’, that just released with J Balvin, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and Tasan.

What inspired you to make that song?

I just wanted to make something that felt like a bridge across the Caribbean and Latin America and something I could play in my DJ sets too.

What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?

I think probably in France last year. I was working with Mike Sabath and Noé on a song about life and death. It was very vulnerable songwriting and production but it felt amazing and what we worked on is really special to me.

What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage?

Best experience on stage would probably be BAYO at Prospect Park last year, that was incredible. It was like a dream come true – everything went right. Worst experience on stage I think was my very first festival in Mexico – the headphone cable was a little too heavy and I was jumping during one of the big moments of the song and the headphone cable literally smashed the DJ booth ‘play’ button and stopped all the music for a second. Luckily I was able to make a joke really quick and get everything going again!

What is your favourite song to perform?

Probably a tie between ‘Jessica’ and ‘Bayo’.

Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?

I’ve been inspired by so many different artists, so the answer to this question constantly shifts. Today I’d give it to Stevie Wonder – so much of his music is really inspiring to me.

What’s the meaning behind your name?

My artist name is my actual first and last name!

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?

Probably would’ve still been in pre-med/med school. Originally I had plans to be a pediatrician.

What’s success to you?

Success to me is doing something that you love and are passionate about and you can actually survive off the income that you make from it. I think happiness + purpose + wealth = success.

What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?

That’s happened a couple of times to be honest. I think the one that really kickstarted music for me was when one of the first things I uploaded online went viral on Hype Machine and that forced me to really think about if I wanted to pursue music as a full time career or stay in school and I ended up choosing music!

Where can people keep in touch with you?

People can keep in touch with me on all my socials: @michaelbrun – hit me up!