Mike Dunn
Mike Dunn is a Chicago DJ and producer from the Englewood neighborhood whose career in house music stretches back to 1983, when he performed at parties using reel-to-reel tape recorders and drum machines while rapping and singing over his own productions. His first release, “Dance You Mutha” on Westbrook Records in 1987, arrived alongside early acid tracks like “Magic Feet” and hip house cuts including “So Let It Be Houze!,” work that helped define the raw, drum-machine-driven Chicago sound Pitchfork later praised for its urgent, crowd-stoking character.
Dunn co-founded multiple labels with Armando Gallopp during the 1980s, including Warehouse Records, Dance Mutha, and Muzique Records, building an infrastructure for Chicago house alongside his own DJ and production work. Aphex Twin has cited Dunn's Tracks That Move Ya, released under his The MD Connection alias, as a formative record from his teenage years.
Simon Dunmore of Defected Records described Dunn as “an OG, a don from Chicago, an original, a pioneer,” reflecting his standing among the city's house originators. Dunn continues to DJ internationally, carrying the raw, foundational Chicago house sound he helped shape more than four decades ago into contemporary club and festival bookings.