Kiz Pattison’s productions have been improving throughout the year. His latest release on BTech Noir signalled a break through in terms of sequencing and production. So much so that felt Kiz really deserved an interview.

1. Hi Kiz, tell us about you?

Kiz Pattison: Hi, thanks for having me, I’m 38 and I’m based outside Birmingham, UK

2. How long have you been producing and Djing? and how did you get into electronic music?

Kiz Pattison: I’ve been djing for best part of 20 years on and off.. nothing serious but just doing the odd gig here and there, djing led me to producing which was maybe 8 or 9 years ago.

I used to re-edit tracks that I liked but didn’t quite work with how I wanted them to fit in my dj sets, but it’s probably been 6 years now since I started to make original productions, its only really been the last 2 or 3 years that I’ve started to get some labels interested and putting some releases out.

I got into electronic music when I was about 12 or 13 listening to prodigy.. never really got into any other kind of music to be honest, it was always electronic music, but when I was about 15/16 the Sasha & Digweed Renaissance mix collection came out, I stole it off my brother and never looked back.. not sure I ever  gave my brother the cd back..

3. Your sound seems quite rooted in techno but many people do note some progressive attributes as well. How would describe what you create? and what were some of your early influences?

Kiz Pattison: Making techno isn’t something I deliberately set out to do when I sit at the laptop, it’s just something that happens as the track progresses..  I think I make progressive edged techno or techno edged progressive, if that makes sense.. which comes from listening to guys like Blue Amazon, BT, Tilt, Brothers in Rhythm, Bedrock, Oliver Lieb, Deep Dish, Underworld and guys like this back in the mid to late 90’s.. I think early influence like so many of us always was, and still is to a certain degree looking at what  Sasha & Digweed are playing.. which obviously leads to a huge range of artist.

4. What was the first amazing moment you had in club? A memory that stands out for you.

I think the moment that made me think WOW was at Que club in Birmingham, it was a radio 1 essential mix too.. if I remember right it was Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, and (spot the theme) Sasha to finish. But Oakenfold played a remix he’d done of InAura – Coma Aroma, and then Sasha starting with Phoenix – Rise up those 2 tracks really stood out for me… must have spent the following 5 years  tracking them down.

5. What kind of stuff have you been playing in your DJ sets recently? Who are some of your go to artists?

Kiz Pattison: I’m playing pretty much the same kind of style that I’m making, proggy techno stuff.. so there’s a lot of Quivver tracks in there at the moment, I like a lot of what Patrice Baumel is putting out, as is Cristoph,  & Luke Brancaccio is also starting to make some awesome stuff that’s worth looking out for… but I try to play a lot of lesser known producers, Ian Dillon, Ryan Mac, Austin/Scott, Matt Black, Sebastian Markeiwicz  Distinctive Dj, jawjee & Zed White, Alex Nemec Pad One, Ben Perin… I could go on..  there’s a lot of lesser known producers out there that are making some brilliant music, but theres also a lot of big name snobbery when it comes to people buying new music so they/we get over looked.. but that’s a different subject.

6. Who was the first big Dj to support your music and how important was that moment in terms of inspiration as well as being validated as an artist? and where else does your inspiration come from?

Kiz Pattison: Now you’re asking.. He might not have been the 1st big dj to support my work, but a few years back I did a bootleg remix of Blue Amazon’s Four Seasons, which ended up on a mix cd that lee Softley & Ian Ossia put together..  As I say, I can’t remember a 1st as such but every time you see the promo feedback come in and see the likes if of Nicole Moudaber, Dubfire, Nick Muir, Quivver, Stelios Vassiloudis, John Digweed, Sasha, Danny Tenaglia, any of those recognized names, you see they have said support of you hear they have played your track, that give your so much confidence and belief to keep pushing….

7. You have a new EP out this week on Btech Noir. Three powerful techno pieces aimed squarely at the dance floor. Tell us how you approached writing the tracks and how the project ended up on Timeless BTech Noir?

Kiz Pattison: When I started the Simple Vortex ep I  wanted to make 3 tracks, but not necessarily make 3 individual tracks, but also not make an original plus 2 remixes… that’s been done and will continue to be done over and over.. I wanted to make a different concept, make an ep where the 3 tracks evolved from each other.. hence part 1, 2, & 3, all 3 work played back to back as well as individual, all three have the same feel, but are very different tracks, one is more driven than the others, one is more melodic than the others… I actually made all 3 tracks at the same time… so I’d be having ideas, but they didn’t quite work on part 1 for example but straight away opening up part 3 and ideas just fell into place.. and hopefully that concept comes across when you listen.

8. This is your fifth appearance on BTech Noir and you’ve also appeared on parent label Pro-B-Tech Music. What is it that’s so great about working with them? 

Kiz Pattison: Basically, Brent, the support and help he gives you/us, the way the label is run behind the scenes all comes from him.. we all have ideas on what and how things could be done to improve us as a label and Brent listens to us, so we’re all part of it.

9. What can we expect to see later this year from you? Anything you can tell us about?

Kiz Pattison: I have remixes to come on both Se-lek musik & iconyc music before the years out, and a couple of 2 track EP’s to come on  bTechNoir and a collaboration project called Jawkized which is Zed White, Jawjee & myself… with a track called Horizon Light’s, which will have 2 unbelievable remixes to go with it, that will be out on pro b tech.  Another 3 track to come on Mirabilis.

I’m currently working on a very hush hush remix which I’m really excited about as it’s a massive label and  for and excellent producer, hopefully this will get signed off all been well and IF all parties are in agreement.. but it’s a big if at the moment.. watch this space on that..

And finally I have 3 or 4 tracks in the making as we speak.. they just need homes (cough cough)

10. What artist would you love to collaborate with and why?

Kiz Pattison: That’s a tough one… I’ve been lucky enough to do remixes on a few occasions for the likes of Blue Amazon & Pako & Frederic, and they have returned the favour, but to  actually work with… it would great to work with Quivver, always been a fan of his work and he’s on fire at the moment.

11. There are countless producers out there trying to find their way and create their own unique sound, what advice do you have for them?

Kiz Pattison: A unique sound is something for me that you settle into as you progress over time and I don’t think you even realise you have a sound until you have a few releases out, and you start to listen back, then it becomes a subconscious thing, you keep making tracks with the same kind of feel to them.

I started trying to make progressive house tracks, but over time the sound became a mix of prog and techno.. as I said earlier there’s a balance between the two genres.. once you have a sound of your own that works for you, keep working at that sound, don’t put yourself in a specific genre, others will do that.. eventually you’ll find a label that gets what your trying to get across to the listener.

Getting tracks released is a constant struggle, labels have 100’s of demos to get through… and you will get knock backs.. and when you do it’s how you handle it.. go back and see why it was knocked back, was it the wrong label fit, was the mixdown not good enough… are they accepting demos.. do labels take unknown artist or just the big names, there’s any number of reasons. Key thing is keep going, keep improving

12. What are your five favourite tracks at the moment?

Sasha – game over ep
Zed White – alone
Dubspeeka – mod 1
Steve Parry – Naaredla
Kiz Pattison – Simple Vortex ep

‘Simple Vortex’ is out now via BTech Noir, you can purchase the release: here