ARTIST INTERVIEWS – KIZ
Who are you, and where are you from?
I’m Kiz Pattison from Birmingham in the UK.
How did you get into music, and who or what are your influences and heroes (DJ/producer/artist…)?
I got into music production through starting off re-editing tracks, taking bits out I didn’t quite like, or changing the intro/outro of track to suit how I dj’ed at the time.. that naturally progressed into producing my own tracks. My influences, i think it’s always been the same guys from when I started out as it is now, with more and more added to the list every week.. like many of us, Sasha & Digweed were and still are obviously at the forefront, but there’s a lot of other influencers that I still look towards the likes of BT, Deep Dish, Danny Tenaglia, Laurent Garnier, Josh Wink, leftfield, Chemical Brothers, Barry Jameson, Quivver, Dave Seaman/BIR and more recently, tale of us, Hunter/game, Patrice Baumel, Yotto, Kaiser Disco, Maceo Plex, kolsch, Oliver Huntermann… to be honest there’s way to many to mention.. record label also played a big part in what sounds influenced me, jackpot, guerilla, bedrock, perfecto, whoop, Fluid, Platipus, Hooj Choons, Ovum, yoshitoshi, Strictly Rhythm, Twisted, tribal.. again there’s so many labels helped shape what sounds I like today.
What other music styles besides electronic music you listen to, and at what occasions?
To be honest I’m quite dull when it comes to other music, I listen to a lot of things like chemical brothers & Leftfield that kind of thing… Other than what my kids put on I don’t really listen to much else… although I did introduce them the Leftfields Phat Planet the other day, that went down well.. think I’m slowly techno’ing them up!
How would you define a good piece of music?
Anything that makes you get up and dance.. or that make you say ‘fuck yeah’!
Where do you find inspiration for your projects?
When I’m walking the dogs I always have my headphones on listening different dj mixes or going through promos.. so I get my inspiration from other music, and I quite often get ideas while I’m just pottering around so I always make notes or memos on my phone.. they probably look like gibberish to most people.
What artists would you like to work with if you would be given the opportunity?
Quivver or Nick Muir I think.. or maybe Patrice Baumel, I like the simplicity to his tracks.. I like the less is more approach.
What are you passionate about outside of music?
My kids mostly.. I don’t start making or playing music until they’re are in bed.. so any chance I get I make time to enjoy it with them.
How would you describe your music in your own words?
Simple, dark, progressive techno, I like to try and make the baseline to double up as the main element of the track & I tend to stay away from the melodic sounds really.. leave that to everyone else.
What is your first memory to music?
Underground Dance music wise, my brother, who’s is a few years older than me always used to buy Chuff Chuff & Miss Moneypenny’s tapes, and I used to listen to those all the time, then I eventually heard the renaissance mix collection from Sasha & Digweed.. I was probably about 14 when I first got into dance music.
What can we expect of you in the near future?
This year I’ve got an album coming out on Renaissance which I’m very excited about. I’ve done a few remixes here and there for various labels, plus there’s a couple of collaboration tracks I’m working on, which will probably next year by the time they’re finished.
What is your favourite piece of equipment you use in the studio or DJ’ing, and why?
DJ’ing wise, I’m just the standard cdjs and mixer, nothing exciting really.. in the studio I love the reaktor6 & Massive X plug-in’s from NI they are my go to when starting a new project. I make a fair chunk of my music with iPads and a sensel touch pad.
As a DJ/Producer, what has been your biggest highlight?
As a DJ I’d say when we put on an event called ‘back to ours’ where we had Nick Muir, Dave Angel, Luke Brancaccio, & Stelios Vassiloudis all on the same night.. and little old me warming up.. and also last year I played before Dubspeeka which was amazing. As a producer I’d say appearing on some the biggest labels from when I 1st got into underground music, Renaissance, Platipus, Perfecto.. they were such influential labels in the mid to late 90’s and still are now, so to be part of those labels now is crazy, plus the recent release on Dave Seaman’s Selador label is also something I’m very proud of.
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