A couple of weeks ago I went down to Bournemouth for Shake Underground’s night at the Winchester. Running for about 5 years now, the night delivers uncompromisingly good house and techno in a venue, a pub, which is quite unique to say the least. There was a mixed bunch in the crowd but with quite a few regulars it seemed that made for a good warm-up atmosphere to this nights main attraction, techno heavyweight Alan Fitzpatrick. I caught up with Alan and he very kindly agreed to take a few questions to answer away with him – after delivering a set that as usual, did not fail to please.
What have you been up to recently and what have you got coming up in the next couple of months?
I have been super hectic touring, I am typing the answers to these questions from Argentina right now. Release wise I have a new EP on Cocoon about to come out, also a new remix for Trus’me called I want you. I also have a collab with Mark Broom which is due for release on Thomas P Heckmans label. In home life I have a new addition to the family, a beautiful baby girl. So I have my hands full at the moment.
Tell us about ‘Customer’ and ‘Whitsleblower’.
Myself and Dave (Reset Robot) have been working and co producing together for years but we finally decided to start putting stuff out and touring together as Customer. I am really excited about the project, the music is really strong I think and It will be great fun to tour together. Whistleblower is our new label with Rhymos. We are all best friends and we wanted our own brand to push own joint efforts in music, so we started the label. plus we all have different tastes so I think it will be a fun and diverse venture.
With a lot of worldwide travel, how do you juggle gigging, studio time, collaborations and a personal life?
I set myself work days in the week; usually two days, and the other days are 100% family time.
Who’s hot in techno right now? Anyone to watch out for?
So many really cool artists at the moment. I would say Rustic Soul, Limo, Doka and Benjamin Damage.
How did you catch the techno bug; what started it all for you?
15 Years old, getting into clubs with fake id’s and raving….the rest is history ha!
You’ve played in some big venues like the Gashouder and Berghain, how does your preparation for a night like Shake, with a different crowd differ?
I approach each gig individually but a lot of the time I just try to do my thing. its important to play how you play, whether its 10 people or 10,000 people.
Your hugely successful and popular track Skeksis, why did you title it that – are you a fan of the Dark Crystal?
Massive fan, in fact a whole bunch of my tracks are often named from or about something from the 80’s haha!Many thanks to Alan for taking the time out.
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