Kattison Interview At Chase The Beat

Creator of this year’s late summer anthem ‘Up and Down’, Kattison caught up with presenter Frankie Salt over a pint at The Magic Roundabout in London. His hunger for standout vocals and juicy basslines reach new levels with his new single, and must have made the Mixmag team dance around as they stated earlier this year that he was the one to listen out for…

Great to meet you Kattison. How long have you been producing?

I’ve been producing for about five years or something and I’ve had my project, Kattison, for about two years.

Nice. So if you were to meet someone who hadn’t heard a lot about you, how would you explain what you’re about? What makes you tick musically?  

If I was to describe my music, I’d say it was bass driven, melodic house music. So it’s something that people can listen to in a club but also back at home, listen to at a party, on headphones as well.

When I listen to your latest track, I think it is an anthem that you can listen to at any point of a night out with mates. What did you want the track to be?

It is one of those tunes that can work any time. It’s quite dark in a way.

I think the vocals kind of lift the track too. They’re goosepimply.

Yeah, exactly. Thank you.

Where have you been playing this summer?

This summer I played a little party in Brixton, Prince of Wales.

Oh yeah, I like that venue. On the rooftop?

Yeah, on the roof terrace. I was downstairs in the club actually but they do these parties called By Day By Night. .

Mixmag said that you’re the one to listen out for. That was back in March. What do you think it was that made you stand out?

I think back then I did a little Caribou remix and that got a few heads turning because he’s quite picky with people who remix his stuff. So I did that and also I think people like the fact that I use breaks and a bit of drum and bass in house music as well.

Wat other festivals have you played at? What’s been a party for you that shines in terms of the crowd and the vibe that you got when you were playing?

Last year I played Bestival. It was the first time I went there actually. Probably by far my favourite festival I’ve been to. The vibe was unreal. Just everyone was so happy. It was crazy. I’d been to Glastonbury before but I hadn’t played there but I’d say I personally prefer Bestival to Glastonbury.

So your video for your new track ‘Up and Down’ is all about Ibiza which is one of my favourite places in the whole entire world. What was it about Ibiza? And where did you get that amazing footage from the 90s?  

I’ve always wanted to go to Ibiza but I’ve always said to myself that I’m not going until I get booked there. I think I’d just be too jealous of all the DJs playing. The director of the video showed me all this old footage of a couple of his mates possibly fifteen years ago going to Ibiza and just getting mashed.  It just looked wicked.

I got such a good vibe watching it. Hopefully you’ll get booked soon. You’ll be able to actually go and live that video.

I hope so.

Talking of Ibiza and travelling and whatnot, our readers are massively into their festivals and holidays. If you could recommend somewhere in the UK or wherever, where would it be?

In terms of festivals in England, there’s a little festival called Farr Festival. I played one of my first sets there. I think that’s one of the coolest festivals. For a chill out, in London, I always heads to Franks in Peckham on a Sunday.  It’s the one with a roof terrace. You don’t get many good roof terraces in London.

No you don’t actually. Is it a good crowd? Good food?

Yeah, it’s a good crowd, good food. It’s perfect, especially if you’re hungover, a good snack, and good tunes.

So what can we expect from Kattison for the rest of the year?

Hopefully people will come and see me play. I haven’t got any gigs coming up at the moment but that’s the plan. And I might have a remix coming out. That’s in about a month. It’s a bit heavier than ‘Up and Down’ and more for the club.

Does it have a vocal on it?

It’s got a little bit of vocal on it. It’s mainly just got a nice groove to it.

In terms of your vocal side of things, what is your inspiration for using certain vocals? For Up and Down, it’s quite vocal heavy which I really like….

I find it really tough to make a track without vocals to be honest. Because I think it adds so much to it. It adds soul, it just gives something that people can actually sing along to.

Is that why you’re a big fan of Caribou? I still have ‘I can’t do without you’ on repeat…

Yeah, I am a big fan of Caribou.

Thanks for having a chat with us at BBM!

By Frankie Salt