Alan Fitzpatrick Interview: London is great for me

Alan Fitzpatrick is an unstoppable juggernaut of techno. The Drumcode artist has been instrumental in the genre in recent years, dropping a bevvy of hits such as the monumental 'Skekis' (watch below) which nigh on omnipresent around the world's more refined dancefloors. He's due to hit the Drumcode Halloween party at the end of the month, so we caught up with him to find out what to look forward to ahead of the event. 

Are you looking forward to playing at Drumcode’s Halloween Fright Night on October 26th in London? How do you find playing in London?

London is great for me and I am very lucky to get to regularly play some of the best events that are happening there with Fabric and Jaded as well as some great one off shows like Carl Cox’s Revolution event and the South West Four afterparty. It is easily one of my favorite cities to play. It has everything that I think is required for a really special party, especially good venues with excellent sound and a cosmopolitan and educated crowd.

Drumcode on Halloween has become a bit of a tradition now with the last few editions being right up there with the best events of my year. The party just works very well with the warehouse venue, the Drumcode sound and the great vibe the fans bring to it with dressing up and being crazy. All together it makes something very special. All the Drumcode DJs look forward to it and judging by the messages I have had from fans this year is going to be no exception. 

For those of us that haven’t seen you DJ live, how would you describe one of your sets? Have you anything special planned for your Halloween set?

I think the best way for anyone to learn about my sound is to check out some of my sets online. There are plenty out there! As for Halloween, I am looking forward to this event in particular as the London crowd are always very open minded so I can really play how I like without worrying too much about how it will be received. This gives me a good chance to really let go and present my music in the way in which I feel it should be heard.

I always like to save up some special tracks for big shows this like too. Maybe new tracks of mine that people won’t have heard before or promos from some of my producer friends. It is a special party for everyone, whether they are excited about having the chance to hear all the Drumcode guys on one line up or just a to have a special night out, going crazy and getting dressed up with your friends, so I want to treat it the same and bring something special to the party to help add to the occasion.  

Where else have you been playing recently?

2013 has been really busy for me with some amazing tours. Recently I was back in Asia for the second time which was great. I did two dates with Ben Sims in Tokyo and Seoul which was a real experience. Closer to home I played at the amazing Bonusz Festival in Hungary which was just crazy. The stage was huge with thousands of people and I played with Carl Cox and Dubfire so as you can imagine it was really going off.

We also did a great Drumcode party at Lehmann in Stuttgart at the start of October which is always a favorite of mine as I love that club. I ended up playing for four hours until the club closed at around 9am. These are the really special gigs that stick in the memory for me.  

Last year saw your productions achieve massive success, with 'Skeksis' even bagging a number one slot on Beatport, how was that experience and have you got any more material in the pipeline?  

It was very rewarding to get another Beatport number one and 'Skeksis' turned out to be really huge tune that became a big of an anthem for people. I have had some very memorable occasions where I have played the track and the crowd have recognized it in the mix and there has been a wave of excitement has spread through the venue and people chanting along to the track.

To get that sort of reaction is just mind blowing and exactly the sort of feeling that makes me want to try and make my music better and better each time. I am excited for people to hear my new Drumcode single which is called 1992 and will be released early in 2014. As the name suggests it has an old school feel to it and I hope that everyone enjoys hearing it as much as  I enjoyed making it.  

You’ve now enjoyed a long lasting relationship with Drumcode. How did it all come about? 

It has been five or six years now so yeah, I guess that is a long time these days! The story has been told many times and it is a pretty classic tale of it just being all about the music. Adam was playing some of the releases and remixes I had done back then and he got in touch with me asking if I would like to make something for Drumcode.

I had always been a fan of the label and of Adam as an artist so it was very exciting to be asked like that. The first single did well and so we did another one which did even better and then I wrote an album for the label, which was the first album they had done in years and years. After that Drumcode just felt so much like home that I have stayed loyal and I like to think the partnership has worked out well for both sides.

Dream situation time... you can go back to any period in clubland history, and play at any club. Who would you have playing alongside you and what tune would you drop that would define the evening?

Ha! This is a great question. It would be 1991 and I would be playing at Raindance with Slipmatt, Peshay and Ellis Dee. The track that would define the night would be Chemical Company -'Tronic Equator'. 

Head here for more information on the Drumcode's Halloween party.

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