Get to know: Theo Kottis

“I always wanted to be in control of the tunes at house parties,” says Theo Kottis over a coffee in Edinburgh. “So I became a promoter.”

Raised between the Scottish capital and Greece, he and his friends were booking the likes of Pete Tong and Afrojack for their We Own parties when Theo was just 18. At the time, he was more into photography, but decided to try his hand DJing at We Own after learning to mix on the club’s decks in the hours before opening.

But it was while living in Ibiza in 2013 (when he also held down a job helping Mixmag with our live streaming) that Theo decided to become a producer.

“Just seeing the clubs and feeling the atmosphere, that was me hooked,” says Theo, now 24. He earned residencies at Glasgow’s Sub Club and Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh, where he’d give his tracks to whoever he was supporting that night.

It was Jaymo & Andy George who took the bait first, signing his track ‘Waiting Game’ to Moda Black in late 2014. The collaboration has since spawned three more EPs, while Pete Tong asked him to create a mix for Radio 1 in January.

Theo’s melodic techno has also been released on Andjunadeep, and he has music coming this summer on Sasha’s Last Night On Earth label. Next time he’s in Ibiza, you can bet he’ll be doing something more exciting than holding our cameras steady.

‘It Wasn’t Meant To Be’ is out this month on Moda Black