Kazowie was born in the hills near Gnomeregan, raised by a small family which worked day and night helping to smelt the copper used by the ton in the nearby city. He had little aptitude for engineering unlike most gnomes, a fact which frustrated his father to no end.
One day a passing wizard stopped by on his way to the Alliance. The young gnome pestered him endlessly after he watched the man turn a dangerous wolf into a sheep. The wizard showed him the basics of what he had done to quiet him, and was amazed to see the gnome almost duplicate the spell on the first try.
The wizard left immediately afterward, but Kazowie soon ran away from home, leaving to follow the wizard and covince him to become his apprentice. He never caught up with the wizard, but eventually he convinced someone in the mages guild in stormwind to teach him magic, as he returned to his homeland years later when they were under siege.
He has pursued an understanding of herbalism and alchemy as well, and has reputedly developed a strange new component in his potions which he calls "Caffeine." He ingests it daily.