Dubfire Interview

Out of the frying pan, into the Dubfire with our interview.

Having carved out a mega successful career as one half of Deep Dish, Dubfire, aka Ali Shirazinia, is taking a break and doing things his way. Turns out his way is darker, moodier, and deeper underground than anything he’s done before – and we’re loving every minute of it. From the deeply satisfying bassline of ‘Ribcage’, to the powerful Dubfire remix of Unkle’s ‘Hold My Hand’ that sends shivers through your whole body, it seems the boy can do no wrong. And as for taking a break…well, in between producing, remixing, searching out talent for his Sci+Tec label and making sure he’s still got time to ‘ave it on the dancefloor, he’s not got much time for relaxing. Still, we managed to drag him out of the studio for a 20 minute interview to fill us in on what’s hot and what’s not in the land of Dubfire…

Endclub.com: The minimal camp have been quick to claim you as one of their own, but to us it sounds like you've taken minimal and given it a right good kick up the backside - deeper, richer, pacier, and with more than a hint of old school 'proper' techno. Do you feel like you've found your true sound?

Dubfire: I wouldn’t say that I’ve found my true sound as such, as I’ve been wanting to explore this side of my personality for a long time, but in Deep Dish I couldn’t, because Deep Dish was a shared vision. In any duo or group situation you always have to compromise your vision for the common goal. I would just say that my sound now is much more personal.

Who would you say has influenced your sound?

Tons of people, most of them German! I am not so much influenced by people as specific tracks, although if I had to give names I would definitely say guys like Paul Ritch, Davide Squillace and Gaiser. Gaiser’s music sounds really organic, fluid and alive. I think a lot of people don’t really ‘get’ his stuff, but I don’t think that matters, as there’s nothing worse than being mediocre. For me, whatever genre a track is, whether it’s super minimal or banging techno, it has to evoke that emotional response in people.

Your solo releases perfectly encapsulate the musical mood of the moment - late night, industrial, edgy and with a touch of paranoia. Even the names on your tracks are pretty sinister - 'Roadkill', 'Ribcage'…are you under pressure to live up to the new found mantle bestowed on you by DJ Mag; 'The Prince of Darkness'?

I’ve always been into the macabre and the gothic. My friends always joke about my taste in horror movies, and I used to be a nu-wave punk rocker and listen to a lot of metal. I think I am still going through that stage a bit actually, as every couple of months I decide to paint my nails black! It was funny, I was just talking to Oliver Huntemann, who I idolise, and he sent me an email saying, “Hey, you know they call me the Dark Lord of Techno? Well my girlfriend just sent me an email with you on the cover of DJ Mag, calling you the Prince of Darkness!” It just so happens that me and Oliver are gonna do a track together, so we’ll have The Dark Lord and The Prince of Darkness collaborating!

The music press have been really supportive of your new sound. It's often quite difficult for an established artist to change direction without being accused of bandwagon jumping - what's your secret - how have you charmed them all?

I don’t know! It all started with a lot of nights out in Ibiza just listening to other DJs, whilst winding down from the touring madness that followed the ‘George Is On’ release. Me and Sharam had wanted to pursue some solo stuff for a while, I think I just happened to be on the right dancefloor at the right time, and it all just came together. Ever since then I have been bursting with ideas. What eggs me on most is the feedback and response I’ve been getting from some of the people I respect the most - they are the ones who have really fanned my flames.

Do you think it’s important for artists to get out there, get on the dancefloor and get involved?

Yes definitely! I think a lot of the big guys, I’m not gonna name names, can lead quite isolated, sheltered lives the bigger they get, not getting out on the dancefloor and partying with the fans. The sad thing is that they then lose the connection with the crowd that got them into the music in the first place. When I was playing at Warung (Brazil), which is one of my favourite clubs in the world, this guy in the crowd was pointing at me and signaling for me to come down onto the dancefloor, so I just turned to my friend and said, “Shit, lets go dance!” The response you get from the crowd is phenomenal – they love it that you have taken the time to come and party with them. I ended up staying on the dancefloor for hours, meeting people and dancing. Getting out there and getting involved is really important for truly connecting to people as a DJ and a producer – it stays with you even after the moment has long passed.

You mentioned Ibiza has had a profound effect on your musical direction - do you think Ibiza can make or break an artist?

Put it this way: for a period of four months Ibiza is the mecca of what we all do for a living, and the Miami Winter Music Conference is a week long version of that. I think for me, Ibiza has been my fuel – it’s one of the things that’s helped me move so quickly to the point that I’m at right now. I think techno’s in a really cool place at the moment: the music has got slower, sexier and funkier, and the girls are into it again!

Judging by your vocal on 'I Feel Speed' there may just be a Pop Idol winner waiting to get out! Are you planning on doing any more of your own vocal tracks?

Yeah if I can find some downtime, I’ve bitten off more than I can chew at the moment with so many remixes and original productions. ‘I Feel Speed’ represented how I was feeling at the time, but if I do any more vocal tracks now, I’d like to explore using vocals within a techno context. I do think we need more vocal tracks out there, I just need to find someone to give me some good ones! It’s a lot easier to write a non-vocal track than it is to bring in a session musician. I’d really like to work with Nicolette – she recorded for Talkin’ Loud back in the day, she’s got a really cool unique voice.

Sci+Tec was initially set up to release your own productions, but you've now started signing other acts. Can you tell us a bit about what we can expect from the label in 2008?

Yeah I’ve got loads going on at the moment - I’m kind of on a signing spree! I’ve got some great stuff by Paul Ritch, and I’ve signed these guys called Rocha out of South America. I’ve got an amazing track that’s going to be a real head-turner from Steve Lawler, plus tracks from Smith & Selway, Zoo Brazil, and a guy out of New York named Plasmic Honey. I’m really building up the Sci+Tec identity at the moment.

Was it a no-brainer to make the label digital-only?

It started that way, but I’ve found that there’s been quite a lot of demand for physical releases – especially amongst the German community, they’re really into their vinyl, so soon all the tracks should be available on both formats.

Your Global Underground mix last year was Global Underground Taipei. We've not heard much about the club scene in Taiwan - what’s it like?

When I played there it was amazing! The whole point of the GU series is to spotlight clubbing destinations that people wouldn’t normally associate with dance music, and I guess that was the goal I had with this compilation.

As Deep Dish, you and Sharam managed to be both widely respected and commercially successful. Can you indulge endclub.com with a couple of stand out memories from your time as Deep Dish?

Oh man…there’s so many! Most recently, we had two nights at Warung, and for whatever reason we have this strange connection with the crowd there - for me that goes down as one of those legendary gigs. There have been loads of moments, but a lot of them tend to be smaller, when we’ve got a good reaction from a certain DJ that we idolised at the time. Most people assume that it would be getting a Grammy or topping the charts, but actually it’s the smaller moments that are really special. Tenaglia has been a great supporter of Deep Dish since day one, and when he likes something he really pushes it. Me and Sharam did a remix for Rollo’s side project Dusted, and the song was called ‘Always Remember to Respect and Honour Your Mother’, so we did the remix for Tenaglia, as we always referred to him as our mother because he took us under his wing in the early days! We didn’t think he’d respond to it in the way he did - but not only did he respond to the track itself, but he responded to the fact that we were paying respect to him, and he played the hell out of it!

And are we right in thinking that Deep Dish are ‘on a break’ rather than having a full on break-up?!

No we’re not having a divorce, we’re both in very good places spiritually and otherwise – it’s not over yet!

We read that you wanted to make tracks that could blow up soundsystems! Should we be warning our sound engineer?!

Well, The End system can pretty much handle any frequency, but I’ve still got a few more days in the studio to try and work up something…that’s my challenge – consider yourself warned!

Published: 3/03/2008

More from...