Dubfire

Dubfire is an Iranian American DJ and producer who, over the years, became one of the top tier electronic artists of the scene, thanks to his talent and also his intuition and forward-thinking mind. His career has been a constant evolution: from the successful progressive house duo Deep Dish, with which he even won a Grammy Award, to the solo underground project, which brought equal accomplishments in the electronic scene. Owner of the top-notch label SCI+TEC, ambassador of the PLAYdifferently MODEL 1 mixer, as well as food lover and constant researcher of new talent. He stepped on some of the most important stages such as Time Warp, Sónar Festival, Coachella and Sunwaves, always delivering DJ sets as well as innovative and cutting-edge live shows, in which technology and human presence on the stage become one. Dubfire, originally Ali Shirazinia, was born on the 19th of April 1971, in Iran. At the age of 7, he moved to Washington with his family to then attend American University. Growing up, he spent much of his youth playing the guitar at school and listening to hip hop, jazz, new wave and industrial music. As a teenager, he was influenced by the punk scene and used to frequent Yesterday And Today Records, a local record store, where he got close to the sounds of Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Nitzer Ebb, Ministry and Adrian Sherwood. He started playing in the clubs of Washington D.C. where he developed his skills. He was then introduced by a common friend to Sharam Tayebi with whom, in 1991, he formed the house progressive duo Deep Dish. They became famous very soon for their productions as well as for their DJ sets. In 1995, they released their famous remix of De Lacy’s “Hideway” and soon after, in 1998, they published their debut album, Love With a Friend, which featured Dubfire’s vocals. In the early 2000s, Ali and Sharam founded The Bullitt Agency, which has become one of the finest agencies of the music industry. After having established Deep Dish Records, in 2002, they won a Grammy Award for their Dido’s remix of “Thank You”. But they were both in search of new adventures, and so decided to establish their solo projects, starting to produce and release individually. Dubfire’s new alias allowed him to express his love for underground house and techno. As a solo producer, he was quite far from the progressive house Deep Dish sound, embracing minimal, techno and house. He fit perfectly and quite quickly in the minimalistic techno scene, releasing several key productions which led him to be recognized as a forward-thinker of the scene. His production “I Feel Speed”, which again featured his vocals, even appeared in the Volkswagen Eos advertisement. In 2007, Dubfire launched his own record label SCI+TEC, Science + Technology Digital Audio which initially had been set up as an outlet to release his own work, but soon began to have remarkable tracks by other artists. In the same year, he released his famous electro-tech “Roadkill”, while “RibCage” was the first release on Loco Dice’s Desolat. In 2008, his remix of Radio Slave’s “Grindhouse”, became a track which represented the apex of a unique sound. Other remarkable releases in the following years were “Emissions” and the rework of “Spastik”, both on Richie Hawtin’s respected M_nus. Moreover, several tracks were published on Sven Väth’s Cocoon Records. In 2014, after having spent the previous two years working on it, his HYBRID live concept was launched at the Amsterdam Dance Event. A journey into the land of technology and science, merged and connected with music, in which man and machine converge. 2017 marked the tenth anniversary of Dubfire’s solo career, illustrated in the “Above Ground Level” documentary, the story of how he became one of the biggest names of the electronic scene. It features contributions from his family and friends, as well as fellows of the industry such as Pete Tong, Richie Hawtin, David Guetta and Hot Since 82. Recently, Dubfire has co-produced tracks with the acclaimed British duo Underworld, released a two-disc compilation with Loco Dice on Cocoon, remixed extra Plastikman material, and started a collaborative project with Oliver Huntemann. On the decks, he’s been having fun playing for over 26 hours at Sunwaves Festival, in Romania, or playing with his b2b2b formulas with artists such as Tiga, Seth Troxler, Miss Kittin, Nicole Moudaber and Paco Osuna. But more than anything, Dubfire has brought his SCI+TEC label to be one of the most respected labels of the industry. Always concentrating on the future, working hard on making this next musical decade as interesting as the last one, discovering new talents, new approaches, and always looking one step forward.