If you’re a fan of electronic music and the name Ali Shirazinia aka Dubfire isn’t immediately familiar to you, perhaps the supergroup Deep Dish – a project with former partner-in-crime Sharam – will trigger happy memories. Now flying solo, but still a superstar in his own right; RK talks to Dubfire about his keenness to recreate Deep Dish.
“It has been a pretty wild ride this year,” says Shirazinia. “I’ve had a punishing tour schedule in 2013 and started a bit of a new project which is the Dubfire live show; so getting that process hatched has been a big focus for me this year.”
That on its own should be enough to get fans of not only Deep Dish, but also Dubfire excited – and mostly because you can bet it will feature the best of both worlds. Shirazinia confirms fans expectations.
“It’s basically going to be a one hour show of the most recognised productions, edits and remixes I’ve done in my career,” he explains. “What I’ve done though is take those things and rearrange them for a live audience. With that, I’m also going to be working on a visual show to match the aural onslaught.”
Logistically the setup will include Ableton, live controllers, iPads, control modules as well as anything else that takes his fancy between now and then. “The idea was actually to launch the new show at Future Music Festival, but based on what’s involved, I’m wondering if I’ll be able to launch it by then. If I do get it up and running shortly afterwards, I promise to get back to Australia to do some gigs!”
Inevitably our discussion turns to rebooting Deep Dish. “We have seen that ball gaining some traction,” he admits. “We have been talking about putting together a retrospective box set that covers our career together. We have many releases that didn’t see the light of day and to preserve the legacy that was Deep Dish – something that was important to both of us, but also to so many passionate people as well – that would really mean a lot.”
Over time the boys have come to understand that they had a unique musical vision and talent. “Looking back, there was a lot of in-fighting between us about who was doing what, but that was a typical part of a group who was passionate about what they were up to… and when we get around to doing things again, it will no doubt facilitate the creativity and drive that we so enjoyed when we worked together.”
Shirazinia shares some thoughts on returning to Australia for a series of dates with Future Music Festival in 2014. “Some of the best memories I’ve had were at Future Music Festival – particularly with Sven Vath at the side shows in Melbourne and Sydney,” he says. “We weren’t just hanging out together, but also with other artists generally and that’s what I love about those types of festivals. I wish that happened in the United States; travelling from city to city you’re always meeting with producers who are at the top of their game.”
