Ali Shirazinia, a.k.a. Dubfire, talks about Deep Dish, Hybrid, and his musical journey.ย
At this year’s edition of the Bacardi Enchanted Valley Carnival, there were some brilliants artists on the lineup, including techno maven Ali Shirazinia, popularly known by his stagename Dubfire. Famous for his catchy techno beats andย divergence from progressive house, Dubfire is one of the most sought after festival performers today. With what behind-the-stage time The Sherp received with the electronic producer, we discovered some pretty interesting things about him, and his phenomenal music.
Ali Shirazinia, apart from being Dubfire, is also known for his prog-house project Deep Dish, with Sharam Tayebi. While both of Shirazinia’s techno projects coincide in genre, each manages to be distinctive in sound and style. The Sherp asked Ali how different it is performing solo, than it is as Deep Dish. To which he said,
“Well, it’s a completely different musical, you know, landscape. With Deep Dish, it became more of a commercial/mainstream thing – credible, but still commercial. With Dubfire, I’m kind of free to explore whatever musical boundaries that exist – and then break through those boundaries. That’s the idea with Dubfire – to challenge myself musically and stylistically, and see how much I can push my musical ideas.”
(Image via:ย thelookingclass.com)
With over two decades of experience in the music, Dubfire is knownย to push the envelope with every new release. Commenting on his interest in other genres, he recalled his days playing at a local club,
“I collect a lot of ambient music, a lot of left-field electronic music, a lot of dub-reggae. It’d very difficult now, but many, many years ago, I had a residency […] at a club called ‘Exodus’. […] Their music policy was really eclectic; I started with jazz and soul, and worked through hip-hop, house, and techno, and eventually came back around. It was a lot of fun to play different styles.”
Another notable venture Shirazinia has invested time and money into is ‘Hybrid’, his audiovisual brainchild. About which he said,
“Hybrid is a very particular thing. It’s not that challenging, but it’s suited to the right environment. […] it’s so complex. It’s basically taking my old material and reworking it, and then handing it over to the visual to create a visual world. Everything has to be perfectly synced. “
The visual aspect of Hybrid was created by the Volvox Labs studio, which coupled with Shirazinia’s unparalleled knowledge of techno makes for a spectacular experience. When speculated whether or not Hybrid will make its way to India soon, Shirazinia elaborated,
“I’d love to bring HYBRID to India, but it takes the right environment, it has to be presented in the right environment. And I don’t know if India is ready for [it]…”
Lastly, Ali Shirazinia was asked about the current state of the refugee crisis in Iran, specifically, if he had any message for them, since he was born in Iran himself, he said,
“I could not put myself into the minds of those refugees. We left Iran when things were starting to go bad. And then once we were already in America, my parents decided not to go back to Iran. We built new lives in the States and we pursued the American dream like everybody else. So, it’s really hard for me to comment on the refugee crisis because I don’t know what those guys are going through. We got on a plane, and they’re walking across Europe, so it’s a totally different thing.”
You can check out some of the outrageous things we overheard at BEVC ’15 here!