Now Serving Techno

HAS A NEW DISH: NOW SERVING TECHNO

26 www.djmag.ca Since his big break in 2009, Ali Shirazinia aka Dubfi re has been a headlining name as Deep Dish our sound was so diverse. Sharam was pretty much the same way as at pretty much every techno focused festival in the world. Having quickly climbed me. When I went solo I made a conscious effort not to repeat myself as well, so the ranks and collaborating with techno superstars like Matador, Oliver Hunt- technology and techno music really allowed me to have that freedom. So it was emann, and Richie Hawtin; his talent for creating forward thinking music and live nice to not have the kind of expectations that people in the mainstream, or pop circles have for those types of artists. DJ sets is the reason for his continued success. During his visit to Toronto for Brrrrr! Festival in early February, we caught up with So you went to high school with BT right? How did he inspire you to get into Ali in his cozy green room to talk some shop about his background, ideas, and music? some updates on his label SCI+TEC. Yeah we went to junior high and high school together. We were pretty close Have you ever done an outdoor winter festival before? friends. When I fi rst met Brian, he was the only kid that had synthesizers and he Not really, no. I have heard of Igloofest in Montreal and I get asked to play every had a lot of them. We all thought that was interesting because everyone at that year, but I tend to always back away at the last minute because of the extreme time was in a band. Synthesizers were very expensive back then, and none of the cold. I’ve played at other festivals though where the weather hasn’t cooperated, so bands were adopting them. So of course here comes Brian who was classically I’ve frozen my ass off at festivals before, but I’ve never gone into anything like this trained on the piano and had all this incredible equipment. His bedroom was like willingly. I think it’s pretty cool though. a music store. For me, I was like a kid in a candy store. We struck up a friend- ship and he taught me a lot in terms of music and music technology. He was very Are you excited to play a winter festival like this for the fi rst time? gifted, and a true genius when it comes to music and technology. We still talk from Yes of course! It’s also nice to be back in Toronto on the same site as Digital time to time, but he defi nitely helped me out a lot when I fi rst started. Dreams. I was here for that show and really enjoyed it so it’s sort of easy coming back to play on the same stage. The only difference is that it’s in January and in What defi ned you as Dubfi re after your collaboration with Sharam as Deep Dish the freezing cold! ended?

With Digital Dreams being very comparable to Brrrrr Festival, what do you like Well I wanted to make music, I wanted to have records, and I wanted to start a about the energy levels of these outdoor parties? record label. It all sort of started with a night I was doing called ‘Exodos’ as a hip This is my fi rst time playing this type of event (outdoors in the cold), so I will sort hop, acid jazz, rare groove soul DJ. It was a weekly residency with the guys who of just try to fi gure out musically what direction the crowd wants me to go in, or later became Thievery Corporation. They had a release on 8 ball records that I did where I can lead them. For the fi rst half an hour I’ll probably play a variety of dif- some scratching on, and I couldn’t believe that I was involved with something that ferent music styles just to see where they are, and then take it from there. DJ’ing was actually on wax. So I continued pursuing music and soon found myself releas- is obviously about preparing, and I do my best to be come prepared with playlists ing my own remix on a local record label. It was a cool feeling to hold my own and clusters of new tracks that I want to test out. Until you are actually there on record in my hands so I thought ‘Okay maybe I should pursue this and start my own stage though, listening to the music in the booth and watching the crowd; you label’. This was all around the time I met Sharam, and he had the same ideas as me really can’t say exactly what you are going to play. so from there it just sort of took off.

Do you ﬁ nd that you are able to get a little more creative with your playlists at So 2013 for SCI+TEC and yourself is looking quite promising. festivals like this? What do you have planned? It’s nice to have a road map, but you can’t really stick to that otherwise things get pretty boring. It would be like a band out on the road playing the same playlist. I Well the release schedule is pretty much full. I have to call my label like to surprise and challenge myself by playing something that may be new or out manager just to ﬁ nalize some last minute details here and there, of the ordinary just to see where it takes me and the crowd at that particular time but for the most part it’s full until the end of this year. I have of my set. I’ve played so many places in the world that I feel like I know the crowds two collaborations with Oliver Huntemann. First one is going to - or at least I think I know (laughs) - and the Toronto crowd has always been in- have a Matador remix which should surface sometime in March, credible. While this is a new event for me, I know the Toronto scene is always ready and the second release will be sometime in the summer. I’ve to listen to good music and I can anticipate the high energy before I even step into got a project with Daniel Stefanik if I can get him to send me the booth. It’s a pretty exciting city in terms of electronic music. the last version. Daniel, I don’t know where you are but give me a call so we can wrap that up! Other than that I just have lots From producing progressive house as Deep Dish, and the Punk Rock stages you of remixes, and other projects that I have been working on. went through as a kid, how did you slowly transition into minimal and techno I am really looking forward to getting back into the studio styles of music? and spending sometime on productions.

For me it was really natural. I didn’t come from disco or pop even though I have After wrapping up our chat, Ali was prepared to hold down an appreciation for those styles of music. I really came from the alternative side the main stage with a techno set that crossed a range of of things. When I was younger I was into underground hip hop, and dub reggae his own releases and some SCI-TEC gems to the most as opposed to dance hall. I slowly got into industrial styles of music, punk, new indiscernible groovy techno we could ask for, leaving the wave, and even a little bit of goth so techno was something I gravited towards crowd begging for more when he wrapped up his set after as I got older. My interests into techno sort of arrived from my love of industrial 11pm. Luckily for us, we don’t have to wait long to hear music, and early new wave so for me it was a very natural and logical progression. more of Dubﬁ re, as he is back in Canada playing the 19th Techno, minimalism, and house to me are just labels. At the end of the day, there edition of Bal en Blanc on March 31 in Montreal, is just good music and bad music. Of course you have that maybe pile which is sort alongside a diverse house room lineup which also of a grey area, but I don’t pay too much attention to that. I think techno music features Nicole Moudaber, Peter Rauhofer, is the most forward thinking music out there, and something that comes very Sultan & Ned Shepard, Calvin Harris and naturally to me. David Guetta. Start planning your white outﬁ ts now! How has transitioning into these different types styles of techno helped you or inspired you with your creative outlook as an artist? WORDS BY MARKOS POLYDOROU

There is a lot of room to experiment, and it is very technology driven. I am a slave to technology and I love experimenting. I don’t like to repeat myself which is why