- published: 18 Jan 2016
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Ali Shirazinia, commonly known by his stage name Dubfire, is an Iranian American house and techno DJ and producer. Prior to his solo career, Dubfire was one-half of the four-time nominated and Grammy Award-winning duo Deep Dish. Dubfire's style is noticeably different than that of Deep Dish, consisting of techno instead of progressive house.
Shirazinia was born in Iran and moved with his family to the Washington, DC area at a young age.
During his youth he listened to mostly classic Hip-Hop, jazz/rare groove, dub reggae, new wave and industrial and was also influenced by the local punk scene and the music of Washington DC-based bands including Fugazi and Minor Threat. Shirazinia frequented a local record store called Yesterday And Today Records, where he became acquainted with the sounds of artists like Kraftwerk, Ministry, Jesus & Mary Chain, Depeche Mode, Nitzer Ebb, Adrian Sherwood of On-U Sound and Einstürzende Neubauten.
In 1991, Shirazinia and fellow DC resident Sharam Tayebi formed Deep Dish, a DJ and production duo that became notable for their productions and DJ sets. Deep Dish released acclaimed dance classics beginning with the 1995 remix of De'Lacy 'Hideaway,' and went on to work with an eclectic array of names in pop, rock and electronica. Shirazinia and Tayebi established Deep Dish Records, and they went on to win a Grammy in 2002 for their remix of Dido's "Thank You" along with many other high-profile awards. Following their successes as Deep Dish, both Shirazinia and Tayebi began to produce and DJ individually.
Richard (Richie) Hawtin (born June 4, 1970, Banbury, Oxfordshire) is an English-Canadian electronic musician and DJ who was an influential part of Detroit techno's second wave of artists in the early 1990s and a leading exponent of Minimal techno since the mid 1990s. He is best known for his abstract, minimal works under the alias Plastikman, a pseudonym he still uses today.
Hawtin is known for DJing minimal techno sets making use of laptop computers and digital mixing equipment. In May 1990, Hawtin and fellow second-waver John Acquaviva founded the Plus 8 record label, which they named after their turntable's pitch adjust function. In 1998, Hawtin launched Minus records.
Hawtin was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, but moved when he was aged nine to LaSalle, Ontario, a suburb of Windsor, Ontario, and just across the river from Detroit, the birthplace of techno. His father worked as a robotics technician at General Motors, and was a fan of electronic music, introducing his son to Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream at an early age. He has one brother, Matthew, who is a visual artist and ambient music DJ. Hawtin attended Sandwich Secondary High School in LaSalle. He began to DJ in clubs in Detroit at 17, and his early style was a mix of house music and techno.