Deep Dish

Summit Session: Keynote Interview - Deep Dish  

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Grammy Award-winning DJ and producer duo Ali "Dubfire" Shazinia and Sharam Tayebi, known as Deep Dish, built a celebrated legacy based on innovation. While electronic dance music remained subsumed in nineties rave culture, the pair struck their own delicate balance amidst house and techno with a sly pop sensibility.

Following their breakthrough remix of De'Lacy's "Hideaway" in 1995, Deep Dish became sought-after remixers, working with everybody from Madonna and Janet Jackson to Cher. Their full-length debut, Junk Science, solidified them as trend-setters, and they eventually garnered a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Remixed Recording" for their 2002 remix of Dido's "Thank You". After nearly 15 years together, Ali and Sharam chose to go their separate ways in 2006, respectively embarking on highly successful solo careers. However, in 2014, Deep Dish re-emerged once again, subsequently blazing a new trail for electronic dance music. It's a reunion that fans clamored for since the split and something the two had discussed for the four years preceding.
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"We started throwing around the idea in 2010, but it wasn't the right time yet," admits Ali. "We wanted to come back, finish that first chapter, and turn a new chapter into a fresh sound. We've had so many experiences and developed different perspectives, galvanizing what this entity can be. Our modus operandi has always been to bridge the gaps between house and techno and credible pop and electronica." "We have a very special bond," Sharam continues. "Our principles are the same, but our approaches are different. It's interesting when we get into that swing together. When I met Ali, he was into acid jazz and industrial. My background was seventies progressive rock, eighties pop, and high-energy music. We shared house music as our common ground."
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After two packed "surprise" reunion shows in Chicago and their native Washington, D.C. in early 2014, they took to one of their biggest stages ever at Winter Music Conference. Deep Dish transformed Miami's sold out Ice Palace into their world with entrancing production and their inimitable and impenetrable sound. "We picked up where we left off, but we approached everything from a modern angle," smiles Ali. That next phase formally began with their 2014 single, "Quincy". Debuted on Pete Tong's BBC 1 Radio, the track instantly set the scene ablaze. Boasting atmospheric production and a propulsive beat, it upholds the hallmarks of Deep Dish, while infusing new sounds and textures . "We went against the typical formula again," Ali continues. "We're not falling in line with what's going on in EDM. We went through hundreds of demos to figure out which represented where we wanted to take Deep Dish. It was a meticulous process, but we've got a starting point. We want to do something new, and people are pining for that."
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"Quincy" is only the beginning of offerings to look forward to from Deep Dish. Ali and Sharam have been diligently working on a host of new music in the lab for a forthcoming album to be released on Astralwerks Records in the U.S. and Virgin EMI in the U.K., "We really do our homework," insisted Sharam. "We pay attention to why something's hot, and we use that as inspiration and tools to better ourselves. We're going to incorporate vocalists and melody in a manner people haven't heard yet. That's exciting to us." It's also exciting to millions of listeners worldwide who have been waiting for this moment to see Deep Dish again and for younger audiences to catch them for the first time. "Now is the time," concludes Ali. "We're trying to push forward on our own terms. We're going to get creative and explore different sonic possibilities to give listeners an alternative." Sharam leaves off, "We want everybody to enjoy themselves. We're pushing ourselves and having an incredible time. We hope they feel the same."

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