Iranian-American DJ and producer Dubfire is an underground minimal techno powerhouse. We spoke with him ahead of his performance at TekNest, a new festival by the folks at dART, which takes place at the Bird’s Nest from September 15-18.
If there was a (dub) fire in your house, what three things would you save?
My DJ/studio laptop and passport are pretty much the only things I need to sustain myself.
What was it like re-forming Deep Dish, a duo with your friend and fellow DJ, Sharam?
We regrouped with the whole team and looked back at everything that went right and wrong. We tweaked the show and launched it officially last year in Mannheim [Germany]. We did 13 or 15 shows and we'll probably double that when this year kicks off. It will begin in Birmingham [UK] at the end of this month. I am definitely excited to see the team again.
Do you and Sharam ever eat thin-crust pizza, or are you strictly… deep dish?
I try to stay as healthy as possible these days, so I prefer a healthy thin crust pizza.
It's been a couple of years since your last solo release. Have you got some new music on the way?
I’ve recently begun work on my debut artist album, together with fleshing out concepts for a matching live show. That will take some time, so in the meantime I’m still mainly focused on the current worldwide dubfire:liveHYBRID tour. There will also be a comprehensive retrospective album comprising my decade as a solo artist and the numerous productions and remixes I’ve done. That will be preceded by my next single with Miss Kittin entitled “Ride” along with yet another retrospective album which pulls together the amazing collaborative run I had with Oliver Huntemann from 2008 until this year. There will also be a new single from us called “Humano.” So there’s quite a bit of new material, along with the odd remix, which will see the light of day this year.
Can you explain to our readers what your hybrid live concept is?
Dubfire:liveHYBRID is the name of my debut live show which I’d been working on for the better part of two years beginning in early 2013. It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work with a very talented team of collaborators that I've assembled. The show is a unique audio-visual experience that captures the essence of my sound, backed by 2D and 3D rendered visuals, creating an immersive virtual experience. So far, the reactions and reviews have been great, and I’m very proud of what my team and I have been able to achieve together.
Why did you and Richie Hawtin play out of a taco stand in Mexico earlier this year?
We are both avid gastronomes as well as being technophiles so why not put the two together? It not only served to celebrate Mexican gastronomy at one of our fave taco spots but gave those who couldn’t make it to our individual shows during The BPM Festival the chance to witness something spontaneous and free.
So, how did you get Paris Hilton to do the ice bucket challenge with you?
That was another spontaneous moment that came out of a dinner in Ibiza I was at with Richie Hawtin and Skrillex. Individually we each wanted to do our part to raise awareness about ALS and someone at the table mentioned that Paris was at Amnesia that night. We’re all friends with her so immediately thought that she would be the perfect one to dump the ice. We then bombarded her with text messages till she said yes. It was great fun!
What have you got in store for your set at TekNest?
Sadly, China has always been struggling with underground music and events, favoring the extreme end of “EDM” over everything else. So when I got approached to do TekNest and saw the lineup, I didn’t hesitate one minute to assist my other esteemed colleagues on the bill to do my part in spreading the gospel of techno. And I am very much looking forward to it. I think that this is something fans have been eagerly waiting for for quite some time.
Sep 15, 17 and 18, 11am-11pm; RMB120 (one-day pass, presale), RMB150 (one-day pass, door), RMB300 (three-day pass, presale); Outdoor warm-up lawn at the Beijing National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) 国家体育场(鸟巢); For tickets follow dART_festival on WeChat. For more information, click here.
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