Dubfire & Davide Squillace

Dubfire

There are few artists that can lay claim to conquering the underground as well as the mainstream, yet Ali ‘Dubfire’ Shirazinia has managed to dominate both. In fact, he’s setting the musical agenda for others to follow in his footsteps. As one-half of the legendary electronic partnership, Deep Dish, Dubfire has won Grammys, released hit singles, remixed music’s biggest names and rocked the world’s most respected venues. Their last album, 2005’s ‘George is On’, catapulted their name into the mainstream charts and saw the duo crisscross the globe. The album peaked at #3 in Billboard’s Electronic Album Chart. Scaling the dizzy heights of dance music left both Dubfire and his partner, Sharam Tayebi, wanting a creative break to pursue solo projects and express themselves in new ways, but no one was quite prepared for what Dubfire did next.

In keeping with his obsessive love of music - spanning punk, industrial/new wave, jazz, dub, hip-hop, house and techno - Dubfire set out to push the musical boundaries and challenge the dance scene’s preconceptions by going back to his roots. His release ‘I Feel Speed’ illustrated his new sound with a nod to his influences and saw him step up to the microphone for vocal duties, setting the bar for what was to be a huge year in his career.

As tracks such as ‘Roadkill’ and ‘Ribcage’ were released, an avalanche of accolades emerged, including an invitation to mix the covermount CD for Mixmag, front covers of Raveline and DJ Magazine, an Essential Mix for the UK’s Radio 1, and glowing write-ups from Beatportal to Resident Advisor. The praise was universal.

With a barrage of remixes and productions on respected labels (including Cocoon, Get Physical, Minus, and Rekkids) earning him acclaim from his DJ and producer peers, Dubfire shocked and inspired the industry in one masterstroke!

In 2007, Dubfire took another huge step forward with the launch of his label, Science + Technology Digital Audio (SCI+TEC). Initially formed as an exclusively digital label and a vehicle for his own productions, the label won fans around the world and now releases in all formats from a range of breaking new artists including Delete, Paul Ritch, Rocha & Lewinger and The Dolphins - as well as the man himself.

As 2008 got underway, Dubfire was heralded as the most forward-thinking artist, featured twice in the Top 10 of the ‘100 Most Charted Records of 2007’ on Resident Advisor and winning Best Techno and Best Minimal Artist at the Beatport Awards.

With new production partnerships in the works alongside Oliver Huntemann, forthcoming productions and remixes with notable techno tastemakers and upcoming SCI+TEC showcases in London, Tokyo and New York, Dubfire is once again breaking new ground and moving the scene forward - while keeping a steady grasp of his ‘punk ethic’!



Davide Squillace

Davide Squillace was born in Siena in 1977 and grew up in Naples. He started making records aged 20 after moving to London where he came into contact with the electronic scene for the first time. He started buying equipment and exploring its possibilities. His first track came out on Primate Records, and soon afterwards his talent was noticed by Audio and Contrast who released his next EPs.

He moved back to his home city Naples in 1999 to study at the school of Sound Engineering. He began playing in the city's clubs which are famous for their top quality DJs. The crowds were enthusiasic and Davide was soon launched onto the circuit of Neapolitan techno DJs.

In 2001 Davide produced tracks on Design Music and Conform, but in 2002 for greater artistic freedom he set up his own techno imprint, Sketch, to give the groove and freshness back to techno music. He left Naples for Barcelona in 2004, looking to take the knowledge he had acquired in Naples's underground scene into the capital city of the electronic music world. The following year Davide's first label Sketch evolved into MiniSketch. It was initially intended to be a smaller version of the main imprint, but soon became the main project.

After some releases for Morris Audio and other labels under his alias erikOtanabE, he created Titbit Records with some Neapolitan friends dedicated to glitch-house productions. By 2006 Davide was producing tracks for Josh Wink's Ovum, the German label Resopal and Alex Under's CMYK.

In 2007 Davide joined the crew of Circo Loco Ibiza, rocking the island with a residency at DC10. His records are played by DJs like Danny Tenaglia, Luciano, Dubfire (DeepDish) and Steve Lawler in clubs across the world.

And his own dynamic DJ sets are symbolic of the quality of his music: light and fast and full of strength.