Dubfire ‘Ribcage’: Single of the Week

Dubfire ‘Ribcage’: Single of the Week

5 October, 2007 | 5.10AM

• Section: Music News
• Written by: Terry Church

Ali Dubfire Shirazinia, one half of the Grammy Award winning DJ duo Deep Dish has in recent times released a number of dancefloor destroyers that sit very much in the techno and minimal realm. His new track ‘Ribcage’ is the first release on Loco Dice and Martin Buttrich’s new label Desolat. 

‘Ribcage’ has slowly but surely been working its devastating way across the underground and now looks set to become one of the biggest hits of the year. It’s Beatportal’s Single of the Week.

We dragged Dubfire by his ear away from his hectic DJ schedule so that he could sit on uncle Beatportal’s knee and tell us all about his ‘Ribcage’.

‘Ribcage’ is very minimal – are you getting deeper and deeper into this type of sound?

The term ‘minimal’ is thrown around a lot these days to represent an offshoot of house and techno that has actually been around for a very long time.

Minimal music is nothing new to me.

And I don’t like to label what I do and I never set out to make a particular type of record.

‘RibCage’ was the result of an incredible jolt of inspiration I received after I witnessed an amazing DJ set by my friend Loco Dice at DC10 last summer, as well as from all of the time I had spent at nights like Cocoon which, to me, ushered in the most important musical statement on the island than any other night or club event.

And you ‘jolt of inspiration’ involves something actually very simple.

Well, ‘RibCage’ is really two separate and distinct songs.

And I just decided to keep them joined at the hip because I’ve never really heard anyone else attempt to do that before.

The track only makes real sense played in its entirety.

‘Rib’ is the setup, and creates a certain vibe that reels the listener in, while ‘Cage’ keeps them on the dancefloor. 

Plus, it’s a great ‘bathroom’ record for us DJs!

I’ve never been a fan of DJs who don’t play certain tracks in their entirety, mixing in or out quickly; that’s not the way the producer intended to have it played in a club.

It was the same for me during my hip hop years in Washington, D.C..

I was literally the only DJ who didn’t play like a verse or just a chorus of a tune; I always played the whole track.

The lead synth jiggles and chugs around, it’s a really cool effect. Share a secret - what software/hardware did you use to create such a cool sound?

If I told you that, I’d be taking the mystique or curiosity out of it!

I wonder the same things about other producers that I admire but to be honest, I’d really rather not know - it would take the magic out of those songs for me.

Alright then spoil sport, what FX are you finding most effective when producing this type of music?

I like playing with noise; either white noise or a tape hiss.

I guess that it’s my background in industrial music rearing its ugly head!

The beats on ‘Ribcage’ are simple, almost monotonous – what’s your theory on good techno beats?

The best theory is that there is no theory.

Everyone has a different approach to how they create their music.

And often a good techno or house track is beatless and can still be magical.

It’s all about the vibe you create with your tracks by putting together all the right elements. It can be a torturous process for me and my co-pilot Matt Nordstrom sometimes but the payoff is that much greater when it all comes together exactly as you heard it in your head.

You manage to create a cool vibe with the lead synth, that keeps rising and rising. Do you view this record as a DJ tool?

My modus operandi since taking a break from Deep Dish has been to make music aimed directly at the dancefloor so in that sense, yes, my tracks can be correctly viewed as a DJ tool.

But literally any music a DJ uses to program a cohesive set can be viewed as a DJ tool!

And I just wanted to literally get any kind of crowd going mental as well as to crush a lot of these weak club PA systems I play on which are terribly dated and can’t handle certain frequencies.

I’ll always get an earful before a set on who the manufacturer is or how powerful the system is but the real question should be ‘how does it sound?’

Plus, I have always maintained my policy that ‘women respond to bass’ so there’s a little tip for all you budding producers out there.

• (1) Comments
• (644) Views
• Get 'Ribcage' on Beatport