Dubfire was born in Iran and moved to the United States at the age of 7 with his father, mother and brother for his father to attend an American university. Growing up in the Washington, D.C., area, Dubfire spent much of his youth playing the guitar in school bands and listening to heavy doses of classic
hip hop,
jazz/
rare groove,
dub,
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.[7] He 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.[8][9][10][11][12]
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.[13][14] Deep Dish released acclaimed dance classics beginning with the 1995 remix of
De'Lacy's "Hideaway", and went on to work with an eclectic array of names in pop, rock and
electronica.[15] Sharam and Dubfire 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.[16][3] Following their successes as Deep Dish, both Sharam and Dubfire began to produce and DJ individually claiming "[they] got bored doing the same thing. [They've] always been separate producers and separate DJs who have just collaborated together for all these years."[17]
Shirazinia used his long-time stage name "Dubfire" for his solo productions. His solo sound differs noticeably from that of Deep Dish, consisting of
minimal,
techno, and
house[18] rather than the predominantly
progressive house sound of Deep Dish. His production I Feel Speed, which is a cover of an obscure
Love & Rockets song, features his own vocals.[19][20] Dubfire also sings in In Love With a Friend on Deep Dish's debut album.[21]I Feel Speed has appeared in the advertisement of the
Volkswagen Eos.[22]
In 2007, Dubfire announced the launch of his new record label, Science + Technology Digital Audio, also known simply as SCI + TEC.[23] He set the label up as an outlet to release his new music and began quietly unleashing a string of remarkable tracks. In 2007, he released electro-tech track "Roadkill," while the stripped-back 'RibCage' became the first ever release on
Loco Dice's Desolat label.[24][25]
Dubfire followed up with a number of releases on some of electronic music's big labels.[26][27][28][29]Richie Hawtin, who signed Dubfire's "Emissions" to his
Minus label, also released Dubfire's rework of 'Spastik' (the track that Hawtin produced in 1993 under his
Plastikman alias) as an official re-work.[30][31] Soon thereafter,
Sven Vath's
Cocoon Records took notice and released some of Dubfire's music as well.[32]
He continued to release more productions. He had two top 10 tracks in Resident Advisor's 100 Most Charted Records of 2007, International DJ Magazine's Player of the Year in 2008, nominations for
Beatport's "Best Minimal Artist" and "Best Techno Artist" in 2008 and 2009, and mixes for Mixmag, BBC Radio 1's
Essential Mix and DJ Magazine.[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]
In 2008, Dubfire produced a remix of Radio Slave's "Grindhouse" featuring Danton Eeprom.[41]DJ Magazine called it "jet-black, polished chrome techno".[42]
Dubfire's more recent work has seen him co-produce tracks with British electronic music act
Underworld,[43] release a two-disc compilation with Loco Dice for Cocoon,[26] additional remixes of Plastikman material, and a collaborative project with producer
Oliver Huntemann.[44]