Ali Shirazinia is a name that is written in EDM folklore; initially as a part of the supergroup Deep Dish with partner in crime Sharam Tayebi, but now as a bona fide solo superstar.

From the beginning, Deep Dish always did their own thing — as Shirazinia describes, they were about bridging the gap between house and techno.

“We loved what was going on in Chicago and New York in the early days and in many ways it has come full circle. Within the evolution of music, it was always about reintroducing things to an entirely new generation. It's what we did then and it's what I'm doing now.

“But now, technology is allowing us to transform what we were doing before. Everybody pretty much has access to new technology. But on the flipside, the market is super saturated with a lot of mediocre stuff — not even bad stuff — just ok stuff, so it's hard to maintain a level head about how you judge a track. Trying to stay in touch with all of it has definitely gotten harder over the years.”

Needless to say, as a solo artist, the man has been keeping rather busy. “I've been playing a lot of gigs — a ton actually — and it kind of screeched to a halt on January 5 when I had my last gig in Playa Del Carmen. And rather than go on holiday like a lot of us typically do, I just decided that I had so many ideas I'd been saving for the moment where the gigging would stop, so I could sit down and just flesh out some ideas and try to make some tracks without any distractions. So I've been in the studio literally every single day and I've come up with some really great music.”

Ali has moved into a smoother, if not darker, form of music that is unmistakably techno. “I'm really driven by the music that I'm hearing in the clubs,” he says. “Playing alongside a group of DJs — guys you've heard or haven't heard before — and really just taking it all in and processing it somehow and then having it inspire and influence me in the studio.”

Dubfire play Future Music Festival, at Doomben Racecourse, Saturday March 3. futuremusicfestival.com.au

Richard Quitevis is still moving forward. The famous battle DJ with a score of titles under his belt is today an enterprising man on the cusp of a transformation in music and media.

Where to begin when interviewing Qbert? Well, he has interests in music, media, software, hardware, production, teaching — the list goes on and on. But let’s talk about what is perhaps Qbert’s greatest love, his DJ school, and the recent success an Australian had in taking top honours.

“Well, we're still working on the school and that's still blowing up — it's the third year and it's tracking really well. In fact the third valedictorian for the Qbert school this year was from Perth — he was the best and he's got a sponsorship with Native Instruments now. He's totally amazing!”

Q is also spending as much time in the studio whenever he can, where he has some exciting material in the works. “Yeah, that's correct — right now I'm working on another album and I've got Kool Keith emceeing on there; I did a movie a while ago and we’re doing another animation project so that will be cool as well. Generally, I'm keeping pretty busy with all the touring and school stuff.”

With his DJing skills honed in an analogue age, DJ Qbert is still quick to keep up-to-date with the rash of technology advancements the scene has witnessed. But you can never take the old school scratch out of this scratch DJ. “It's like all these things you can do now with the technology that's out there; you couldn't do that back in the day. For me, I have to say that I love scratching; and I still love vinyl because it is still the most accurate. I mean, now you have stuff like video scratching, which is out there. But like anything that isn't vinyl, there is a tiny delay so it's not perfect and it can never be as accurate as vinyl.

“It's the same kind of issue you have with analogue versus electric or midi guitar — the acoustic guitar will always be the preferred thing. It's the same with pianists — they have classical organs, pianos and stuff. You have regular scratching and digital scratching. It's just a tree that keeps on growing.

“Man, ten years from now, party people will be scratching with their mind and not even touching an instrument — that would be pretty cool! Of course there will still be vinyl scratching, maybe it will be someone thinking of a sound and then putting it in the air and scratching the air,” he says in jest.

“I really think music is a healing thing and people will become more enlightened about it. The world is all about healing right now and people are more spiritually healthy which is a really good thing. Music in Indian culture for example was for healing. The idea behind it was that it was about regenerative energy and the way it fixes your mind.”

Yet for Q, the root of it all is scratching; everything stems from that. “If I work with a theatre company or if I'm talking about spirituality or whatever, I'll learn about stuff that has to do with scratching and how it links back. In Australia, they have the didgeridoo — it is a healing instrument; it vibrates your body into a state of bliss if you know what I mean? So I'm getting out there with all that knowledge and trying to apply it to music.”

Hip hop has always had a conscious slant, and Q is seeing that philosophy through. Finally, he’s excited about getting back to Australia this month. “For the show, I have a new set of pretty crazy music. It'll feature a range of styles of music from funky, dubstep, hip hop, electro bass, b-boy — expect the unexpected! I've also got this champion beatboxer coming down with me; he's like the dubstep godfather so it should be a pretty cool gig. I can't wait to get down there again! I always have a great time in Australia.”

And after all these years, he remains as gifted and relevant as ever.

DJ Qbert plays the Mustang Bar Sunday February 26. The event runs from 4-11pm, and is only $10.

His World

Two hints. House music. And almost surely the biggest name in the business.

If you answered Erick Morillo, then you were right. And if you didn't, then the names Morillo and Subliminal probably mean nothing to you, which is fine — except if you consider yourself a house music lover, then you should hang your head in shame, because it doesn't get any bigger and better than this.

"Obviously I'm still travelling and touring the world — that side of things for me never stops. I'm also doing my twelfth season at Pacha in Ibiza on Wednesdays. I've also been doing a fair bit of work in the studio; a few new singles are coming out as well as a new album with my man, Harry Romero and that's going to be awesome.

“It will feature Dizzie Rascal, Mark Anthony, Craig David, Jessica from the Pussycat Dolls and so on. In the sense of collaborations and things, it's still good dance music; we do experiment a little bit here and there but it gives off great energy. The first single is with Busta Rhymes and it just keeps going from there.”

Growing up in Union City, just over the bridge from the Big Apple in New Jersey, he felt the passion for turntables in his early teens. He went on to study studio engineering, which would later prove helpful in his capacity as a producer. It was in 1997, with Harry Romero, that he started his record label, and then spent a year perfecting everything from its business model to the letterhead! Talk about pragmatic. And his collaboration discography reads like the who's who of Hollywood: P. Diddy, Enrique Iglesias, Basement Jaxx and even Macy Gray and Whitney Houston; nothing to be sneezed at, to be sure. Yet he doesn't want to take too much of the credit.

“I definitely think that the internet has made it a lot easier for people to become stars in the scene. Before it took ten years, now in a year or with one hit record you can become big. People who are big now you didn't hear about five minutes ago — the Afrojack's of this world — they're the biggest thing in America right now. So you can really crack it in the industry now.”

Erick Morillo plays Summafieldayze, at The Spit on the Gold Coast, January 2. summafieldayze.com

Local legend

He’s one of the local greats — in fact, one of the greatest musicaI exports Australia has delivered to the world.

“I started off being a DJ when I left school around 1993,” Mark begins. “I actually wanted to work in radio, because it was big in the ‘90s; there was a lot of community radio stations and then the emphasis went off that and I started getting involved in raves and record companies and it was more about 'let's see how it rolls' than anything else.”

Around the turn of the millennium the talent scouts at Ministry of Sound offered Mark a role, and after doing a number of successful compilations, moved to Europe for a while, only to return to Australia when the timing was right. “I ended up starting my own label which gave me an outlet to be creative and to help guys who couldn't get a break. That's where I'm focusing at the moment and it really has been fun to get that perspective I think.

“I started the label around 2003 after living in Germany for a while; it was basically me wanting to emulate some of the sounds and styles that I'd heard, and give them a bit of an Australian flavour. “To date, we've signed a few Australian artists who lean into that tech-house sound - but it is still totally accessible. It's something that everyone can enjoy and listen to. You might hear it in the club or listen to it in the car, that sort of thing.”

And despite his extensive discography, he’s still plugging away in the studio, having just released an 18-track compilation — ‘The Best Of Long Distance Recordings’. Somewhat of a departure from what he’s most associated with, Mark accepts DJs these days can no longer be bound by a niche sound. “I think DJs are forced to do it this way,” he says. “The club scene has probably shrunk a bit because of the festivals, so there is less space for niche sounds; you can't just say I'm only going to play techno or minimal — you have to play a bit of a mix and it's great that people are open-minded to it.”

Mark Dynamix headlines Hellements at Barsoma October 29.

More Here Than Liverpool

I'd always thought that Wombats were native to Australia. Apparently, they also have a home somewhere in the UK.

The Wombats are an indie trio consisting of Matthew Murphy, purveyor of vocals, guitar and keyboards; Dan Haggis on drums and vocals; and Tord Øverland-Knudsen, a Norwegian who has also made his home in the city. Dan Haggis kindly offers The Wombats resume on a platter. He’s itching to bring the lads back to Australia for the Parklife tour in September.

The trio are best known for their 2008 indie-rock hit ‘Let's Dance To Joy Division’, which won them an NME Award for Best Dancefloor Filler and has had over one million hits on YouTube!

“I guess I've always done music individually, and we've always done music in one form or another,” says Dan. “Someone was on guitars and I was on flute and someone else played the cello and then we individually discovered metal and punk and rock and eventually formed a group! We didn't know what to do though; we'd been in bands after school and we went to L.I.P.A - the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.”

Piece of trivia then: the Institute was actually where the trio met but more interestingly, it was where Paul McCartney trained too. “Sol came from Norway afterwards and we didn't really have any major plans for what to do but after bit of jamming a new sound was coming from the three of us and right then, it didn't seem like there was another option. Obviously, having a musical background helps; I did one year there and the others did three years and if nothing else, it gives you technique and you learn songwriting as an artform.”

Dan is quick to qualify that there aren't songwriting lessons (as such) so you aren't going to teach someone to be original or creative. But you can get a good musical grounding - and for that, the trio is grateful.

“Something that happens with bands is that when three people get together, individually they might not be able to do anything great, but when there are three sets of ideas, you can get this chemistry and you can come up with some great ideas.”

And with punk and indie, it's more about playing and having fun - coupled with a little rebellion. “We weren't always about the best drum or the best guitar solo ever. We were more about getting over our hangovers! The whole scene I think has gone full circle; I don't know about Australia but the UK at the minute seems to be a mish mash of all the genres into one. Sure it has always been there, but sometimes things become more popular and something might have more synths or something; I'm still concentrating on playing my drum kit!”

The lads are busily preparing their new album, with the first single due sometime around September and the LP due to hit stores around January 2011.

“It's not like it's going to change things that much. The songs we've recorded already sound like they're going into a slightly new direction for us but then it’s not too dissimilar to the work we've done before. It will definitely sound newer; but we've also tried to keep it exciting for ourselves and for our fans. Sonically it will sound fresher but it won't depart from our philosophy too much.”  

Finally, the trio is set to return to Australia for their third tour. Hot on the heels of performing at the infamous Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds Festivals, the boys are excited about performing a number of festival dates around the country. “We'll be playing a lot of new songs and a lot of old ones. All the energy we've been holding inside for the last eight months will be unleashed! So the fans better be ready! There will be no excuses!”

The Wombats are part of the 2010, 10th Anniversary Parklife lineup. the gold coast leg happens at the parklands september 25.

Geneva Calling

It's certainly an interesting name for what is essentially a hip hop outfit out of Geneva, New York. And life for Matt McGinley started when he fell in love with music. 

“I basically just wanted to get into dance and electronic music,” he says. “I took up drums when I was 11 or 12 and it just snowballed from there. I met our singer Travis McCoy pretty much after learning to play drums myself. And I kind of accredit learning to play instruments, to being a part of Gym Class Heroes.”

Indeed, the group was born as a result of the lads spending a fair amount of time being bored. “We just wanted something to do with our spare time,” chimes Matt. “We started to take it more and more seriously as the time went on - and the only way we got better was by writing our own music and recording it.”

So what started out as innocent fun turned serious when the boys got a record deal or four - but even since, their heads have remained screwed on: “We haven't had a massive agenda or anything like that,” Matt says. “It's just something that started innocently and honestly and it's all about making us happy. Right now too, we're working on a new record but we haven't started the studio process just yet; we're taking the time to write the material and trying to make sure songs are how we want them to be.”

Likewise, each of their album efforts - it's at least three or four now - have evolved from the last and expanded on existing foundations.

“We never want to rehash what we've already done,” says Matt. “We never want to make the same record twice. I can't say what that is in terms of sound or what path it will lead us down, but I'm comfortable that making music isn't necessary for everybody and we're about doing something that is outside the box.”

Finally, the Gym Class Heroes crew is on their way down under again after a year-long hiatus. “Yes, were coming down there in February,” confirms Matt. “We doing some big festival dates and it's always amazing to play to that kind of audience. These are the people who not only come to your show as a fan of your music, but also as fans of music generally. I've already seen part of the schedule and it will be awesome to experience all of that in one place. We've also got a bit of free time so I'm really looking forward to spending some time as a tourist as well!”

Gym Class Heroes are part of the massive Good Vibrations festival hitting Parklands Showgrounds, Gold Coast on Saturday February 20.

Rasta Times

The guys from The Wailers don't give interviews often, and not because the Jamaican version of their spoken English is difficult to understand, but rather, so they can communicate through their music.

Indeed, with Bob Marley in tow, the original crew managed to sell some two hundred million records since they came together in the 1960s. Those sorts of numbers propel them to the same heady heights as pop icons like Madonna, U2 and MJ.

Subsequently, the new group was formed post the original outfit, sometime during 2008 by former Wailer Al Anderson and Junior Marvin - best known for their lead guitar and backing vocal work while playing with Bob and the original crew in the 1970s and 80s.

By late last year, the guys embarked on their first world tour and continued to spread their message of unbridled love and peace. And in 2009, The Movement of The People tour makes its way down under.

The tour will feature a retrospective celebration of the ‘Exodus’ album, voted by Time Magazine as the most important album of the 20th century. So with legendary reggae session drummer Paapa Nyarkoh and Jamaican keyboard virtuoso Desi Hyson onboard, they hope to continue to convey their story through lyrics and music.

The ‘Exodus’ album stands as the definitive statement of the concerns and the artistry of Marley, who, while himself marked by many of humanity's imperfections, rose from the obscurity of a third world shanty town to become one of the planet's most beloved and inspiring figures. His message speaks across generations of people of every colour and creed. And for five nights in November this message will be heard loud, clear and righteous in Australia.

These guys are just plain old rockers. And it's no doubt roots and reggae at its finest, most uplifting. Indeed, The Original Wailers represent the culture of Jamaica and the Caribbean in song and gospel. It is simply, music. And Junior says he doesn't even need to elaborate.

“If you know the music then you should know what it's about. It's all about giving thanks. We've been at this for some time and I'm still going strong. The idea is to bring people together and get recognition for our work and where we stand.”

Sure, an artist who has been in the game so long is likely to have an extensive collection of albums to his name - and he does. In a slight twist, I wonder why he is persistently calling me virgin; perhaps this is the correct nomenclature - but he digresses.

“It's not about record companies; rasta and all these concepts are natural. I know rasta and it is real. Some people like fashion, some people like popularity. I'm not about fashion or style or hype - I like to bring people together to have a good time.”

And much of their music, like much of the sound coming from the region - both roots and reggae - has a focus on peace and love. And their songs are testament to that.

“It's about our culture and looking into the future. I could be from the future, so I might not even be talking to you right now! The music though, importantly, represents everything that people know and love about the green, red and yellow. And a message always abounds - red is the memorial to the blood shed by patriots. Yellow stands for the wealth of heritage. And green represents the forests and vegetation.”

In turn, the music represents true sign writing. “I would just say to people - make love, not war. Love is beautiful and war is ugly. We are in the transition. We are planting the seeds for the children and we want to overcome the struggle. In Iraq, in Africa, people are dying. For many years, we have been trying to change that.

“There are forces that discredit women, and praise guns; we need to try to reach out to those people and stop evil. My hope is to see the people of the world and kick knowledge and culture. We are going to be on stage as one big band. I built my character from that development and I carry fun to the stage, dancing and messing around. It's me!”

Now, who said education?

The Original Wailers play the Beach Hotel November 23 and the Hi-Fi November 25.

Doing It Easy

Joseph Mount and Oscar Cash are doing things easy again now. Their 2008 album, ‘Nights Out’, was well received and right now it's a continuous whirlwind of touring to continue promoting it.

Joseph answers the phone in a huff to continue the story. “Actually mate, I'm at my parent's house and someone just phoned about insurance! I thought they were ringing back!”

Indeed, last time we spoke to the lads of Metronomy they'd just released a new album. This time, we've got new things to talk about.

“Last time it was all fun and games and now we've dropped a crew member and taken on some others! So it has been a bit challenging.”

Although that's not to say things went pear shaped - it was a mutually acceptable decision that left the guys friends.

“Gabriel moved on so I suppose it’s big news for him, but he left with no exciting stories or fights; it's all completely fine. He's basically working on his bands now and he's writing songs and he's been doing that as long as I've know him. So when he said he wanted to do something else, we thought good luck to him. We're helping him out with his production and co-writing - and that happened in April.”

Of course the timing of such a departure could never have made things easy, but nevertheless the crew continued on. Joseph continues.

“All of our tours were booked up and even then we knew we were coming to Australia; we had two weeks where we'd planned to rest so we had to sort out a new band instead! I talked to Oscar about it and we thought we couldn't do the same show with someone else where Gabriel was. Basically, we decided that the period where we were three guys with three keyboards should be associated with the old Metronomy.

“We really wanted to go in a new sort of direction. We thought about it in terms of what would happen if we were looking from the outside in - that is, if I was a fan of a band and someone left, and then they decided to do something different. I'd have a lot more respect for them than if they just pushed on down exactly the same path - so we used this opportunity to do that.”

Though it wasn't only about changing up the sound, but also the logistics of how they presented their music live.

“Previously it was a laptop that ran drum beats and backing tracks,” says Joseph. “We were totally tied to the computer - the idea was to go from that to the opposite of that, but keep the attitude and feel of it all.

“We decided to get a drummer to play instead of a computer and to do it absolutely live. It’s weird being tied down to a computer or a backing track - it restricts you in the sense that you can't jam something out. We found a drummer and someone who could play bass and started from the ground up again really.

“The show is also changing and we'd spent many months promoting the album so it was a good time to do that; the world tour we did was that last chapter. Now the tour we're doing is a different experience so it is going to make something different.

“And that's why we've decided the next record we do will involve more musicians - the whole thing of a band is like a good evolution for us so we want to enjoy the fact that it's different and unpredictable. And of course, we're super excited about getting back to Australia again. We really love it down there - the people are open-minded and really know how to have a good time. I hope they like the new Metronomy.”

Metronomy plays The Zoo on September 25 then back-up at Parklife on September 26. ‘Nights Out’ is available through Warner Music.