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Deep Dish. The name conjures late-90s American house music, par excellence. But late 90s house music nevertheless. For slightly younger partiers the name is inextricably linked with massive, guitar-driven, MTV-baiting hit Flashdance. A great commercial record but nothing Stuart Price probably couldn't have knocked out in a spare hour between studio sessions with Madonna. Lately, Deep Dish has taken on a whole new resonance with - ahem - Sharam's breakthrough solo hit P.A.T.T. (Party All The Time, kids!) a record so cynically aimed at the audio receptors of alco-pop swilling suburban tweenies who's idea of a good night out involves an outfit from New Look, dancing around their handbags and a drunken snog with a shaven-headed bloke called Barry it practically defies belief.

For the fond nostalgia set Party All The Time was the last nail in the Deep Dish credibility coffin. So completely did it sink the brand it seems few have even bothered to ask, hey, what happened to Dubfire? Unlike his erstwhile brother-in-musical-arms, Ali Shirazinia - aka Dubfire - vanished from the commercial house radar so fast he may as well have popped through a wormhole. Which ended up thowing him out, of all places, right in the heart of uber-cool minimal techno territory.

That's right. Mr Flashdance, Mr "I won a Grammy for remixing Dido", Mr Arch-Representative of Radio Friendly 4/4 Beats has gone all… underground. There is his remix of Spastik for the Plastikman Richie Hawtin, his critically approved cut RibCage which had the honour of being the first release on Loco Dice and Martin Buttrich's label, the founding of his own imprint Sci+Tec.

Fact is, he shows every sign of being deadly serious about inveigling himself into the world he discovered on the dancefloor of DC10. Not that it has been plain sailing. Dubfire reckons he has work to do and critics to win over. One thing he won't miss, though: the charts. "I have no interest in doing anything commercial," he says…

What's life like for you at the moment?
"I'm at home in Washington DC, for the holidays. I like to say it's where I live [but] I pretty much live out of a suitcase. If my house burnt down I'd have everything with me that I need to survive and be happy."  Sharam and I reached the end of our creative cycle with Deep Dish.

Are you not tempted to move your base of operations to Europe?
"No, no, no. I enjoy hanging with the Berlin crew but I travel so much I'm always in Europe, I don't really need to move there. I come home to feel grounded, to get away from the madness."  

You're going in a very underground direction these days - is this something you've wanted to pursue for a long time?
"My heart's always been there. Sharam and I reached the end of our creative cycle with Deep Dish and I was trying to realise all the ideas I couldn't realise in Deep Dish. As a team we had to compromise so with the solo stuff I call the shots. I had a lot of ideas brewing over the years I wanted to try out." 

Did the huge commercial success of Deep Dish make your new direction possible?
"I don't think so. People are more sceptical of my new direction because I come from Deep Dish. A lot of people thought Deep Dish had become this commercial beast turning out Top 10 hits and were wary of accepting me. But the music speaks for itself."    

But Deep Dish was very commercially successful over the years - does that relieve financial pressure of trying new ventures?
"I still face the same financial and creative obstacles I faced when I started out. For most of our career most of what came in went right back into developing the brand. We invested a lot of our resources into building Deep Dish. A lot of people within my inner circle thought I was crazy to go back underground, to start from scratch. But it feels very therapeutic, very rejuvenating to do that. To go back to where you started, how you felt, and what your experiences were from those early days. I was at these after parties, or hanging out at DC10 in the middle of the dancefloor, and it felt really good and natural to go back to just being a fan of music again."  

Is it strange not having the team element in the studio now?
"It definitely takes getting used to."  

Are you and Sharam competitive?
"I wouldn't say that because the stuff I'm doing is not aimed for the charts. There's no commercial goal with what I'm doing. I'm making music for the dancefloor, straight from the underground. There's a little [rivalry], but it's healthy competition - not resting on your laurels." 

Do you still DJ together as Deep Dish?
"We do the odd gig together. Space Closing was the last time we played together before New Year's Eve, when we played Seoul. Do we play each others records? A lot. I used to play Party All The Time."  

How did Space Closing feel? Was it good to be there as Deep Dish or were you wishing you could drop some underground stuff?
"We really clicked... That Closing we'd both had a great year, we'd done a lot of gigs and it was time to blow off some steam. I was really into Sharam's set and how he played and it pushed me. It felt like we were partners again, like 10 years ago." 

It must be nice to know you can still have that…
"Yeah, a lot of duos don't last. But we had ideas and the desire to succeed. We were blessed with a great career." At the end of the day, whether I was in Deep Dish or whether I came from nowhere, it's about the quality and consistency of the music rather than my reputation.  

You did several Global Underground compilations as Deep Dish - how was it different working solo on GU31: Taipei?  Watch video promo here
"It was quite difficult really. I missed Sharam when I was putting it together. I honestly can't stand doing mix compilations. It's such a time consuming, aggravating process. I'd rather be doing original productions." 

What changes have you seen in the States in your career? What's it like right now?
"It's gotten better. Dance music culture is pretty healthy. I did a tour of Middle America recently and I got to see a lot of places I don't normally get too. I was surprised in some respects and horrified in others. I still saw old school rave culture and beliefs in a lot of these places, it seemed like they hadn't moved on musically and stylistically from the late 80s or early 90s." 

Speaking of the late 80s… you covered [angsty glam rockers] Love & Rockets' I Feel Speed, why this record?
"It's something I've always wanted to do. We did a Deep Dish mix with a Love & Rockets track a few years back and I was able to meet them and tell them what a big influence they were. We became friends and have stayed friends for many years."  

People sat up and took notice when you remixed Plastikman's Spastik - how did you hook up with Richie?
"I've known Richie for a very long time, from the old days, the Detroit days. He was a fan of Deep Dish in its heyday. The remix was something to spice up my own sets. I'd always been a fan of the original and I wanted to beef it up. He liked it and I liked it." 

And there was your release, RibCage on Dice's label - how did that come about?
"I've been friends with Dice for a really long time, Martin as well. Dice was instrumental in shaping my new direction when I was at a crossroads, musically. I had a chance to see him play last summer in Ibiza and he changed my whole perspective of music - he played an amazing set at DC10. He's unbelievable."  

Where's your favourite place to play right now?
"I just came back from Japan and had an unbelievable gig at Womb. It's probably my favourite club in the world. It's the essence of what a clubbing experience is all about, a dark room, an amazing soundsystem, perfect lighting and the most important ingredient - an amazing crowd. They come early, stay till close and you can play anything you want. I can pull out the weirdest records, the stuff I never get a chance to play, the darker, super-underground, experimental tracks. They absorb it all, which is great because a DJ's only as good as the crowd he's playing to." 

Your roots are in Iran - how has your life in the States changed since 9/11?
"Travelling is a lot more difficult. I've got tons of electronics and I'm Persian so I tend to get singled out. But what are you going to do? You can't fight the system." 

How do you feel about the US attitude to Iran? Do you feel as an artist you have an opportunity or obligation to be political?
"No. It's a dirty business. I'd rather not get sucked in. Most of my family is still in Iran but I haven't gone back since I left in 1978. Dice just changed my whole perspective of music...I would like to go, if it were as easy as going to Paris or Romania but unfortunately it's not."  

What are you New Year's resolutions?
"I was just writing them down, actually. To have fewer portions when I eat… ummm… to detox. I had a great year so I'm a little freaked out about 2008 - in a positive way. I'm trying to figure out how I can make it better. I've signed a lot of stuff to my Sci+Tec label and I'll be kicking off the brand at the WMC so I'm lining up some cool people to play, like Tiefschwarz, Luciano, hopefully Loco Dice. In the studio I'm doing a project with a bunch of Neapolitan DJs called Angels Over Naples… and we'll be doing parties together. It's my tip of the hat to that whole scene."

What are your predictions for who'll be big in dance in 2008?
"Paul Ritch, who is a good friend of mine from Paris. A guy called Sergio Muñoz from Caracas who's doing great work right now. And Gaiser. I think a lot of the stuff he does goes over people's heads, they don't realise how amazing, how organic and intricate it is. They don't get it, but I get it. I think he's going to be huge this year."  

Now you have a foot in each "super-successful commercial house partnership" and "hip underground techno" camp tell us, who throws the best parties?
"They're both great. I feel kind of schizophrenic right now. I'm blessed to have two careers."  

You know you'll probably never win a Grammy producing for M_nus or Sci+Tec… does that bother you at all?
"No. I'm really not interested! I have no interest in doing anything commercial, not right now! [laughs]..."

www.myspace.com/djdubfire