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There can be no question about it, with a wry smile to those who questioned his motives post-Deep Dish, 2008 saw Dubfire invade the worlds of dark, minimal and techno and come out triumphant.  

Since Ibiza Voice spoke to him at the start year, Ali picked up where 'Ribcage' and 'Emissions' left off in 2007 with some of the most rinsed and applauded production work of the year. There has been the explosive 'Diablo' with Oliver Huntemann, a whole host of releases on his SCI+TEC Digital Audio label and most notably of all, the remixes. 

His "terror planet" remix of 'Grindhouse' by Radio Slave has been the sensation of the year, which has, along with his studio skills on Minologue's 'Jamaica' and Booka Shade's 'Charlotte', elevated Dubfire into the premier league of remixers. Of course, from his time with Sharam, Ali is well used to playing the travelling DJ, which is a good job really as 2008 has seen him take in pretty much all in North America and Europe, including just about every festival going.

In between gigs either side of the Atlantic, we caught up with Dubfire in the latest of the 'Confidential' series. 

1) Where do you call home?
These days, either an airport, plane, hotel or club :-)

2) Were you happy as a child?
Hmm, somewhat happy...

3) How much did your childhood help you in becoming an artist?
Yes, in my teenage years, I hung out with a lot of musicians, playing in bands and I saw a lot of shows and they sort of planted a combined musical seed in me.

4) Do you believe in fate / God?
I believe in humanity and karma.

5) What or who is the biggest inspiration in your life?
My family.

6) Children, yes or no?
No.

7) Who is your idol and why?
I have many idols - currently it's my iPhone 3G and all of the great apps I have on it :-)

8) What's the weirdest thing you've done to play at a gig?
Nothing weird and I've never had to ask to play though I do tend to play for free on a night off as often as I can:-)

9) Which artist or track did you think was no good but became successful?
Pretty much everything that I hear in pop music tends to fit both of those criteria :-)

10) One thing you hate about dance music culture…?
The unprofessionalism that exists with some people, as well as the fact that everyone is strangely NOT candid or revealing in the press about our scene.

11) Last club you went to party at, rather than to play?!
Club Der Visionaire in Berlin to see Villalobos and Zip tag team, which was brilliant.

12) After hours; yes or no?
Only the good ones and with the right people :-)

13) If you were interviewing yourself, what question would you ask and what would the answer be?
Not sure about a specific question but I think that anything to do with the technical side of what we do on the road and in the studio along with giving any career advice to others tends to be a great resource to fans.

14) What do you want to plug/promote?
A collaboration between myself and producers from the Napoli techno scene: Rino Cerrone, Simi, Gianni Pellecchia, Gaetano Parisio and Joseph Capriati called "Angels Over Naples".  It is a two-EP collection -- Part One debuts on 19 November on Beatport.

:: Listen to Dubfire I Voice Podcast here...

www.myspace.com/djdubfire   | www.myspace.com/scitec

Previous Confidential: #1 Toby Neumann | #2 Cassy