In Session: Dubfire

The EDM bubble's burst and and you can feel boredom with the drop-after-drop formula sweeping across the United States.

In Big Room's wake has arrived a healthy interest in darker sounds as well as a rise in boutique festivals that book underground DJs. One such event is CRSSD, where Dubfire will headline later this autumn. He's become a talisman of the type of techno that the US' maturing dance music audience is gravitating towards. They crave dance music that's fresh to them and artists like the long-serving Iranian American are the perfect guide.

It's perhaps a happy coincidence that the arrival of a doe-eyed batch of electronic music connoisseurs collided with the monumental introduction of his dubfire:liveHYBRID concept, an eye-catching amalgamation of Dubfire's special breed of techno, his invested interest in technology and the coming together of both. It's an "assault on the senses", as he puts it himself, that cuts out the element of playing other people's music and allows Dubfire to showcase his own catalogue through and through. Though HYBRID made its first debut two years ago, 2016 alone has seen Dubfire bring his mesmerizing display to Movement in Detroit and arguably the largest stage for innovative music performance, Coachella.

"While it hasn’t been easy to convince promoters and venues to book the show due to the production commitments as well as financial strains (for me and them), I’ve been very pleased with the progress and how hopefully, I’ve done my bit to elevate the 'techno' genre to greater heights," Ali said of his project and its journey so far. HYBRID is set to officially retire in April 2017, making way for what seems like an obscenely overdue debut album and yet another live counterpart to come.

While it may seem silly to some that such a prolific artist has yet to release an inaugural album, Dubfire isn't one to walk the oft-traveled path.

Instead, before his forthcoming LP, he first plans to release 'Hybrid: A Decade of Dubfire', a retrospective album outlining the past 10 years of Dubfire's journey as a solo artist following his departure from Deep Dish, a two-piece, Grammy-winning project he created with Sharam.

In addition, Dubfire may be one of the only artists to already be considered a leader in his genre and see the release of his own documentary before ever releasing a full-length album under his name. Above Ground Level follows Ali's own personal journey leaving his home country of Iran and landing in Washington DC to pursue his own rendition of The American Dream.

"The only direction I gave to the filmmakers was to make something that told a human story, free from the cliches that literally every single electronic music documentary or fictional dance music film that has been made is guilty of."

So while Dubfire - who has an extensive trail of noteworthy musical achievements like Grammy wins and a coveted partnership with fellow underground savant Richie Hawtin - may seem untouchable in many ways, Above Ground Level aims to return him back to the sphere of "just another guy who loves making music".

"It’s an inspiring story for others who dream of a career in music; that through hard work and sacrifice, creative and financial success IS possible," he says. "But it’s also a cautionary tale that no matter how much money or fame you have, if you are not creatively stimulated, challenged and motivated - if your growth is stifled for some reason - then you are at a standstill and need to find a new way forward; even if that involves considerable risk or a step into uncharted territory."

But before Dubfire dives into the next chapter accented by a worthy documentary and a long-awaited album, he first joins Mixmag for a worthy In Session. The mix arrives from his recent performance at Dolce Vita in Salerno and dives into the darkest corners of techno that only Dubfire could commandeer so masterfully.

Tune in the Dubfire on In Session below.

Catch Dubfire at CRSSD Fest in San Diego, October 1 and 2. Find info and tickets here.

Valerie Lee is Mixmag's US Digital Editor. Follow her on Twitter here