Deep Dish

Ali came to Washington from Iran in 1978, Sharam in 1985. After an "adjustment period" they began to absorb American culture wholesale. Ali discovered DC's thriving punk industrial, hip hop and dub scenes. Sharam had grown up with a more limited soundtrack of the movie Flashdance, cheesy pop music and the Eurythmics. When he arrived in the US, the emerging house and techno scenes were a revelation to him. Both started DJing: Ali at an underground club called Exodus where he played alongside loungecore dubsters the Thievery Corporation, Sharam on Washington's "cheesy circuit", making anthems out of the house tunes he mixed with chart music.

The pair met in 1991 when DJing at a party, and formed the Deep Dish label, releasing tracks from former breakdancer and school friend BT like 'Moment Of Truth' and 'Relativity'. Carl Craig did the dubs for them. Discovered by Danny Tenaglia, they joined Rob di Stefano's Tribal label at its peak in 1994 and released a mix CD, 'Penetrate Deeper', and singles like Casa Del X's 'Elastic Reality' which put their lush, late night house into every serious househead's collection. By the end of 1995 the deep, yet irrepressibly funky sound of Deep Dish had hit paydirt. Their remix of De'Lacy's 'Hideaway' turned the track into the anthem of the year, and their Yoshitoshi label had produced Alcatraz's 'Giv Me Luv', co-produced by Victor Imbrez, BT's former engineer.

Deep Dish Now, everyone from the Rolling Stones to the Shamen has tasted the Deep Dish remix magic. According to Ali, though, the mix that "wouldn't die" was a version of 'Make The World Go Round' for Sandy B, a track that found a new lease of life when Tall Paul lifted large chunks of it for Camisra's huge hit 'Let Me Show You'. Sharam calls Tall Paul's version "a blatant rip-off"

House music, according to Deep Dish, is in a "confused" state, reeling from an overdose of bad records. DJs are confused about what to buy, while club crowds are confused about what they want to hear. "There's got to be some intelligence in the music or it's gonna die soon, " argues Sharam. That's why Deep Dish are fucking with the formulas and throwing down tracks like 'Stranded' - spaghetti western house sung by the gravel-voiced Richard Morel. Or 'Future Of The Future', a lush reworking of their 'Stay Gold' single with a heart-rending vocal by Everything But The Girl's Tracey Thorn - think 'Missing' spinning out through an orgy of gilded drum loops. It's also why Deep Dish aspire to make albums like Radiohead or U2 or The Verve. Albums that take five or six listens to really get to grips with. Albums that demand time to breathe, "like a good bottle of wine," says Ali. "We like depressing music," says Sharam. "It appeals to us more than the hands-in-the-air stuff. We like some of that too, but it has to something that touches your soul." "There's more depth in that type of music," agrees Ali firmly.

Deep Dish continue