Thursday, July 17, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Music: The new guys

DJs Desyn, Fair join the house Deep Dish built

By Mike Prevatt

It should follow that the superstar DJ--a natural byproduct of electronic dance music's ascent in popular culture--should encourage new talent to ensure the growth and sustenance of the genre. More than promoters, label heads and even pop superstars who use fresh faces as remixers, the international turntablist has optimal influence in breaking new names. Sasha and John Digweed have nurtured such talent as Jimmy Van M and Tim Skinner, while Paul Oakenfold has assisted Dave Ralph and Hernan Cattaneo, both who now rank in DJ magazine's yearly 100 list.

Washington DC duo Deep Dish--Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi--has cultivated a significant group of progressive/house artists with its Yoshitoshi imprint, which has spun off a sister label in Shinichi and a respected booking agency called Bullitt. Recently, the duo has given programming and mixing duties of Yoshitoshi's In House We Trust series to their lesser-known labelmates--much like Oakenfold did with his Tranceport series. Last year, Bay Area DJ Behrouz and Canadian MV (Envy) revived the mix, six years after its Deep Dish-handled inauguration. This year's sequel showcases another Canadian, Luke Fair, along with Brit Desyn Masiello--both of whom have already earned praise from progressive headliners such as Digweed, Sander Kleinenberg and Danny Howells.

To emphasize the trust Deep Dish has in its instincts, neither up-and-comer has worked extensively with the duo or Yoshitoshi. Fair has remixed a few tracks for the label, eventually signing on to Bullitt, and Desyn, as he's known, logistically qualified for the In House We Trust honor solely based on him being a Bullitt client.

The two DJ/producers started the split album with 100 tracks, all from Yoshitoshi and Shinichi. The paring down began there--each DJ had to find the songs he liked, making sure the other wasn't also using the same songs, and from there determine which of them would flow together and create a compelling, 80-minute mix. In the end, both men were left with 15 tracks each, and after shedding a few songs and incorporating additional production, two prog-leaning, tech-friendly, groove-heavy sets emerged, differentiated by technique and bonded by source.

Handling such a treasured catalog of songs meant varying directives and demands. "I did feel a lot of pressure," says Fair. "[Yoshitoshi is] of one of my favorite dance labels, so [working] with its catalog...took me a little longer. Basically, I tried, in one CD, to showcase all the different types of sounds [of] the label."

Desyn looked at his task a little more realistically. "[We did the] mix CD with more of a representation of, obviously, Yoshitoshi, and with bits of our personality," he says. "Now, I would never play a set songs from just one label. You've got to choose from the ones you like, and I don't like everything on Yoshitoshi, just like I don't with any other label. From my perspective, I did a lot more edits to make it interesting."

Thanks to the project, both men have gotten to know each other, and their current In House We Trust Tour has been largely met with enthusiasm among international clubbers who undoubtedly trust the Yoshitoshi stamp. As certain clubbers are introduced to the styles and blending talents of Desyn and Fair, so is each artist, busy enough with promoting In House that he has yet to sit down and take in the mix that complements his own.

"To date, I haven't heard his mix and he hasn't heard mine," says Desyn. "We don't have time!"