Hypnotic recipe for Deep Dish

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I moved to Washington from Manhattan in 1992 expecting the D.C. club/music scene to be tame by comparison..Then I was tipped off to a club called Exodus. . Open every weekend in a basement restaurant on Connecticut Avenue near Dupont Circle, Exodus was a revelation: The vibe and decor were loungey and intimate in a manner that is now fairly standard, but was unusual for the time. Even better, the club played a wide-ranging mix of danceable reggae, house, funk and hip-hop, a potent blend that had a rainbow crowd packing the dance floor.

The club's promoter was Eric Hilton, a Washington native who would go on to found Thievery Corporation, the influential electronica group. Mr. Hilton is also the force behind a string of clubs and restaurants in Washington that includes Dragonfly and the 18th Street Lounge.

The DJ manning the decks at Exodus was an Iranian-American, 21-year-old Ali Shirazinia, who went by the moniker Dubfire. A decade later, Dubfire recalls the atmosphere at Exodus: "I haven't experienced that feeling again, this environment of all races and backgrounds."

By 1993 I was DJ-ing on Friday nights at State of the Union, a grungy bar with a back room dance floor that was one of the first clubs to open on the slowly gentrifying U Street corridor. The DJ the following night was Dubfire, by now aided by his partner Sharam Tayebi, also an Iranian-American. They collectively went by the name of Deep Dish, a nod to the deep, lush house music that is their signature.

Jump to 2003, and Deep Dish are now probably the most influential DJ team in the world, and instead of playing U Street they spin for crowds that number in the thousands at mega-clubs across the planet. Last year they won the ultimate accolade, a Grammy, for their throbbing remix of Dido's "Thank You," and in recent years they have worked their production magic for everyone from Justin Timberlake to Depeche Mode to Madonna and the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy. (Me, I DJ at home now).

From their Georgetown headquarters Deep Dish preside over a music empire with a staff of two dozen people who manage their various businesses, including: the potent Deep Dish brand itself; three record labels that churn out dozens of releases a year, an online record store and a booking agency for DJs.

I caught up with them last month in their recording studio, reached via a nondescript 19th century alley off Wisconsin Avenue. Mr. Shirazinia and Mr. Tayebi, both in their early 30s, appeared thoughtful, focused, and disciplined. Mr. Tayebi explained matter-of-factly, "It's called the music business; we were less focused on the business side before."

With their tour schedule, the two had better be focused on business.

As of mid-November, they had already performed an astonishing 117 gigs around the world this year. At a reported average of $7,000 to $10,000 a gig, that quickly gets to be some serious change.