Interview: On a Cross-Faded Trip with DJ NicFit

If you’ve never attended a Cross-Faded Cinema screening, do yourself a favor and remedy that as soon as possible. I had the pleasure of attending my first SIFF x CFC event at last year’s Festival, where The NeverEnding Story entered a new dimension with a live-mixed soundtrack by DJ NicFit, the Seattle-based artist behind Cross-Faded Cinema. This year’s event is going to be equally entrancing with another fantasy cult classic, The Dark Crystal, reaching new sensory heights at SIFF Cinema Downtown, May 20.

Gearing up for this year’s collaboration, I asked DJ NicFit about the inception of Cross-Faded Cinema, his creative process, and his expeditions through the Reel World. Check it out.

INTERVIEWER: For those who haven’t been to a Cross-Faded Cinema event yet, can you describe what the experience is like?

DJ NICFIT: The Cross-Faded experience is an exploration of synchronized soundtracks. I like to tell people it's a live remix of classic films performed on two turntables and shown on the big screen. The new soundtrack will enhance a scene or make it more intense. Some songs may be telling you exactly what is happening in a scene with the lyrics. Some songs will juxtapose the scene and give for a more abstract viewpoint of the movie. Everything is intentional.

INTERVIEWER: When did you start Cross-Faded Cinema, and what was the inspiration behind it? How long have you been collaborating with SIFF?

NICFIT: I started remixing films in 2010 and performing them at the screening room inside Naked City Brewery. The owner of Naked City and classic film buff, Don Webb, approached the staff when we were getting ready to open this theater room and asked what we should do with the room aside from playing old films. I suggested getting a grand piano and hiring a pianist to perform to old silent films. I went home that night and realized I could play soundtracks to films on my turntables, and that the piano man idea is a snoozer. It was like I was awakened from the monotonous, rat-race fever dream of club DJing and inspired to create a new type of art form on turntables. I put together a demo, and, three months later, I had finished my version of Metropolis.

I started working with SIFF about 7 years ago. My friend and former SIFF programmer Clinton McClung advocated for me to his uppers to get me on the lineup. Aside from COVID, SIFF keeps having me back to perform at the Festival, and I have done a few one-offs at the Egyptian. 

INTERVIEWER: How do you go about selecting a film, and what’s your process like for creating a new soundtrack for it?

NICFIT: When selecting a film, I try to let the universe guide me. I get great suggestions from friends and strangers. I'll go to Scarecrow and rent or buy movies from those suggestions. Then, I'll watch them while I’m in front of my gear and see what happens. Oftentimes the film just doesn't work or I realize I don't want to watch it every day for months. The process is trial and error with a touch of luck, magic, and the universe. Sometimes I'll watch a five-minute scene for hours trying different songs, and nothing will work. Some days, everything will fall into its perfect place, and I'll have four scenes completed. It's really magical when you can create synchronized moments.

INTERVIEWER: I attended The NeverEnding Story last year, and the audience really gets into the soundtracks you mix live. Any particularly memorable audience reactions you’d like to share?

NICFIT: I like to break the fourth wall with audiences when I can. Dropping balloons into the crowd at the climax of Fantastic Planet while the Flaming Lips are blasting, just like the band does at their live shows. Bubble machines for the fairy scenes in Legend. But my most memorable moment was during the screening of Beetlejuice. I secretly hired four dancers to come alive in the audience during the dinner scene where the Deetzes and their friends are possessed. My dancers all picked a character to mimic, and the crowd erupted with cheers as they did the dinner dance to [Harry Belafonte’s] “Day-O,” and then just went back to watching the film like nothing happened.

INTERVIEWER: Which film never fails to transport you to the Reel World?

NICFIT: It would be really hard to narrow it down to just one film that transports me to the Reel World. Metropolis is special because it’s really not much different from reality right now. The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. One day people will have enough and rise up to end the madness. I also get lost in movies that impacted me as a kid, NeverEnding Story, Princess Bride, Howard the Duck, and Wizard of Oz, which is my new favorite to perform.

Thanks again to DJ NicFit for the chat! Cross-Faded Cinema presents quarterly shows at Here-After in Belltown, just down the street from SIFF Cinema Downtown. The next film to be remixed, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, will play June 4th.

Make sure to secure your tickets to DJ NicFit’s unique sonic reimagining of The Dark Crystal, May 20 at SIFF Cinema Downtown. It’s going to be a total trip.

Buy Tickets

DJ NicFit began DJ'ing in 1996 and immediately fell in love with hip-hop, scratching, and DJ culture in the PNW. After a decade of constant practice, music production, and listening to music with purpose, he started to work club gigs, weddings, and special events. Around 2009, NicFit became known for their live drum and bass sets at legendary nights, like D&B Tuesdays and Onset. In 2012, he created what is now known as Cross-Faded Cinema. The concept was to remix films using two turntables and replacing the soundtrack with a perfectly synchronized DJ soundtrack. In 2018, Nick ventured into mixing psychedelic music videos to create The Mind Melting Video Series. One thing you should know about NicFit is that he is always looking to take the DJ'ing art form into new territory in the ever-changing technological world we all share.