An evening with idiedtrying and “Black Christmas” is on Dec. 14 at Englewood Cinema.
There will be special guests and surprises, including Christmas photos with “Belligerent Santa,” a holiday costume contest, a horror memorabilia raffle and more.
Proceeds for the event will go to a charity to purchase toys for kids this holiday season.
The idea behind Cross Media Theater, with Goff playing an idiedtrying set before a screening a movie, grew out of his passion for both art forms. After opening for some of his favorite musicians, he started opening for his favorite horror films.
“Black Christmas” will be the eighth Cross Media Theater show, following on the heels of “My Bloody Valentine 3D” and “Jaws” earlier this year.
“I’m way more inspired by film and that medium to create music,” Goff said, “than I am by music to create music.”
In October, Goff took that concept to a whole new level with an original live score of the 1922 silent film, “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.” He spent six weeks, nearly 300 hours creating a brand new accompaniment to the film’s visuals, creating a full orchestral bed score layered with found sounds to create an ambience the music resides in.
“You don’t realize how silent a movie is until you’re scoring it,” Goff said.
On top of the pre-recorded arrangements, Goff made his seven-string guitar sound like a violin, a bass, an acoustic and, somehow, a foghorn. Loopers, theremins, vocals, keys and kazoos were also involved in the making of the frightening, abstract and sometimes humorous score.
It was all performed live to the screening of the public domain film.
An idiedtrying set typically involves Goff using the entirety of the stage, throwing his guitar around, facing the crowd through all the sweat and blood it takes to express the raw emotions of his music. But for the “Nosferatu” score, he sat down and hid behind the instruments. He didn’t want anyone to watch him; he wanted everyone to watch the screen.
While the sludgy idiedtrying sound was there — the first heavy riff coming in at the 36-minute mark — it wasn’t the defining characteristic. A worldly audio score, autonomous to the music, created an entirely new and compelling aspect to the century-old film.
The recut and rescored version of “Nosferatu” is now available on Blu-ray from I Am What I Am Productions.
Just before the October performance of “Nosferatu,” Goff had heart surgery. Earlier in the year he noticed his pulse going out of rhythm, describing it like two different drummers playing at the same time. But after a successful cardiac ablation, Goff was more invigorated than ever before to keep doing what he loves.
“Sometimes it takes something to wake me up, man, to be present and really own my situation,” Goff said. “It makes you really appreciate life in general. I try to look at everything as a teaching moment. I’m trying to be more there for people. That way, if something were to happen, man, and I were to slip away one day, I did as much as I could do while I was here.”
In other words, idiedtrying is both a band name and a statement.
“I’m not allowed to be inauthentic and stand in front of this logo. Music, and especially film, means something to me,” he said. “The ‘Nosferatu’ thing was like, Okay, I’m gonna lean into this. There was a possibility that I wasn’t even gonna be here. So I’m gonna do this as best as I can.”
Brandon Berry writes about the local Dayton and Southwest Ohio music scene. Have a story idea for him? Email branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Cross Media Christmas, an evening with idiedtrying & “Black Christmas”
When: 6 - 11 p.m., Dec. 14
Where: Englewood Cinema, 320 National Road, #21, Englewood
Cost: $15 advance, $20 door
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