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Someone once told Sophia Ziskin that selecting is half the job. She took it literally. Behind the decks as FIFI, the choice of what comes next is the whole craft: when to lift a room, when to drag it under, when to let a crowd sing over a track with no words at all.
This year has moved fast. A Coachella debut, EDC Thailand, and a night in London opening for James Murphy at Meltdown, the kind of show the girl playing her first tiny gig wouldn’t have believed. But the truest version of FIFI might live somewhere smaller. At Heatstroke, her own party, the rooms are hot and dark, and the music goes where festival stages rarely let it: deeper, stranger, closer to new wave and techno.
Underneath it all is home. Her Instagram bio is four Algerian flags, and she means every one of them. We spoke to FIFI about the advice that stuck, the record she’ll never play out, and the trap hidden inside the word “finished.”
Q: If the version of you playing her first tiny gig could watch one show from this year, which would you pick, and what would she not believe?
The show I did opening for James Murphy at Meltdown Fest in London was really special and gratifying. Little me definitely would’ve been mind-blown.
Q: What’s the difference between a festival FIFI set and a Heatstroke set? What can you do at your own party that you can’t anywhere else?
I love to go way darker and deeper with my music at Heatstroke, because the spaces allow me to. They’re so intimate, and the rooms are hot and dark. I like to play a bit more new wave and techno than I ever do anywhere else.
Q: You said Skrillex altered your brain chemistry. What set or track did that to you most recently?
In a very different way than Skrillex did, I’m really obsessed with Franky Rizardo right now, and his track “Shinjuku.” Somehow he’s got crowds of thousands of people singing over a track that has no lyrics. It’s genius. And his sets never miss.
Q: What’s a piece of advice from another DJ or artist that actually changed how you work?
Someone once told me that selecting is half of the job. Your taste is key.
Q: Your Instagram bio is four Algerian flags. What does that heritage give your work that people miss when they read you as a New York it-girl?
My Algerian culture is a huge part of my family life: the way I eat, the things I believe in, the way I was brought up. My main motivation is being able to rep Algeria as big as I can, everywhere I go.
Dress Diesel @diesel
Q: What’s a record you’d never play out but love privately?
Surprisingly, I don’t only listen to house and dance music. I go through phases of only wanting to listen to it, but there’s so much music I love that I would never play. I’m not going to kill the vibe by playing The Stone Roses. Everything else is fair game, though.
Q: When you’re producing, how do you know a track is finished? What’s the test it has to pass?
The word “finished” in music production is a trap. It’s something I, and probably most producers, struggle with a ton. It’s really hard to take your hands off something you’ve been working on and listening to for weeks. Even if you’re testing it out at a club and it’s going off, there could still be a lot that needs work. I think it’s just a gut feeling of, “OK, I need to stop touching this.” When you know, you know. And even when it’s finished, you’ll probably hear it and think of ten things you wish you’d done differently.
- Photographer Oceane Auclair @oceane_auclair
- MUA Molly Whiteley @mollywhiteleymakeup
- Stylist Harry Crum @harryjcrum
- Assistant Sam Pilson @dollheadfamous
