Interview_IAMX [english]

Interview with Chris Corner (IAMX) - 12/02/06, Frankfurt, Germany

We meet Chris Corner in Frankfurt's "Cocoon Club" an hour before the soundcheck for tonight's IAMX concert. Chris greets us in a friendly and quiet manner as we enter one of the apple-green cocoons. These are stylish hideaways the size of a small car with a cushioned interior located within the club's inner walls. In this sanguine environment we conduct our half-hour interview with the congenial and charismatic mastermind of the aspiring musical project IAMX: Chris Corner. Here's what we talked about.

Frank Spinath: We're talking for "Darkmoments" which is an online site. You've just started a European tour yesterday with Krefeld. Frankfurt is the second gig of this tour and, what can people expect tonight?

Chris Corner: A very unpredictable, messy, glamorous, sexy show, I hope. IAMX is always developing live. I think this is the first time I've had quite a solid group of people, rehearsed, well rehearsed, uhm, we have been together for the last two or three month. That doesn't sound like long. But, for IAMX that is quite long. I was changing members quite often, but now I really want to kind of focus and have a more tight, solid unit. So, tonight it's the second gig. We're probably experimenting a little bit, you know, to see, last night was the first one, so we tried things out and hopefully tonight we can do the same. So, the audience is kind of, you know, they are gonna be guinea pigs for the next few gigs, unfortunately. Well, that's good, you know, we tried new things and see if it works.

Frank: Your shows are intense and your performance has reached much praise in the past for being intense. You draw the audience in, into your world, into IAMX. And, you enchant them. So, to what extent do you monitor what you do on stage, or do you simply let go?
Chris: Uhm, I simply let go. In every thing that I do, creatively speaking, making records, playing live, I really have to trust my subconscious and my emotional flow because I think its much more interesting than my normal, everyday self. And there's a lot going on there that I don't really understand and it only makes sense when I, you know, make a record, or I go on stage. So, for me I keep it very loose, very spontaneous. Obviously, I know everything. It's all there. But I don't have many rules. And it keeps me interested because I'd get very bored, I think, if I was always doing the same thing every night. Obviously, you know, the performance in terms of the vocal performance has to be...
Frank:... on the spot?
Chris: Yeah. Yeah, that's really important for me. So, in that sense you have to be quite focussed. But I hope that it's so second nature that I can kinda get away with it jumping about like an idiot, you know (laughs)

Frank: I heard that you had to cancel one gig before Frankfurt because you had promotional obligations in the states. So can you tell us about these? Is America ready for IAMX at last?
Chris: I hope so! What's happened is basically I had to go away for a couple of days and do some promo out there. Basically, people are coming to us and in the past I've always been in a position where you start... You know, you have to work at people, work on people, and kinda push them, find the right people. Doing it independently, you really have to be hard working. But it's really nice when somebody actually comes to you, and one by one these people are coming to us. And that suggests that maybe the climate is right for IAMX there. Who knows... But it feels like something is happening. I don't get excited until thing actually, you know, are written on paper or ...
Frank: Sure
Chris: I mean, you know, I've done it long enough to know to not get excited by people talking. So, yeah, it could be good. I think, you know, the same situation with the UK as well. I think we're kind of dipping our feet in the water, if, you know, if they bite...,
Chris: ...we'll jump in.
Frank: lucky them (laughs)
Chris: (laughs) I hope so!

Frank: November saw the release of both "Kiss & Swallow", your first album with added bonus material and "Spit It Out", the single from "The Alternative". Could you tell us a little about this song "Spit It Out"? Why did you choose it and what's the story behind it?
Chris: I think it's quite a traditional love song, but, I'm really interested in kinda twisting words and playing more with the kind of sexual and emotional side of relationships. Because I find it very powerful and very interesting. "Spit It Out" is a bit of a kind of love song headfuck, you know. It's kind of playing with those emotions, and in some ways it's quite abstract. I wouldn't say it was about this person or that person, but more of a general state of mind in a in a bit of a complex relationship, bla bla bla... Anyway, but "Spit It Out" is... People chose it for me. I didn't really choose it. It's one of those songs that I wrote really quickly, just on a guitar and ever since I've been trying to get the right version, you know, production wise. Choosing the right sounds and I still feel very...
Frank: Is it there? I was wondering.
Chris: No, it's..., for me, personally, it's just... I know it's gonna be one of those song, forever, I'm never gonna find the right way to present it, because it was written so simply and it worked so well in that form, but I couldn't put that on a record, on a kind of, you know, electronic-based record. It didn't fit. So, I think what I'll do maybe in the future is release like an acoustic version or something. Maybe it will explain things a bit more to the people, but... c'est la vie

Frank: Is that why the VNV Nation remix is not on it? I heard about a VNV Nation remix in the pipeline, but it's not on the release.
Chris: I don't what that was about. There's some kind of company politics. I think something to do with if they couldn't do it or if the money wasn't enough, or... I don't know, some bullshit... Next time.

Frank: In the song you mention that people don't play the game of love right. That's what I heard.
Chris: Yeah
Frank: So, if you were say a psychologist or therapist, and you were to advice people in search of love. What would you advice them to you?
Chris: Back off. (laughs) That's the most important thing
Frank: (laughs) Could you elaborate on that?
Chris: I don't know, I can only talk from personal experience. Love is such a complicated thing for me, uhm, it's... I don't know if I should say really because I don't want people to kind of get the wrong idea. But, I think, you know, just being simple, simplifying the situation, I think is the best way to do things. And if you make things..., if you have too many expectations, too much addictive control over the people, it doesn't work - for me. So I've kind of learned, over time, to deal with obsession, and to deal with, you know, calming your emotions for people, controlling yourself, basically. I think that works, in general.

Frank: The way you put your ideas, your thoughts into songs obviously reaches many people. I mean, I just checked your MySpace site and you have like almost 17000 friends.
Chris: Really? That's quite good (laughs)
Frank: People really respond to you. And I read a lot of statements like "I love him", "I adore him". So, you really hit a nerve. So, how the hell do you do it?

Chris: (laughs) uhm, I think because I don't care. I don't control myself emotionally. I don't like to hide anything really, in terms of, you know, what I put on a record or how I perform something. I think, I'm very open.
Frank: The term "authentic" came to mind. When I was trying to describe to people who don't know IAMX, I typically use the word "authentic" because that's what struck me with "Kiss & Swallow". I thought: Oh my god, here's somebody who's talented and who is reaching people musically, but who is also so frank and open. That is like an invitation to say "OK, look at it... and either like it or not", but people obviously take home a lot.
Chris: Yeah. Oh, thanks! Thanks, that's a really nice thing to say. I think it is, yeah, frank and open. And, I don't know really where that comes from. Maybe my family were pretty open or... I think I've spend so long with Sneaker Pimps in a band, before IAMX, holding back a lot of, my own personal emotion in songs, you know. When you collaborate with people, when you write with people, lyrically it can be quite limiting or frustrating to get your... what you wanna say into it. Sometimes it can be great because you mix up things and you bounce off each other, and that's great. But in terms of like a real truthful to-the-point statement, I never really felt that I reached that with Sneakers. So, when you start a solo project, you have that freedom. And, I mean, you have a lot of stress and pressure bla la bla and... loneliness (laughs), but you have the freedom to express what the hell you want.
Frank: Yes. And obviously, you have reached a certain level with IAMX that this obviously works.
Chris: It's kind of self-sufficient. I don't really know what's going to happen with it. And that's good. I don't really wanna know, anyway. If I make these plans and have all this expectations, I think it's dangerous. So there's a nice playfulness to IAMX. It's really fun for me. It's very flexible and it's kinda taking me on this journey that I haven't really been on yet. And I like it.

Frank: And obviously you're quite prolific, I mean, two albums in a rather short while and high quality albums plus the soundtrack! I mean, you worked on the "Le Chevaliers Du Ciel" soundtrack and with that one the visuals that IMAX is kind of sparking, they are quite, quite interesting. So it goes together with the soundtrack work obviously very well. And you have put out videos like "The Missile" or "President" and "Spit It Out". So, can we expect a DVD release soon?

Chris: I have this idea of a kind of "package" of... because I do lots of visual things as well. I mean, I do the visuals for the shows and...
Frank: You do them yourself?
Chris: Yeah. I think maybe if, if you looked at it in a negative way I'm a bit of a control freak. I'm slightly obsessive about making sure that everything is the way that I want it to be. I'm not kind of James Brown or anything like that you know, but there is that site to me. And, I think it's because I don't like to blame people. I feel bad if somebody tries hard to make me happy, you know, with a piece of art or with a piece of music and... I don't like it. I find it difficult to say I don't like things. So I don't ever want to put myself in that position. It's easier if I just do everything myself. So there is that side of me and also I think there is an obsessive kind of workaholic side that I got from my dad. And I think if I'm not working I feel quite strange, I feel quite uncomfortable with myself. So, If I'm working it keeps me occupied. And I'm doing something I love. So I'm really lucky that I can do that. Visually, I mean, soundtracks and the stuff like that, I've always been interested in doing that. And I guess what I'm thinking of in is putting together of the visuals...
Frank: ... live performances?
Chris: Yeah, live performances... But I'd like to edit it myself and do something quite unusual. I'm not quite sure what it would be. But, you know, bits of that, bits of music, bits of the visuals, bits of interviews,…
Frank: I think Trent Reznor mixed his live DVD himself,
Chris: Really?
Frank: because he was in the same kind of realm and he said 'Well, I want a 5.1 mix, but I don't want anybody else to do it'. So he learned that. And I think it took him about a year. But, he spent hours and hours, but he got it right...
Chris: Yeah
Frank: and, I mean, he's in the position to do it, and so are you.
Chris: Good on him, yeah

Frank: You are also involved in a Russian project called "Possessed" So what exactly did you contribute? There's a video on the internet for S.H.E.?
Chris: Yes, yeah, you're right! That's not my mix.
Frank: But is the movie out in any country apart from Russia?
Chris: I don't think so. Uhm, this Russian thing, uhm, there's a few...
Frank: There was a press conference, basically, that was quite a stunt, ...
Chris: Yes, it was, yeah. It was a bit strange, but, uhm...
Frank: (laughs) you looked, well, sort of uncomfortable/comfortable, I'm not sure (laughs). What happened?
Chris: Well, I was doing a show and it was, you know, five minutes before we go on stage... I don't know if you have worked with Russians before
Frank: Yeah...
Chris: OK. There's a level of chaos that's a bit uncomfortable sometimes. So five before the show they say "Right, so it's the press conference now, yeah?"
Frank: "Alright, alright,... that one"(laughs)
Chris:"What? What are you talking about?" Suddenly, the audience kind of turned around and then there is all these cameras, and it was like everybody sat down. "You've got to do this" So we did this press conference. I didn't know what was gonna happen. But this film, uhm, ... I wrote that song for the film. And then I kinda like the song so I put it on the album. So the film came before the album. And then... I got kind of mixed up with this company that did the film. I started doing this other soundtrack. But that's... that is not really happening at the moment. Anyway, that's another story. So, yeah, I quite liked that. So...
Frank: Is there a regular soundtrack-CD for this movie that is available to fans? I mean, this version is pretty cool.
Chris: I think there is...
Frank: It's a different version than the album version.
Chris: Yeah, yeah, it is. One of the Russian guys remixed it. There is a CD available... But I think it's only in Russia...
Frank: So for the die-hard fan it will be one of those collectors items...
Chris: Yeah, maybe (laughs)

Frank: But talking of rarities, with the Sneaker Pimps you had a website giving away like rarities or live stuff for free. Is that anything you could think of for IAMX, too?
Chris: Yeah! I think when there's enough material. I mean, there probably is enough material, but, yeah, maybe a couple of more albums down the line....that there'd be something to put together for that. I have so much work that I don't put on records, that,... I don't know if I could actually bring myself to let people hear it, 'cause it's so unfinished.
Frank: But basically, I mean, and this is an experience I have for myself, people really like the raw stuff. I mean…
Chris: I know, I know!
Frank: They will always say "Well, this is the true heart of...
Chris: I know, I know... That's... that's the annoying thing about it (laughs)
Frank: (laughs)
Chris: you should just put all that stuff out. But, I think I couldn't really live with it, you know, I still have to live with the damn CD once it's done. So, yeah...

Frank: What are the immediate plans for the future after the tour? I mean, it's a weird question to ask at the beginning of the tour, I know, but maybe people will be interested in new directions for the new year. Where are you going?
Chris: Uhm, where am I going? I think the new year is probably... we're moving away into different territories. I think that's the main thing. I have material for another record, I think, maybe in just after spring I'll take a month and just do that and then, hopefully, move into the markets with that record.
Frank: Any word on how it will sound? Is it going back to electronics more or are you exploring the the messy feel of guitars?
Chris: Uhm, I don't know, I think guitar I find wonderful. It was my first instrument, but I find it a bit limiting, uhm, as a producer, I found it limiting. I think I wanna do something very simple. I want to really go back and strip it down to the to just the simple emotion of the song and show that. And really try and work on that side of things, and not get too, you know, too technical with it, too electronic with it. I'd like to make it quite symphonic, I think. I'm very interested in having a complicated unusual symphonic sound, that doesn't sound like, you know, "Oh, he just brought strings in it". I want it to be strings, but make the strings sound like a keyboard or make it, you know, play with that concept. So that is it an organic, acoustic, string-led record, but sound like something you've never heard before. That would be nice. That's the plan.
Frank: I was very impressed by Björk when she released her album with just strings and drums and her beautiful voice.
Chris: Yeah, that was nice.
Frank: Can you imagine something like that for IAMX?
Chris: I think that that's where it's going. It might even be like symphonic drums, you know, timpanies or something where you're playing... I'd like to play... obviously still love to play with the rhythmic side of things but maybe combine something like a timpani is really nice because you have the tone and the pitch of that instrument. It becomes another instrument. So I'd like to play with the tonality, melodic nature of percussive instruments a bit more.
Frank: Yes.

Chris: (sighs & laughs)
Frank: OK. (laughs) Three more quick questions. I'm thinking you're getting ready for the sound check
Chris: Ah, yeah.

Frank: If you were to pick any artist alive today, and you could collaborate with him or her - who would it be? (like a spontaneous thing)
Chris: Oh, alive... That's a hard one (laughs)
Frank: Pick a dead one then (laughs)
Chris: Oh, I don't know. I have so many so many things that influenced me. And... it's always a very hard question, because that's... what will happen is just the first person come to my mind. It doesn't mean that that's the truth of the situation.
Frank: Well that's OK then, it's like psychologists do it anyway (laughs)
Chris: Yes, OK, OK. Part of the therapeutic process, I have to remember that... OK, first person coming to my mind... I'm in Germany... Nico, I would have liked to have collaborated with.
Frank: Oh, really? Do you know that Apop did actually re-record "All tomorrows parties"...
Chris: Really?
Frank: ...with her, and it's just been released? You know Apoptygma Berzerk?... the EMB group...
Chris: I've heard of them. Yeah, yeah... Oh my god!
Frank: She's taken (laughs)
Chris: Oh shit (laughs)

Frank: OK. If you had to pick between: You are the voyeur or the exhibitionist. Who are you? A quick one...
Chris: That's... I can't make that quick. That's too long (laughs)

Frank: Then make it long.
Chris: It depends on the situation, uhm, I would say very much so as the stage performance, it's kind of a combination, more exhibitionism than voyeurism. I like to watch people and see their reactions in a subtle way, but exhibitionism! In terms of my private life, in terms of relationships, sexuality, I would say I'm a voyeur.

Frank: If I was to introduce somebody to IAMX and I would have to, you know, to provide a sequence. Listen to "Kiss & Swallow" first or "The Alternative"? Which is the one that you would suggest? Go with the chronological order or do it differently?
Chris: Good question… I would mix it up. I think the way that the live show works is is a very simple introduction to this world of IAMX. I think it explains a lot. And it's a mixture of both albums, but there's a real continuity and a connection between the songs. So, I think that would be the simplest way to explain it go and see a live show.
Frank: Alright, well, that's a good advice because you are on tour.
Chris: Yeah. (whispers:) please come (laughs)
Frank: You've also mentioned that there's not enough glamour in the world. People should make more effort. Well, tonight, this club is perfect for IAMX.
Chris: Oh my god, it's incredible, isn't it? Wow...
Frank: So I really hope that many people turn up and enjoy your show.
Chris: Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks

Frank: So, thank you, thank you very much.
Chris: Pleasure
Frank: It was a wonderful interview.
Chris: Thank you
Frank: Anything else or any last words you want to say to those people who are fortunate enough to read the interview or listen to the mp3?
Chris: Uhm, I think I should just thank them. Thank them for being … interested (laughs), and, you know: Love life, get messy,... uhm, ...
that's the best I can do (laughs)

Interview by
Frank M. Spinath
www.seabound.de

Transliteration and photography*
Claudia Schöne
www.guiding-light.de
*[except promotional pic by Gregory Derkenne]

Thanks to
Chris Corner - www.iamx.co.uk
Reza and Johannes @ www.nineteen95.com
Heidi @ www.cocoon-concerts.de
Florian and Jessica @ Heardbeat Promotion