TWILIGHT HOURS OF NERVY CREATIVITY
THE WAY I HAVE BEEN BANGING ON ABOUT THE GLORIOUS AMERICANS LATELY ONE
MIGHT THINK I HAVE BEEN CONVERTED INTO A RIGHTWING SUPER~SIZED BUSH-SHITE. NO.
JUST THE JOY EXPERIENCED IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS HAS SOLIDIFIED A NEW FOUND APPEAL AND EXCITEMENT FOR THE GRAND US OF A.
WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK IT?
NAIVITY AND PURE, ASTONISHING RESPONSES TO THE SHOWS ARE THE REASON FOR THE SOFTENING OF OPINION. THE PEOPLE WERE WONDERFUL, THE NATURE OUTSTANDING, THE DOLLAR WEAK.
I AM PROUD OF US. WE INDEPENDENTLY, UNSUPPORTEDLY, POSSIBLY FINANCIALLY SUICIDALLY DID IT. WHEN I SAY WE, I MEAN YOU TOO.
YOU MADE IT HAPPEN, SO I THANK ALL OF YOU NUTTERS, UNRESERVEDLY.
AN INTERVIER SAID WE NOW LOOK LIKE A LITTLE FAMILY. *HOW SWEET* HE SAID.
SPENDING ENOUGH TIME WITH SOMEONE YOU TAKE ON THEIR TRAITS, THEIR WORDS, THEIR ANXIETIES. TO ME, THE ADDAMS FAMILY COMES TO MIND. RETARDS AND REJECTS, WORN OUT BY JETLAG, VODKA AND LAUGHTER.
ALL I KNOW IS WE NOW NEED SOME TIME ALONE . ALONE TIME.
(I INSERT A SMALL APOLOGY TO THE WAITERS ON THE NON BLOG OF LATE. NO EXCUSES NO LIES)
TONIGHT I AM SURROUNDED BY LARGE BLACK AND WHITE ANIMAL CUT OUTS, OVERBLOWN AND SINISTER. THEY ARE THE REMNANTS OF AN IAMX PHOTOSHOOT. AN ALICE IN WONDERLAND CONCEPT. FRIENDLY IN THAT CONTEXT, IN THE NOW TWILIGHT HOURS OF NERVY CREATIVITY, I AM AFRAID OF THEM. BUT I LOVE SHADOWS. SIMPLE WELL THOUGHT OUT SHADOW PLAY CAN CAPTURE MORE MEANING AND ATMOSPHERE THAN ANY MONEY OR CGI.
I DESPISE FILTHY MONEY WASTED ON A FEW HUGE RIDICULOUS CONCEPTS WHEN IT COULD HAVE BEEN USED TO FUEL A THOUSAND OF GENIUS. LOOK AT BERGMAN OR TARKOVSKY. BEAUTIFUL. ELEGANT. CLOSER TO REALITY.
PERHAPS ONLY PURITY OF EMOTION COMES THROUGH STRUGGLE.
I AM NOT COMPLETELY CONVINCED, BUT THERE IS A TRACK RECORD OF PEOPLE GAINING WEALTH AND FAME AND LOSING ALL IMAGINATION AND STRENGTH IN THEIR WORK. THEN AGAIN WHAT DO I EXPECT FROM HUMANS?
THEY SAY ANY PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY. I SAY, FUCK THE PENDULOUS, ANTIQUATED BLOODSUCKING MEDIA.
WITH A TONGUE FIRMLY PLACED IN MY LEFT CHEEK OF COURSE BECAUSE THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE .
AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
And here's a new interview from Playboy, of all places:
IAMX Enraptures L.A.
IAMX just wrapped up a small U.S. tour in support of the long-awaited American release of their albums Kiss + Swallow and The Alternative. One pit stop included the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles where fans were enraptured by the theatrical antics and immense stage presence of top hat-wearing lead singer Chris Corner and his band. The set opened up with the fierce triple threat of “Your Joy is My Low,” powerhouse anthem “The Alternative” and “Sailor.” The three songs were seamlessly blended together, giving the band no breathing time. The near 90-minute set was flawless and Corner was in prime form, prancing and gyrating the entire set, at times seeming almost animated like a stringless marionette, moving in sync with every beat and sound effect. The band was just as fluid and animated as he was, all decked up in color costumes that would make David Bowie proud. For the lucky fans who stuck around after the final encore, Corner reemerged to do a special acoustic set, where he displayed his beautiful guitar playing abilities and serenaded the crowd with “Missile” and “Mercy.” Before the show, we were able to sit down with the fashion chameleon mastermind himself (who was shockingly out of costume) and discuss the tour, the next IAMX album and the current state of the music industry.
(Pictured from left to right: Chris Corner, Gil Macias)
PLAYBOY: Where did the name IAMX come from?
CORNER: Coming up with a name, which is the first thing people hear when they hear about you, is quite daunting. So I wanted something quite simple and quite grand. It has a connection with my past, with my old band. We had a record called Becoming X. To me, it was like a comforting statement on growing up, becoming a solo artist, and being quite aggressive about it, basically. It’s something very simple, it sounds pretty lazy. A name is just a fucking name in the end. It just becomes a part of you and you forget that you ever even chose it.
PLAYBOY: The Chris Corner we saw onstage with Sneaker Pimps is a lot different from the Chris Corner we see with IAMX. There’s a very David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust thing going on. Do you consider yourself “in character” while you’re onstage?
CORNER: I thought at one point that that’s what it was becoming, but it really isn’t. The theater of it—the dressing up, the make-up, the build up of it—is necessary. It’s a way of having something very pure, and almost ridiculous to break down and destroy onstage, and to reveal the heart of the beast. To me, getting onstage dressed up is much more powerful than getting onstage with a t-shirt, because I have something to tear apart—it’s almost like tearing myself apart and it’s very real. I think it’s probably the most real I feel in my life.
PLAYBOY: How do you come up with your costumes and make-up design?
CORNER: It’s very spontaneous, very trashy and almost cantankerous. It’s something that we do before the show. We have a palette of nonsense that we’ll get out, then we’ll just fuck it up, cut it up—and then cut and paste. It really depends on the mood of the evening. It has to be cheap and it has to be something that can withstand the abuse that it gets onstage. It can’t be a million dollar Dior suit, that just wouldn’t work, it wouldn’t make any sense. It has to be something you get from a thrift store that you can take and kind of fuck up.
PLAYBOY: A while back you did a fantastic cover of Duran Duran’s “The Chauffeur.” During a show in Tokyo in 2003, Simon LeBon joined you onstage for a live performance. What was that like for you, and how did that come about?
CORNER: That was a really poignant moment for me. I almost feel kind of blubbery when I think of it. It’s not that he was my biggest idol or anything. I was a kid when all that was happening and my sister absolutely adored them and the only song for me that really transcended the commercialism was “The Chauffeur.” I was asked to do this project in Tokyo with a person I was working with and he asked me to do a cover, so I chose “The Chauffeur.” The company that I was working for was half owned by Simon LeBon. I did this show, where I was to perform that with some of my own songs, and he had heard the cover and he loved it and on the day of the show, he just came into the studio and by surprise said, “I really like the cover. Can I do backing vocals?” And I was like, “Well, I dunno, depends—you have to impress me.” [laughs] It’s like, Yes, yes Simon, please, please! He just walked on and he did it, and it was just a really heartwarming experience for me.
PLAYBOY: Aside from LeBon, has a musician that you’re a big fan of ever approached you and told you they are a big fan of your work?
CORNER: Actually, I have a few times recently, yeah. I don’t know why. I had Brett Anderson from Suede, who I was quite a fan of. He came up and gushed over one of my shows, which was a bit strange. And Gary Numan, who I was a big fan of when I was a kid. We just played with him in London and supported him. He became such a big fan that he did this remix for free and he said, “Please come and support.” I take all that stuff with a pinch of salt--it’s not something that I let go to my head and it’s not something that I think is empowering. It’s just quite amazing that I grew up with these people and they like what I do. So Gary Numan was a high point.
PLAYBOY: What’s the next IAMX record like? In the liner notes of Kiss + Swallow, you wrote that it was inspired by “circuitry, sex and suzy.” The second album was inspired by “Berlin, rapture and insomnia.” So what new ingredients inspire the next album?
CORNER: Hmm. I don’t know. [pauses] Therapy, humanity, politics. [laughs] That sounds cheesy. I would say it would be more of an expansive record. I think the lyrical content is shifting into an observational perspective rather than an introspective point of view. I’ve spent a lot of time dealing with sex and dealing with my demons. I’m dealing with my demons in another way now and I figure with music I need to take a step back and look at what the world means to me, and what people mean to me. I think it is going to be more of a human record and more of a social record—a lyrically social record.
PLAYBOY: What do you like doing in your spare time when you’re not making music?
CORNER: Ooooo. [pauses] I love films very much. I love philosophy. I meditate. I think my new addiction is therapy, which is a bit personal. Yea, I’m getting off on that. And gardening is great. [laughs] How old am I? Am I fucking 90 years old? No, I think it’s all connected with some kind of calm. I’m searching for some calm in all this. And I take calm from the balance that I have in the fact that I’m not getting fucked up anymore. I’m not addicted to hedonism anymore. So I have these two extremes which really balance me and actually fulfill the bigger picture for me. I have the stage, and I have the calm in my life. And there is this in between, this sort of twilight between the both of them which is a bit unnerving. It’s trying to explain my existence, but I’m going to be frightened with that for a long time so I’m going to have to get used to that. I think the art, the creativity, and all the creating I do helps.
PLAYBOY: The internet has had a major impact on music, and places like MySpace give you the opportunity to be in touch with fans which you seemed to have embraced. You do blogs quite often. Is it gratifying for you and do you like being that close with your fans?
CORNER: It’s really empowering and inspiring because I can present what I am trying to say. The traditional music industry machine, which is antiquated and disgusting in my opinion, is really the opposite. It sucks creativity; it drags it out and slows it down. There’s a real speed to the Internet that you can first put ideas down, you can put sketches down, you can interact socially, you can give a broader picture of what the project is about. And you have to be careful to filter the stuff, otherwise a lot of shit can come out and you can make mistakes very quickly. So you have to be smart about not making mistakes. I think it just speeds you up. For me, the internet has kept me up to speed. It means that I have to catch up with the brains of today. That for me is a challenge and I find it inspiring. I also find it fun that I can get closer to people, and also get some feedback on how people are in the world. I see people writing stuff and I think, Wow that’s amazing. People responding to blogs is a very quick way of seeing the demographic of your fanbase. Seeing where they are. And I’m really surprised at the level of intelligence of my fanbase, it’s amazing. Thank God. [laughs]
PLAYBOY: You’re a self-produced artist and you’ve mentioned your distaste for the current music industry machine. How do you feel about the latest trend where bands, who are fully capable of producing their own music, hire the big A-list producer?
CORNER: I find it extremely lazy and unimaginative, but very representative of the quick fix, society, business and the commercial world. That seems to be the way things function. If you give enough rope, people will hang themselves. We dig our own graves and that’s the way it’s going with that business. On the Internet, there is so much interesting cult and independent music that will come out of the ashes of that burning system. I’m convinced art will prevail—I think it always will. It will transcend the shit. Even though shit might be in power [laughs], it doesn’t mean there isn’t great stuff out there. The only problem is that people have to look for it. You’re not fed it. The masses are force-fed crap, like they’re force-fed fast food. You have to think harder and you have to break out of that mold. It’s tragic, but that’s the way the world is. I don’t if there ever was ever a time when commercial music was as good as cult music. I don’t know if that ever existed. Music has always been shit on the commercial level.
PLAYBOY: You’ve currently based in Berlin, and you’ve toured extensively there, the U.K., and now the U.S. Is the audience response and energy here the same as it is back home?
CORNER: It’s very different. This trip has really solidified it for me. I tour a lot. I’ve seen lots of different places and energies and you feel the audiences. But it also depends on where you are personally and what you’re giving. But, I do think while coming back to the States this time, I’ve really had an epiphany about the insane energy these people were giving at the shows. If you’re performing in Europe, it’s great but there is certain jadedness and a reserve, which is nice too, but I was so blown away by the response when I came here. The first night we played in Boston, it was a hundred people or something, but they were fucking insane and I loved it. I have to say it’s a goose-pimple world for me. New York was the same and I have a good feeling about tonight as well.
PLAYBOY: How long do you see yourself making music?
CORNER: If you’re an intensely creative person, it lives with you the rest of your life. I don’t think you can switch it off. It might change, it might develop in different ways. It might get slower, it might get faster. I think making music in particular, it’s what I know, it’s what I can do. It’s the quickest way that I can get what I want to express out. I think it will stay with me until I’m in the grave. I would like to be touring when I’m 60, sure. Why the hell not?
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