IAMX

IAMX is the solo musical project of Chris Corner, formerly of the band Sneaker Pimps. Founded in 2004 in London, it is an independent music project which also focuses on and experiments with visual art.[1] Musically, IAMX spans multiple genres from electronic rock and dance music to burlesque-influenced songs and emotional ballads. Corner's striking and wide-ranging voice, and his way of programming sounds and beats, make up the obvious characteristic of the IAMX sound.[2]

IAMX
Chris Corner photographed by live keyboardist Janine Gezang in 2009
Background information
OriginLondon, England
GenresSynthpop, dark cabaret, alternative, industrial, electronica, experimental
Years active2004–present
LabelsMajor Records, 61 Seconds, Fiction/NoCarbon/Genepool, Metropolis, Orphic, Caroline Distribution
Associated actsRobots in Disguise
Sneaker Pimps
Imogen Heap
WebsiteIAMXmusic.com
MembersChris Corner, Jon Siren, Janine Gezang, Sammii Doll,

From 2006 until 2014 IAMX was based in Berlin, Germany, where Corner found "the spirit to care less about the music industry and take an independent route."[1] Berlin is also mentioned in IAMX's lyrics that concern subjects such as sexual identity, death, love, narcotic intoxication, decadence, critique of religion and politics, alienation, addiction, modern society, and gender bending. The topic of gender bending is further emphasised by Corner's own distinctive and androgynous image.[3]

As of 2014 to 2016, IAMX have relocated to Los Angeles from Berlin, citing a much-needed change to a better climate and a break with old ties in Berlin.

IAMX are known for their highly energetic and theatrical live performances. Unusual stage outfits and body painting are also core elements of IAMX shows.[4] The stage design consists of art and props constructed by Corner and his live band members.

The visual art element of the project can be seen in the IAMX music videos and in the projections at their live shows. Both contain sometimes strong and controversial visual content, often directed, shot and edited by Corner himself.[1]

To date, IAMX has released nine studio albums, all of which have been released independently and produced by Corner (The Unified Field was co-produced by Jim Abbiss), the latest being 'Echo Echo' which was released on the 13th of March, 2020.

History
Chris Corner at an IAMX autograph session in Munich

IAMX was founded by Corner in 2004 in London. The name 'I am X' refers to Becoming X, the title of the Sneaker Pimps' debut album. Corner explained that by founding IAMX, he no longer felt that he was becoming X, but rather that he was X.[5] The meaning of the X, according to the founder, is ever changing like a variable in a mathematical equation.[6][7]

Kiss + Swallow (2004–2006)

IAMX's debut album, Kiss + Swallow, was released in 2004 and consisted of melancholic dark 1980s-influenced electro music with lyrical content referring often to the psychology of sexual fantasy, gender bending and role play, the exploration of solitude, aggression, longing, codependency and mortality. It was, as all IAMX albums to follow, written, produced and mixed by Corner himself. Kiss + Swallow was recorded in Corner's home studio in London called The Den.[8]

Many of the songs were initially written by Corner for a fourth Sneaker Pimps album, but while the band was working on the album it soon became clear that the songs did not suit the new direction of Sneaker Pimps. The songs remained important to Corner, so he decided to keep working on them and to eventually use them for a separate project.[5]

After the release of Kiss + Swallow, Corner went on tour with IAMX, playing venues throughout Europe and the US. The live line-up varied between a revolving cast of close friends including Sue Denim of Robots in Disguise (whose vocals are also featured on the album),[8] Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt of The Mighty Boosh, James Cook of Nemo, Mary Ambrose,[9] and actress Julia Davis of Nighty Night.

Kiss + Swallow was released in the US on 17 June 2008. The US album included the previously unreleased track "Polaroids" and a remix of the title song by Moonbootica. It also carries a different cover.

Between tours in 2005, Corner wrote and produced the soundtrack for the French movie Les Chevaliers du Ciel (English title: Sky Fighters) and the second Robots in Disguise album, Get RID!.

The Alternative and Live in Warsaw (2006–2008)

IAMX's second album, The Alternative was released in April 2006 in Europe, October 2007 (digitally) and November 2007 (physically) in the UK and Ireland, and May 2008 on Metropolis Records in the US. UK and US versions feature a slightly different cover with black tape rather than yellow tape. In addition to variant cover artwork, UK and US versions also feature alternate versions of several tracks with added production and added backing vocals from Janine Gezang as well as a hidden instrumental string version of "Spit It Out", arranged and recorded by Audrey Morse.[10]

In summer 2006, a new live line up was announced as follows: Janine Gezang on keyboards/synths, backing vocals and bass, Dean Rosenzweig on guitars and bass and Tom Marsh on drums. Rosenzweig and Marsh left the live band in 2010 while Gezang is still an integral part of the project.

A limited edition live album, Live in Warsaw, was released on 14 November 2008 on IAMX's own label, 61seconds.[11] The performance was recorded in front of a live audience for Polskie Radio Program III and later mixed by Corner in Berlin at IAMX2 studios. The album was at the time exclusively available at the band's online shop Boutique IAMX before it sold out, but is now available again for digital download.

Kingdom of Welcome Addiction and Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK (2009–2011)

The third IAMX album, Kingdom of Welcome Addiction, was released on 19 May 2009.[12] It had a heavier sound than the previous two albums, and it was preceded by a new track entitled "Think of England", which was made available for free download on 7 November 2008.[13][14]

In early 2010, the live band was announced to be Janine Gezang on keyboards/synths, vocals and bass; Alberto Álvarez on guitars, vocals, drums and bass, and Jon Harper on drums.[15] In August 2010, Harper was replaced by MAX, a drum machine which was programmed and triggered by Corner.[16]

A remixed and reworked version of the album entitled Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK was released on 19 March 2010. The release features reworks done by Corner himself under the alias of UNFALL, as well as remixes and covers by other artists, including Alec Empire, Terence Fixmer, Combichrist, Black Light Odyssey and others. The artists featured on the album were all selected and asked to contribute by IAMX.[17]

The title of the remixed album is an anagram of the original album title Kingdom of Welcome Addiction.

Volatile Times (2011)

On 14 April 2010 Corner announced on the official IAMX Twitter page that he was working on his fourth studio album, which he referred to as IAMX4.[18] On 19 October 2010 it was announced on the official IAMX Facebook page that IAMX4 was now identified as Volatile Times. The album was released in Europe on 18 March 2011. It peaked at #68 in the German Media Control Charts.[19] About a week before the album's release, the track "Fire and Whispers" was made available for free download from the IAMX website.[20] On 2 September 2013 an entirely re-worked version of Volatile Times was digitally released for the United States and Canada. The release included three bonus tracks: "Avalanches", "Volatile Times (IAMseX Unfall Rework)" and "Bernadette (Post Romanian Storm)".[21]

Corner has repeatedly stated that creating Volatile Times was difficult to make emotionally.[22] He goes on to describe the album as his most self-indulgent and the peak of his inner struggle with working alone.[23]

Caroline Weber joined the live line-up on drums in 2011, where two European tours took place: 'Fire And Whispers Tour' in the first half of the year and 'Into Asylum Tour' in the second half.

The Unified Field (2013–2014)
IAMX at WGT 2013

On 1 February 2012, it was announced via IAMX's Facebook and Twitter pages that work had officially begun on the fifth studio album, which had the working title of IAMX5.[24] On 13 May Chris announced that there would be a vlog posted on the official IAMX YouTube channel every two weeks, which would allow the fans to view the recording process of the new album.[25] In the third vlog, Chris revealed that the new album was to be co-produced by Jim Abbiss, who had also co-produced Sneaker Pimps' debut album Becoming X and had produced albums for artists such as Adele and Arctic Monkeys. On 6 July 2012, via his online blog, Chris revealed the name of a track, "Come Home" from the forthcoming album. On 1 October 2012, a new fundraising project was launched via the PledgeMusic website, which would allow fans to bid on items such as tour set lists and CDs, including the new album; the goal of this fundraiser reached its 100% target in 1 hour, eventually reaching 817% of the set target. On 19 October 2012, it was announced that the album would officially be named The Unified Field and would be preceded by the first single, a double A side, to be released on 3 December.[26] The album was released on 20 March 2013 for fans who pledged on the PledgeMusic project and 22 March 2013 to the general public.

IAMX toured the album under the name "Animal Impulses Tour"[27] following the album's release adding new live members Richard Ankers[28] on drums and Sammi Doll[29] on keyboards and backing vocals. The 'Animal Impulses Tour' began in Europe and returned to North America after a four-year gap, made possible through the PledgeMusic campaign. On 16 August 2013, information was released on the Facebook page by IAMX management,[30] that IAMX would be rescheduling the 2013 fall 'Screams' tour for 2014 after Chris had been diagnosed with chronic primary insomnia and was seeking treatment.[31]

On 31 May 2014, Chris played a live online acoustic set of songs from Kiss + Swallow in a Glendale, California studio which was broadcast worldwide.[32] On 17 August, he performed an online acoustic set of songs from The Alternative,[33] in which he hinted at a new album during the Q&A session.

Metanoia (2014–2016)

On 17 December 2014, a countdown was started in IAMX's social accounts. The countdown ended 3 days later, revealing the official announcement of a fan-funded new album using Pledgemusic, said to be released in early fall of 2015.[34] On 11 June 2015, the album title was announced as Metanoia.[35] Both "Insomnia" and "Happiness" were included in the second season of the TV Series "How to Get Away with Murder". The songs "Surrender" & "Look Outside" were featured on season 3 of the show.

Talking about the album in an interview, Chris says how Metanoia was created after a time of illness. He goes on to speak about how coming out of a long period of insomnia and depression impacted heavily on the album. He describes it as his least complicated and most honest work.[36] In 2015, IAMX toured the Album under the name "Metanoia Tour". Beginning in the US,[37] the tour also travelled through Canada and Europe.[38]

On 2 December 2016, IAMX's EP "Everything Is Burning" was released serving as a companion piece to Metanoia with seven previously unreleased tracks and nine remixes of Metanoia songs. Of the songs on Everything Is Burning, Chris says, "They were half written for Metanoia, there was a surplus of material that didn’t make it to the album. It happens with every album that I do, where there are about 5-7 songs that don’t make it. However, these tracks I felt so connected to that I didn’t want to drag them into another era, they had too much of a connection to Metanoia that they had to remain connected and put the album to rest for me. This EP was in many ways me celebrating my strength and victory over that time period."[39]

Unfall (2017)

On 22 September 2017, "Unfall" (the German word for 'accident') was released. Chris Corner expanded his sonic palette through remixes for others and his own experimental work. Chris now turned his Unfall alias into the title for an instrumental and abstract album that showcased him working with modular synthesizers and avoiding pop radio formats. During the recorded process Chris connected with famed UK Producer and friend Jim Abbiss (Adele/Ladytron/Kasabian/Arctic Monkeys) who he worked with on Sneaker Pimps debut Becoming X. Both discussed how they were spending their current time exploring and experimenting and agreed that it would be fun to have Jim hang out in Chris’ LA studio for a week and play around. That turned into quite a fruitful 7 days, as Jim ended up co-writing and co-producing several album tracks; ‘Running Point', 'Trust The Machine, 'Cat's Cradle', 'Polar I.', 'TeddyLion', ’11.11', and 'The Disease To Please'. The later features vocals from The Go Go's rhythm guitarist and vocalist Jane Wiedlin. Chris and Jane have been looking for something to work together on and this just came about naturally according to Chris.

The single 'Little Deaths' was released from the album on 15 September 2017.

Alive in New Light (2017–2018)

IAMX's eighth album, Alive In New Light, was released on 2 February 2018. The title track "Alive in New Light", and "Mile Deep Hollow" were featured on episodes 9 and 8, respectively, of season 4 of How to Get Away with Murder.

Turmwerk

From 2008 until Corner's move to Los Angeles in 2014, IAMX were located at an old GDR factory outside Berlin. Corner spoke about the move in an interview, saying that he had bought a building which used to be a waterworks factory in the former East Germany.[40] The factory has since been given the name "Turmwerk" and is used for studio recording, band rehearsals, photo shoots, music video and live visual production. These productions include the music video "My Secret Friend" featuring Imogen Heap, photo shoots for the cover of IAMX's fourth studio album Volatile Times, shot by Berlin photographer, Ben Wolf[41] and Press photos for IAMX's fifth studio album The Unified Field by photographers Joe Dilworth and Sammi Doll.[42] Corner said in an interview that his dream was to create a place for artists of all kinds where the main focus is on creativity and free-thinking.[7]

How to Get Away with Murder

15 IAMX songs are featured on seasons 1–4 of ABC's How to Get Away with Murder, the track list being as follows: "I Come with Knives", "The Unified Field", "Cold Red Light" (instrumental), "Volatile Times" (US version), "Walk with the Noise", "I Salute You Christopher", "Music People", "Happiness", "Dead in This House", "The Great Shipwreck of Life", "Insomnia", "Scars", "Surrender", "Look Outside", "Mile Deep Hollow" and "Alive in New Light".

Discography

Albums
  • Kiss + Swallow (Tennis Schallplatten (Germany) / Vision Music (Poland) / Anorak Supersport (Belgium) / Recall (France & US) / Acute Music (Austria) / Loser Friendly (UK)) - 13 July 2004
  • The Alternative (61seconds - Major Records (Germany) / Acute Music (Austria) / Vision Music (Poland) / Anorak Supersport (BeNeLux) / Fiction (UK) / Metropolis (US)) - 28 April 2006
  • Kingdom of Welcome Addiction (61seconds) - 19 May 2009
  • Volatile Times (61 Seconds/BMG Rights Management) - 18 March 2011
  • The Unified Field (61 Seconds) - 22 March 2013
  • Metanoia (Orphic/Caroline International/Universal) - 2 October 2015
  • Unfall (Orphic/Caroline International/Universal) - 22 September 2017
  • Alive In New Light (Orphic/Caroline International/Universal) - 2 February 2018

EPs and Other albums

Singles
Year Release Label Album
2004 "Kiss and Swallow" Tennis Schallplatten Kiss + Swallow
2006 "Spit It Out" 61seconds, Major Records The Alternative
"The Alternative" Major Records
2007 "Nightlife" 61seconds. Major Records
2008 "The Alternative" Fiction, No Carbon, Genepool (UK only)
"Spit It Out" Fiction, No Carbon, Genepool (UK only)
"President" 61seconds, Fiction,No Carbon, Genepool (UK only)
2009 "Think of England" 61seconds Kingdom of Welcome Addiction
"Tear Garden" 61seconds
"My Secret Friend" (with Imogen Heap) 61seconds
2011 "Ghosts of Utopia" (digital) 61 Seconds/BMG Rights Management Volatile Times
"Bernadette" (digital)
"Volatile Times"
2012 "The Unified Field/Quiet The Mind" (digital) 61seconds The Unified Field
2013 "I Come With Knives"
"Come Home"
2015 "Happiness" Orphic/Caroline International/Universal Metanoia
"Oh Cruel Darkness Embrace Me"
2016 "North Star"
2018 "Stardust" (digital) Orphic/Caroline International/Universal Alive in New Light
"Mile Deep Hollow"[43]

Music videos
Year Title Director
2004 "Kiss and Swallow"
"Missile" (bath version)
"Missile" (second version) Martin Wilk[44]
2006 "Spit It Out" Hans Hammers Jr.[45]
"President" Hans Hammers Jr.[46]
"Song of Imaginary Beings" Verena Jabbs[47]
2009 "Think of England" Michel Briegel[48]
"Tear Garden" Graeme Pearce[49]
"My Secret Friend" (with Imogen Heap) Chris Corner[50]
"I Am Terrified" (Alec Empire Remix) Chris Corner[51]
2011 "Ghosts of Utopia" Chris Corner[52]
"Dance With Me" Chris Corner[53]
"Bernadette" A Nice Idea Every Day[54]
"Volatile Times" Michel Briegel[55]
2013 "The Unified Field" Adam Anthony[56]
"Quiet the Mind" Chris Corner / Danny Drysdale[57]
"I Come With Knives" Michel Briegel[58]
"Come Home" Chris Corner / Janine Gezang[59]
2015 "Happiness" Chris Corner[60]
"Oh Cruel Darkness Embrace Me" Danny Drysdale[61]
2016 "North Star" Chris Corner[62]
2018 "Stardust" Chris Corner[63][64]
"Mile Deep Hollow" Chris Corner[65]

Charts
YearAlbums
AT
BE (W)
GER
CH
2004Kiss + Swallow [66]
-
84
-
-
2006The Alternative [67]
55
32
-
-
2009Kingdom of Welcome Addiction [68]
36
28
-
-
2011Volatile Times [69]
26
17
68
69
2013The Unified Field [70]
42
59
-
-
2015Metanoia [71]
-
142
-
-
2017Unfall
-
-
-
-
2018Alive In New Light [72]
71
75
-
81

References
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  63. "IAMX - Stardust (Uncensored) - YouTube".
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