IAMX interview with Chris Corner: ‘The stupid, perpetuated myth of the tortured artist’ 

IAMX was founded by Chris Corner in 2002 after the breakup of his former band, Sneaker Pimps. More than 20 years later, IAMX has achieved remarkable success, releasing acclaimed full-length albums and earning a reputation for powerful live performances. Following a recent and highly successful European tour, IAMX is now preparing to embark on a North American tour.

Touring is never easy. It can be both brutal and beautiful, and carrying that contrast is often a heavy task. Yet after years of wrestling with the ups and downs, Chris Corner has found a way to ground himself. Fresh from this exceptional European run, he speaks of music as a safe space, a spiritual practice, and a means of connection beyond words. In a world where the music industry can often feel disheartening and contradictory, IAMX live shows remain a sanctuary of tribal togetherness — where emotion, love, and energy flow freely.

With that spirit, the journey now continues across North America, reaching new places and new souls hungry for an alternative. And there’s more: a very special IAMX release will be available exclusively on this tour. “IAMIXED”, a reworking of the “Fault Lines” albums 1 and 2, will be released in both CD and vinyl formats during the 2025 “Fault Lines² North American Tour”. This exclusive edition includes two new reworks by IAMX, alongside reinterpretations from Mimetic Hexes, Holy Braille, Careellee, Clubdrugs, and two fan contributions.

I spoke with Chris Corner about all this — and more — as he generously shared insight into his inner world and the ever-evolving universe of IAMX. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

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IAMX on Spotify

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Q: After the impressive IAMX “Fault Lines” tour through Europe, this fall marks your longest American tour to date. How do you look back on the European leg, and how are you preparing for the U.S. shows with your live band?

Chris: Any musician struggles with touring on some level. It can be both brutal and beautiful in equal measure, and this extreme contrast can sometimes be intense to bear. So generally, I have deep respect for my fellow soldiers out there fighting the good fight, spreading art and providing depth and pleasure to people’s lives.

After a career of wrestling with it, I have it locked in a good place now. I say this after a European tour that was exceptional. I do this to connect. To feel and give love. To understand and know others without words. Through the music—the safe space I’ve created to be one with my world. It’s become a spiritual practice, where I find value.

The music industry is fucking gross—always has been—and you have to dig deep to find meaning in what you do, ’cause you’re constantly bombarded with contradiction. Art bleeds money. Emotion, sexual tension, communal dance… live shows are tribal togetherness. And I adore my tribe.

The success of that last tour made me want to lean-in full force in North America, so we added more dates in places we don’t normally go. I live in the U.S., and I absolutely love it despite its political insanity. I love to go and feel fuck-land. I want to get to those souls hungry for it. For an alternative.

Q: Have you noticed any major differences in live IAMX performances between the countries you’ve visited—and perhaps between continents? Do you have a favorite venue, festival, or audience?

Chris: I used to focus a lot on the differences, and the numbers, and the energy of places. There are certainly contrasts. I don’t put it down to the attitude of people. Often it’s situational or luck. Sometimes the last train leaves early, the weather is shit, the politics are shit. There are so many factors controlling the energy in a venue.

A few years back, we spent a lot of time in Russia playing massive venues to thousands of beautiful, tortured people. All dressed up, expressing themselves openly in that safe space. Cross-dressing, gender-bending, screaming, crying. Free.

It’s tragic to think of those poor souls left behind by their politics. Re-oppressed. On the other side of that, we were one of very few bands to go into Ukraine and play for the other side. We had to drive across the border in a small van under the radar. In the IAMX shows, there is no difference. They are bonded by the experience and the music. My audience are all my babies—I love them equally.

Q: What elements make an IAMX performance successful in your eyes? And how demanding are you of yourself, your bandmates, and your crew while on tour?

Chris: I’m pretty demanding. Of myself and of others. The IAMX band calls me ‘Bossman’, which says it all, I guess. An IAMX show can be wild and Punk, as well as very contained and emotional. There’s a lot of work behind the chaos to balance these dynamics. To make it all coherent.

I spend a stupid amount of time flipping between all aspects of the show. Bouncing between electronics, band performance, stage visuals, lights. I try to keep everything as ‘in house’ and on stage as possible. This way, it’s a micro full production which can translate from venue to venue.

There are a few stages to rehearsals. A few days prepping the audio and live mixing of the sequences and electronic sounds, one to two weeks of integrating the live IAMX band into the sonic mix, five days of live visual programming and stage lighting. This setup is mainly for a club tour. Festivals, large venue shows, and one-offs are a little different.

Q: Does it feel different to perform as IAMX in the U.S. under the current political climate compared to previous administrations? Given the themes in the IAMX lyrics and your visual identity, I imagine you’re quite affected by what’s happening socially and politically. How do you process that?

Chris: It’s a poignant question. I put everything into the art and into my niche. Reach what I can reach, but don’t waste energy on what I can’t control. I’ve learned to compartmentalize.

There’s a disgusting amount of noise out there, and you have to be ruthless with your time and energy. As a hyper-sensitive, open-minded, gender-bending libertarian, navigating any heteronormative society has been a challenge. The world always feels like it’s closing in, collapsing, 24/7 full catastrophe. But I’m still alive, and I love being alive.

I’ve molded my life to focus on a smaller world. I live in nature, with animals, filter the digital world extremely harshly, and spend time on my acuity and mental health. Surround myself with chosen good people and make the art I want to make. I’m fucking lucky—but I worked for it.

Q: How do you maintain both your physical and mental well-being during an intense IAMX tour like this? And what do your days look like between shows?

Chris: Everything goes into a IAMX show. I do zero in between them, really. It’s a puzzle of energy management. I’m late-diagnosed, fully-fledged, mind-blowingly autistic. Always battled with the triggers and stimuli of touring. And I’m astounded that I’m still doing it—not just still doing it, but needing it.

I have hardcore daily systems in place that make it all possible. Hardcore vegan food, hardcore noise-cancelling headphones, hardcore good people around me. All neuro-spicy, all smart, all humble.

Building the right way to tour has been a valuable skill I’ve acquired only through making a lot of mistakes.

Q: Chris, perhaps I’m projecting, but you strike me as a bit of a perfectionist. How does it feel to hand over your songs to others for remixing? Is it a process of letting go—or do you sometimes discover new perspectives on your own work through how others reinterpret it?

Chris: 🫶 😬😵‍💫 Yeah, that’s been a drug for me. The over-work and perfectionism. Until I burnt out—multiple times. It’s softened these days. Well, maybe more that I have found a way to accommodate my obsessive nature better.

I make sure I have more time to let it be what it is. It’s part of my process to fixate on things. Listening to loops thousands of times, recording hundreds of takes, finding the perfect sound. It’s just what it is.

I don’t beat myself up about it anymore, so at least there’s that.

Q: Many IAMX fans know about the emotional and psychological weight your music often carries—and how therapeutic the creative process is for you. Beyond the music itself, what else in your creativity or expression plays a key role in your healing process?

Chris: Being creative has kept me alive—along with an obsession with psychology and mental health. It’s all one thing anyway. Creation, growth, progress, expression, purpose.

It’s been bumpy, this art life, but the rewards and connections it brings are worth the pain.

Q: As a healthcare professional, psychiatry has become an essential part of my life. I believe it’s vital to raise awareness so people better understand what it’s like to live with mental health challenges. Your Headnoise project plays an important role in that regard. Can you tell us more about what Headnoise entails and what your experiences have been with it so far?

Chris: If I am truthful, I started headnoise more out of my own desperation to connect. There was an intention to advocate for mental health awareness, yes—but it was a selfish drive initially. I was still healing, and learning, and yearning for more stories, and to find a safe way to be with ‘the other.’

It was a therapy step, I guess. And I suspect most people in the realm of mental health have some experience themselves with deep suffering.

I’ve struggled to socialize and connect in ‘normal’ ways my whole life. Reaching out through Headnoise allows me to feel the lovers of my work, learn about their lives, and self-reflect. I often have epiphanies about myself in the podcasts.

Q: In your view, what aspects of mental healthcare still need improvement? And do you agree that creativity is often overlooked as a therapeutic outlet?

Chris: It’s an amazing question. Although I am very creative, I am also healthily skeptical of vagueness and respectful of the scientific method. But there’s this cloudy area between science and art that absolutely needs to be bridged.

If someone believes something is helping, is that enough? Is belief in something as valid as true fact? Is it a true fact? What is the truth?

I’m not sure how we integrate science with art—or if we even have to. Perhaps they can be complementary therapies. I think in the end there has to be value in both.

For many, art and music are essential to get them through life. In that sense, music is already therapy. But putting it into the medical world worries me because it’s so subjective and would have to be incredibly individualized. How do you choose what kind of creativity is going to help someone?

It’s a massive unexplored realm, and it’s always drifted into the eye-rolling areas of crystals and astrology. I’d love to see someone reel it all in and find something more science-driven.

When I create—when I am in flow—I have a great sense of peace in the loops of my music. Small sections looped thousands of times. Could just be autistic stimming, but this deep peace I find is unique. Maybe there should be Steve Reich therapy—slowly evolving minimalist loops.

Q: A few years ago, I saw a documentary about a French man with psychosis who described his condition as a source of creativity. He said he had come to see his illness as a gift, because it enabled him to express himself in ways he otherwise never could. Do you relate to that in any way—and how does that idea resonate with you?

Chris: It’s lazy and dangerous to say this. This stupid, perpetuated myth of the tortured artist. There are millions of incredible artists not in the depths of despair doing amazing work. I think that’s the way he had to explain it to himself—to give his suffering some purpose.

I would love society to move on from this. It just feeds into the self-doubt of artists—that they are not good enough without tremendous suffering.

I have been there. Not to say deep suffering can’t lead to great art, but it’s also just not necessary at all. It can inform future endeavors—but that’s if you make it through the depression. I celebrate all the unknown artists and humans that stay alive and find a way to wield life.

In my blackest burnt-out moments of self-disgust and doubt, I wasn’t creative. I wasn’t able to do anything apart from think about death and existential despair. This state is not a creative state. I hated my music. I thought my music was the problem.

I believe my best work came when I was mentally acute, in a beautiful natural environment, and the world and my life felt valuable. This doesn’t mean I couldn’t access the darkest thoughts possible. So I’d say the best state is being mentally well, but with good access to the infinite well of emotion we all have inside us.

Q: IAMX has been active for over 20 years now, with an impressive discography to show for it. How do you view the younger Chris Corner today, and what advice would you give him knowing what you do now?

Chris: There are three huge differences between me and him.

One is the awareness of mental health issues, having come out the other side of them. I would want to educate him so he would have a chance to define and separate fact and fiction in his ruminating.

Two would be awareness of his autism. Being late-diagnosed has been mind-blowing. Again, this would help him navigate all the triggers and threats of the heteronormative world much better—and teach him to be easier on himself.

Three would be to accept his identity as a relationship anarchist and to make personal life decisions with that in mind.

Q: The visual component has always been central to the IAMX experience—and the most recent tour reinforces that. What does the visual aspect and overall image mean to you on a more existential level?

Chris: Music is my craft, my natural unthinking flow state. But I do adore the visual world too. I love to combine the music with imagery—video, stills, stage design. Expanding the message with a broader palette. I love it all—how one thing can amplify the other, how the meaning transforms or intensifies.

Q: If someone unfamiliar with IAMX asked you to play just one song to introduce them to your work, which one would you choose—and why?

Chris: “Look Outside.” Not a track that shows fully what IAMX is, but a track that is close to my heart.