Soul exposure

Since leaving the electro trip-hop band Sneaker Pimps in 2003 and moving to Berlin, Chris Corner has taken on a new persona fueled by art, love, obsession and sex through which he aims to expose the darkest flaws of humanity: IAMX.

Originally inspired by the sinister electronic sounds of the '80s but now more of an uncompromising, left-field electro-pop technician, Corner revealed a great deal of what he stands for on the last IAMX album, Kingdom of Welcome Addiction, which contained tracks such as "I Am Terrified" and "Think of England."

With a new album in the pipeline, Corner is about to expose his soul even more in songs about his childhood and facing mortality. Prague, a city Corner loves, will be the first to hear the results.

"I feel a great affinity with the Czech mentality, and I'm a fan of Czech art and cinema," Corner tells The Prague Post. "The audience there appreciates experiment more than in other cities I know, so it seemed a perfect choice to test out new, raw work."

Corner promises his performance in Prague will be "very intimate ? stripped down and improvised," though his new album will likely be complete by the time he comes to the city.

"I will also test out new visual ideas we are working with for the future, new stage designs, props and instruments. There will be no other IAMX show like this again," he says.

Having achieved something of a cult following in Prague, IAMX concerts are always well attended here and obsessive fans hang on Corner's every word, something he finds both flattering and confusing. This state of perplexity is not surprising for a musician who admits that "living and breathing this work is the only thing that keeps me balanced."

"I have struggled to organize everything around me to facilitate being creative. I find it bizarre that anyone likes what I do apart from me, and I fear my work consumes too much emotional energy, particularly writing lyrics. Puzzling together the experiences of one's life into small pockets of efficient meaning is exhausting for me," he says.

Such humility, however, doesn't stop Corner from painting his face in Bowie style and posing like he was the Chosen One. IAMX shows have gained a reputation as much for the music as for Corner's affinity for performance art, although the musician claims he "hate[s] being looked at."

"I love dressing up for stage because theater creates a mixed-up atmosphere of wonder, glamour, humor and tragedy. It also connects with my deep love of film and performance art," he says.

But Corner is quick to deny that ego is the source of his love for all things dramatic.

"Ego suggests that I do it out of a kind of narcissism, but it's the opposite. One of the tragedies of doing what I do is seeing how often people really miss the point; miss the humor, the joy, the sweetness and the honesty," he says.

Apart from the perennial live anthem "Spit It Out," fans will no doubt also be shouting for "My Secret Friend" a classic Corner recorded with the Grammy Award-winning British singer and songwriter Imogen Heap, who is known for combining music with electronic media.

"She is a sweetheart," Corner says. "I wanted to find a female vocal that was very different from the IAMX style, a combination that people would not expect. I knew her from my London days, and she had turned up at quite a few IAMX shows, so there was already a history and a chemistry. The most interesting stuff happened during the making of the video: cross dressing, red wine, swimming and furniture destruction," he says.

Confirming this, Heap tells The Prague Post, "I think I was the envy of a lot of Chris Corner fans, witnessing him take control on a video shoot dressed as a doll."

"I thoroughly enjoyed being a man for the day and didn't really want to take my outfit off. Of course, it was all most likely a normal day's happening for Chris," she says. "Playing the piano in his fabulous converted pump station, eating delicious food and drinking his own IAMX wine made up for the hour and a half I spent in a freezing cold swimming pool to get that final shot! I think he made a fantastic video, and maybe if I'm a good girl/man he'll ask me to do it again one day!"

Surely she's not the only one hoping for such a repeat performance.

James Scanlon can be reached at
features@praguepost.com