We at The Velvet Onion always try to give you exclusive information about everyone in the Booshniverse, and this time we have turned our attention towards the musical part of the Booshdom.

With the Into Asylum Tour coming up in October and the London show at Heaven just around the corner, we managed to score an interview with IAMX.

Janine Gezang, IAMX’s keyboard and bass player, was kind enough to answer all our questions about her involvement in the band, her fellow band members, and what the future has in store for the band.

You can read the answers to that and much more below, and tickets to the IAMX tour can be found here.

Hi Janine, welcome to The Velvet Onion! For the readers who don’t know, how did you get involved in IAMX?

I was a lonely suicidal musician in Berlin with no perspective. I worked 12-hour-shifts in a betting office with neon light, no windows, full of smoke and greasy ugly men. One night I forced myself to go out and connect to people. Although I hated the idea of socialising, I had a feeling it would save me from going insane.

I met a group of people that knew Reza, the IAMX manager. Before I knew I sat in a gay bar with Reza and Chris, they gave me a keyboard and told me to learn some songs for next week’s rehearsal. I was a bass player and had never played in front of more than 30 people. My next concert was as a keyboard player one month later in front of 4000 crazy Belgians and ten huge TV cameras. I will tell you about this cathartic show in detail if you ask me next time.

IAMX has saved my life and I will never go back.

IAMX has had their fair share of members through-out the years but how did you find Alberto, MAX and Caroline?

I don’t get involved in choosing the live band members but we all get along very well. Alberto was a huge admirer of Sneaker Pimps music and said he always knew he would end up playing with Chris. I like having another girl with Caroline in the band. It is a male dominated business and the more women around, the better men behave. Although I must say that the men in the IAMX travelling party of nine people are real gentlemen. And it is me that repairs broken machines and Caroline that changes car tyres.

MAX is a drum machine that has been part of IAMX for years now. He used to be played by the live drummer but last summer after a few technically frustrating shows we felt we needed a big change. We changed from live drummer at that time and promoted MAX to not only be hit during the show, but become the fourth band member. Chris programmed him and fed him with IAMX drum sounds and for a few shows we felt much better. We are an electronic band and somehow we had to remind ourselves of that.

For the Into Asylum Tour, MAX becomes an instrument again and we have another wonderful live drummer Caroline. We actually use two MAXes, one for her and one for Chris to hit.

If you had to describe each of your fellow band members with three words, what would those be?

Chris :  no bullshit, industrious-focussed, spontaneous-shy-smart

Alberto : Spanish-proud, German-doubt, music-life

Caroline : cars-dogs-beer, drum lover, fast-adapter

With four studio albums plus various EPs, remix- and live albums under your belt, what are you most proud of in the history of IAMX?

I am proud that we managed to survive in this mad business, owning all our records and organising, booking and promoting our own shows (with the help of good friends). It is a big headfuck most of the time because there is nobody that plans a tour and books hotels for us, nobody that takes care of bureaucracy, nobody that ‘does press’ (whatever those people do anyway).

Playing a show often is a relief for us because it gives us an excuse to forget about the merch that has to be ordered in time, the promoter we need to take to court because he never paid or the website pictures that have not been updated for weeks. And still we keep it running, being free to do whatever we want and to not give a shit about business people’s opinions unless they fit our mood of the day.

Our fans understand and support us, be it a commercial video or an acoustic hallway recording.

Are there any particular side-projects you are proud of that our readers might not be aware of?

If I am not on tour, I organise and supervise Boutique IAMX, single releases, our websites and our download shop. We have no label, so there is always some organisational thing to catch up with in between tours.

I am also the manager and caretaker of our headquarters we call TURMWERK. It is where Chris writes and records, where we shoot almost all our videos and live visuals, where we rehearse for IAMX shows and collaborate with other artists.

We are slowly converting a GDR factory building into a creative laboratory that we share with artist friends. Many things have yet to be improved, but we already have a decent sleeping/living area for many people and one black, one white and one green room for shooting. Our goal is to create a base for independent artists, a retreat where we can connect with and support each other. It is hard enough to survive the music business and easy to forget that there are others that share the same experience.

What is the first album you bought that you remember made a large impact on you as an artist?

‘David Byrne’ by David Byrne. It was the first album that made me realise how much I love songs with beautiful melodies and inspiring lyrics, performed by someone who cannot be anyone but himself. I listened to this album and to ‘Magic&Loss’ by Lou Reed a lot during the time I decided to learn the bass. I am impressed by any artist that keeps being honest and productive, especially the ones that have been doing it for years and managed not to die of drugs or vanish after scandals.