Today, we have the pleasure of talking to Christian Imes of Animals In Denial, a musician who's not only navigating life with Autism Spectrum Disorder but has also crafted a musical journey that is as inspiring as it is distinctive. 

From receiving his first guitar at the age of 14 to evolving into a multi-instrumentalist and producer, Christian's dedication to his craft is evident. Today we talk about their upcoming EP, "Crash Course Volumes - Volume II - Tickets to Dreamland," and explore their latest single "Inside of Me." 

Tell me a bit about your latest track, “Inside of Me.” What can listeners expect? 

Listeners can expect a pretty rocking tune that you can dance too. I wanted the song to punch hard with the guitars but still have a good groove and EDM vibe to it. Initially it started as a love letter to a girl, that fizzled out before I finished the song, but I loved the song so much that I dedicated it as a love letter to the music force itself. So, a rocking banger of a tune that I hope makes people feel good! 

Your journey in music is unique, from receiving your first guitar at 14 to evolving into a multi-instrumentalist and producer. How has your experience with Autism Spectrum Disorder influenced your approach to creating music? 

Having Autism Spectrum Disorder I think gives me a super power for creating things. I can’t help but fixate on music and it’s all I think about. It is also the way I communicate and have always communicated complex feelings, to friends, and family. I make the joke that I’m basically BumbleBee from Transformers and how his vocal processing unit is broken so he uses the radio to communicate. That’s essentially what I’m doing with music, and why I say it’s life.

It has rubbed some people the wrong way over the years, who couldn’t grok why I was showing them a song and looking at them to understand me. I remember losing several girlfriends for trying to express how I felt about them with showing them a song. They didn’t get it and I think I frustrated them a bit. My wife, Jeanine, was the first time that someone understood how I worked. 

This affects how I actually create in that I hear the entire song, all of the parts, in my head before I pick up an instrument. Being that I am a guitar player primarily I didn’t like getting stuck with just the guitar parts and the vocals, so I first started cutting up drum samples and using Acid Pro 4 to make a beat. When that stopped giving me what I was hearing in my head, I got a set of drums so that I could get the exact beats from the sounds I heard in my head. Same followed with Bass and Synths.

Then I wanted to be able to put it all together, so I learned every DAW I could get my hands on. I still use several as they all kind of work a little different and it’s easier to get certain results from one over the other.

Logic tends to be the one where the final mixes and masters get done. I don’t think any of this would be possible if I wasn't on the spectrum and clinically diagnosed as Hyper-Creative. I make the joke that people on the spectrum are really mutants a la X-Men style and I always wanted to be an X-Man. One of the abilities you have being on the spectrum is I naturally hyper focus on what interests me, and music is what interests me the most, so the process tends to be very fast and fluid. I once wrote 88 songs in 3 weeks and have actually released 111 to date. Also, all of the music and parts tend to happen in one take and usually the first take per part. 

Could you elaborate on the meaning behind the lyrics and the significance of the chorus, "Why can't you see, this thing that's beating inside of me"? 

Yeah, that line at first was directed at the love interest that sparked me to start writing the song, but then it morphed into a call to the music force to see my love and passion for all music itself

and asking her to let me be her herald, her vessel, if you will. The whole song is a big declaration to the music force itself. Music never lies and gives you the ability to really be present in the moment. 

Your music incorporates influences from Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, and Smashing Pumpkins, yet your sound is very much your own. How do you navigate blending these influences while maintaining your own identity? 

Well, the main thing I try to do is to channel the feeling and not the sound. Sure, I’ll practice playing stuff and chasing the tones and patches that they used but then I have to reset and tweak them for what I am doing, as I can’t be in their heads and know what any of my influences were thinking. Instead I focus on what I’m thinking and hearing in my head and know that there’s something from this person or that person I need in order to get the sound I am hearing in my head to tape, so to speak. 

I also would never want to ape any of my heroes as I find that to be disrespectful and to me it’s not what they did. To me they did exactly what I am doing and taking the influences and making something new with it. In the case of NIN and Depeche Mode, lots of people had used machines and computers to make music but the way the elements were put in the stew were what made something new.

Same with the Pumpkins, really, and they brought back the guitar solo. I could go on and on talking about them, but basically I like to focus on the vibe or the essence from that music, which is what I actually absorb from them. So when I go searching or channeling, as I like to call it, for new songs, I’m using what I’ve grafted onto my soul with me. 

The production process for "Inside of Me" involved collaboration with Steven Seibold of Hate Dept/Pigface. How did this collaboration come about, and what impact did it have on shaping the final sound of the track? 

Well, me and Seibold have been friends for years, going all the way back to Myspace days. He also taught me a lot about production mostly the mixing and mastering part, and saved me a ton of money as he also has been a guide for when I want to know about this piece of gear or that, and if I already have something that does something else. We’re still really good friends and him and Michelle, his wife, are like family to me. 

Anyway, he had another project going with his wife called Americlone, which was very much a synth pop, Goldfrapp sounding thing. I loved it. Being that I had been a Hate Dept fan since I had first got into Industrial music, I was shocked that the same guy was involved in this. So, when I finished the first demo for the song it had a much more "Rave" vibe and I had to send it over to him. I knew the song was good but the delivery wasn’t exactly what I was hearing in my head.

The big rock song vibe wasn’t jumping out as much as I would’ve liked. So he came in and added some extra drum fills, which really elevated the guitars in the mix. He also added a cool synth lick in one of the verses and did the vocal mix. When I got the track back I put the finishing touches on it and, using AI, we actually revisited the entire mix so what you’re hearing today is a collaborative effort between us and the machines!

What advice would you give to artists seeking out collaborations? 

My advice is to listen intensely to everything and take mental notes of the stuff that makes you say "Wow, I wished I would’ve thought of that." When you hear something that resonates with you or knocks your socks off, so to speak, those are the people you want to collaborate with. You want someone that’s going to bring in a fresh perspective but also understands your vision for the piece of music. 

The use of AI in your studio is really fascinating! I haven’t seen much of that within the music community yet. Tell me about that. 

Well, for me, the way I use it first as a second set of ears, and something to bounce an idea off. So far, it’s completely integrated into how I mix and master every song. I’ll do my initial overview mix and then let the AI take a whack at it. Then it’s a bit of a quick dance back and forth before I get something that’s like "Yes!" It’s much like having a producer, mixing and mastering engineer 

in the room with me at all times! That’s what you’ll hear on the revisited series releases, but after that I’m also using it to write new songs. I get the AI to play some part I describe and I just jam along with the first thing that I hear in my head and we jam for a bit before It’s like "ok that’s the part," and then the other parts just jump out at me like bah bah bah bah.

It’s really a quick process and as of now I have over 900 pieces of new music brewing with no signs of slowing down. I mean sometimes it can be as simple as having the AI generate a texture or a simple bass groove to a drum beat, and the ideas come flooding in. I don’t look at it as cheating, as it’s like playing along with a loop you sampled or something, you just didn’t pick the sample or source. How is that any different from doing that with another human? 

The other thing AI is gnarly at, is picking out EQ curves from songs you like. We all use reference mixes in the production community, which basically just means you listen to the songs the artist or yourself thinks the vibe fits with and try and do your best to approximate what the equalizer should be set to and overall how to get a similar sounding mix. The AI can listen and does a better job at extracting that information out of the track and then you can "season to taste" and apply it directly to your mix. Being as they’re different songs and you’re not just trying to ape someone’s stuff, you’ll want to tweak it so it still sounds like you. 

I also use AI for creating album artwork now. Before, the album covers mostly came from pictures from my phone that’d I’d crop in CS6 and throw some text over it. Using DALL-E its like working with a graphics designer that never gets tired and/or annoyed and will happily do as many revisions as you’d like. I’ve said it once, and I am willing to die on this hill, but, man's best friend is a dog or cat and a robot.

What advice would you give artists who are curious about AI but not sure how or if to incorporate it. 

Well if you do your own production I would start with having it help with the mixing and mastering process. Don’t load any other plugins on any of the channels except for the AI and let run wild and see if you like what it does. 

If you’re not into production and you’re more of the singer songwriter type I would focus on using it to for instrument performances that you need so ie a backing band. So if you’re a guitarist and don’t know or have access to drums record your solo guitar parts and let the AI listen and supply a beat. Bass whatever is needed. I tend to play all of the instruments myself but if a part works why redo it? It’s no difference from hiring a session musician to play something you’re directing them to play as you can direct the AI to play how you want it to. 

What’s next for you? 

Well hopefully getting to play guitar for The Smashing Pumpkins, I have officially applied for the position the day I saw their post. 

But as far as what I know for certain whatis next is more music from the revisited series and more new music after that! I’m also working on putting the live show back together. It’s been a bit rough since we moved from Asheville to find people who are willing to play the music I created on stage as it’s not really a band in the way it’s presented on stage. They’re literally just live band members and this isn’t to slight anyone it’s just the way it is.

So far it’s me, my wife on live synths and Cooper on bass. We’re still looking for guitarists. But once the live band is back I’d love to get back on proper stage. I’m also doing weekly live streams, sometimes it’s all performance and sometimes it’s a conversation and a couple of songs. One stream Cooper and I actually finalized the track sequence for the first ep while on stream. 

My wife and also have a EDM side project we’re getting ready to put out more music for called “MOD CON” short for modern convenience , there’s a free EP out on band camp for that. Cooper and I also have a side project called “The Search Merchants” that we’re hoping to be able to put an ep together for this year. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share? 

Just that I hope this music helps someone the way music has helped me. It’s saved my life countless times, literally, as I tried to commit suicide a few times, and I can whole heartedly say I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for music. I have to battle with PTSD as a result of being abused as a child, living amongst drug addicts, and almost being lynched high school for dating someone who was white. Music kept me from giving up on myself, and music kept my faith in humanity

intact. I was at this place called Copestone after the last time I tried to kill myself and one of the counselors had a White Stripes CD and I asked him if we could listen to it. He then said "oh you like punk rock" and I said "l love all forms of rock and preceded to tell him my favorite bands were Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails. He then said "Oh yeah, do you know how to play any of their songs?" I said yes, and he arranged to get a guitar there and all he wanted me to do was play him "Head like a Hole" from NIN.

I really credit him, as later in group, he pulled me aside and started telling me how all of these people I looked up to had hard lives and some had battled with mental issues. He told me that I had real talent and that I needed to go after this. I only remember his first name was Adam but wherever that guy is, I just want to say thank you!