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JD Samson, so much more than “that girl from Le Tigre”

Out musician JD Samson is an anomaly. As one third of the iconic electro-feminist band Le Tigre, JD brought masculine femininity to the masses when the band signed to major label Island Records for their last album, This Island in 2004. Now a successful DJ with a new band, MEN, releasing their first full-length after three years writing music, L.A. Weekly put JD on their cover and conducted an interview with her and her bandmates, Ginger Brooks Takahashi and Michael O’Neill . MEN’s debut LP, Talk About Body, will be released in February on the LA label IAMSOUND. Despite Le Tigre having been signed to Island for their last release, JD says she is very familiar with the indie label politics, as their first albums came out on the iconic feminist/queer label Mr. Lady.

[On Island] we got a different management team that kind of guided us through the process, meeting with a lot of different labels, and we really thought that Universal was the best label to spread our music further into the mainstream and kind of get our music out to more people that wanted it. ‘Cause I think that was one of the things we realized: There were still all these queer kids who had never heard of Le Tigre. We wanted to reach them all, somehow.
So if anyone ever accused Le Tigre of selling out, they didn’t realize that taking the message to the streets could only get bigger with larger distribution. Yes that means more money, but it also means more resources. And when L.A. Weekly asks if reaching the queer kids was Le Tigre’s main concern, JD answers, “Oh, totally. That was what most of the decisions were based on.”

In the new Le Tigre documentary Le Tigre: On Tour, a lot of attention is paid to the grassroots efforts JD and bandmates Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman made to promote equality and freedom for women and the queer community, from songs about butch visibility (“Vis”) to turning down an ad campaign in Jane magazine because they wouldn’t include the word “lesbian” in fear of upsetting sponsors.

JD told LA Weekly that she has continued to be in the public eye since Le Tigre has been on hiatus, which is something that has worked in her favor but also against her, in her opinion.

I feel like [since the hiatus started] I’m kind of in the public a little bit more and go out around the world and party and stuff, just socially, and I think that I really worked really hard to make myself visible for lesbians, and that was really, really important to me and I’ve worked really hard to do that, I made a calendar and I was … I was obviously putting myself out there to be both admired and hated.

I think the Internet has been weird. It’s been really rough. Seriously, even last week or two weeks ago I did an interview with the New York magazine blog and the comments – I haven’t read comments in a really long time, which I feel lucky about. But I started reading and seriously, there were, like, 50 comments about how ugly I was, if I was a boy or a girl, that my answers were boring …

Seriously, everyone was talking about, “What gender is this person,” “This person’s so ugly,” and I couldn’t believe it, I posted it on Twitter like, “This is ridiculous, look how people can be on the Internet,” and of course next thing that happened was this huge conversation between all of my fans and the people that were writing in to New York magazine.

But I was shocked. It’s still there.

On the flip side of things, JD is also a queer sex symbol. Like the calendar she mentioned, JD has become the poster woman for gender ambuiguity and, in the documentary, Johanna says that JD is the “secret Justin Timberlake of the group,” with fans sending champagne and roses to JD and offering their numbers to her before and after shows. And in LA Weekly, hew new bandmates offer the same sentiments.

O’NEILL: But in a weird way, because they were obsessed with JD. It was these big, beefy jock dudes who were, “I just wanna shake hands with the li’l man. I just wanna shake hands.” They were obviously curious, but they didn’t know how to relate to that feeling.

JD putting herself out there is bound to confuse some people, but I’m convinced it’s a good thing. From her persona to the way she writes and performs music, JD challenges people and the status quo. She told the interviewer that MEN had to compromise a bit in their first single, “Off Our Backs,” to make a radio edit that ended up sounding a little different from the album’s overall aesthetic.
The radio edit was a very complicated decision to make, but in the end, you know, I think it doesn’t change who we are as people, and I think we’re willing to at least make a 7-inch with that edit, to make that compromise, and also give us a chance in the radio world, because, you know, I want people to be ready for music like ours.
And what is music like theirs? Samson says it’s long been a misconception that gay culture is more receptive to dance music than lesbian culture. “Le Tigre was one of the first really popular acts to challenge that perception, and MEN takes the beat-intensive party vibe and runs with it.” She continues:
I think there was a different kind of dance [in lesbian culture], it wasn’t called “dance music.” Like when I used to go see Tribe 8, I was dancing! I was moshing! I had blood all over my shirt when I came home from that show! [Laughs]
JD might have the look that makes straight people scratch their heads, but it’s her music that will have them dancing while singing, “Hold me one time, one time only; second time it’s gonna cost some money. I’m a tease.” Political pop at its best.

Think of all the Los Angeles residents who glanced at this week’s cover of the Weekly and were intrigued to know more about this androgynous person. In a world of La Rouxs and other artists who aren’t afraid to put out a persona but also aren’t interested in using words that put them in a box, JD says “I’m here, I’m queer, get with it.” How can you not respect that?

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