JD Samson & MEN, originally named simply MEN, was a

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

-based band and art/performance collective that focuses on the energy of live performance and the radical potential of

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

. MEN spoke to issues such as trans awareness, wartime economies, sexual compromise, and demanding civil liberties. The collective disbanded in late 2014.

History

The group began in 2007 as the DJ/production/remix team of

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson for the rest ...

members

JD Samson JD Samson (born August 4, 1978), stage name of Jocelyn Samson is an American musician, producer, songwriter and DJ best known as a member of the bands Le Tigre and MEN. Background Samson grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, and attended Orange High ...

and

Johanna Fateman Johanna Rachel Fateman (born May 16, 1974) is an American writer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She is a member of the post-punk rock band Le Tigre and founded the band MEN with Le Tigre bandmate JD Samson. Early life and education ...

. When the duo began to write new songs, it made sense to merge their efforts with Samson's other new project called Hirsute. By 2008, Samson was involved writing songs in another project called Hirsute; along with Samson this group consisted of Michael O'Neill (Princess, Ladybug Transistor),

Ginger Brooks Takahashi Ginger Brooks Takahashi (born July 26, 1977) is an American artist based in Brooklyn, New York, and North Braddock, Pennsylvania. A self-identified “punk,” Takahashi grew up in Oregon. She co-founded the feminist genderqueer collective and jou ...

(LTTR, The Ballet) and Emily Roysdon. Fateman stepped back from the project after she became pregnant and wanted a break from touring. Samson then merged Hirsute into MEN, although Roysdon soon took a step back, making the core group Samson, O'Neill and Takahashi. In 2009 MEN self-released an EP called ''MEN'' that sold out following US tours with

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fuz ...

and

Gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...

. MEN also toured in the UK and Europe during this time. In early 2011, Takahashi left the group and was replaced by Tami Hart. MEN's debut album ''

Talk About Body ''Talk About Body'' is the debut album from Brooklyn electropop band MEN. It was released on February 1, 2011 on IAMSOUND Records in the US, and Sony/Columbia in Europe. It received a favorable average score of 64 on ''Metacritic. The song lyric ...

'' was released on February 1, 2011 via

Iamsound Records Iamsound (stylized IAMSOUND; formerly Iamsound Records) is an American entertainment company based in Los Angeles and founded by Niki Roberton. Iamsound comprises a creative and marketing studio, visual artist management firm, and independent rec ...

in the US and through

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

/ Columbia in Europe. Fateman and Roysdon are credited on the album but not listed as group members. In February 2012, the group released the ''Next'' EP on their own MEN Make Music label. Until that spring, the band was known simply as ''MEN'', but changed the name to JD Samson & MEN for clarity and to emphasize the collaborative nature of the musical efforts on record and on stage. In response to the arrest of members of the Russian feminist punk rock protest group

Pussy Riot Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist protest and performance art group based in Moscow that became popular for its provocative punk rock music which later turned into a more accessible style. Founded in August 2011, it has had a membership of appr ...

in 2012, JD Samson & MEN released a single and music video entitled ''Let Them Out Or Let Me In''. Samson has been an active member and spokesperson of the Free Pussy Riot movement. JD Samson & MEN released their second studio album, ''Labor'', in October 2013, preceded by the release of two singles from the album including "All The Way Thru", for which they teamed up with French producer

Yuksek Pierre-Alexandre Busson (born 3 June 1977), better known as Yuksek, is a French electronic music producer, remixer, singer and DJ from Reims. Yüksek means "high" in Turkish. Biography Yuksek was born in Reims, France. Yuksek played the piano a ...

. The album was self-released on the MEN Make Music label. In late 2014, Samson decided to dissolve the MEN collective and move on to other projects.

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (

) February 1, 2011 * ''

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

'' (MEN Make Music) October 22, 2013

EPs

*''MEN'' - (MEN Make Music) June 25, 2009 *''Next'' - (MEN Make Music) February 21, 2012

Singles

*"Credit Card Babies" - (Trouble Records) September 6, 2010 *"

Off Our Backs ''Off Our Backs'' (stylized in all lowercase; ''oob'') was an American radical feminist periodical that ran from 1970 to 2008. It began publishing on February 27, 1970, with a twelve-page tabloid first issue. From 2002 the editors adapted it ...

" - (

) November 9, 2010 *"Who Am I To Feel So Free" - album version/ Antony version - February 14, 2011 *"Let Them Out or Let Me In" - non-album single - October 1, 2012 *"All the Way Thru" - August 20, 2013 *"Making Art" - September 17, 2013 *"Club Thang" - November 12, 2013 300px, JD Samson performing with MEN at the Commodore Ballroom

References

External links

MEN on Myspace
Video of MEN performance at New Museum NYC on Jun 12 2009. {{Authority control American dance music groups Electronic music groups from New York (state) American experimental musical groups Musical groups established in 2007 LGBT-themed musical groups Iamsound Records artists