Interview: JD Samson

Whilst some of you may be most familiar with JD Samson as one third of electro-dance aficionados Le Tigre, this Ohio native has many other impressive strings on her bow. Between producing art, film making, forming her own dance troupe and campaigning for gay and lesbian rights, it’s surprising she actually has any time left not only for Le Tigre but now for new band MEN. I spoke to JD to discover more about her latest musical venture, as well as the other multiple endeavours that occupy her time.

You originally joined Le Tigre as a projectionist, and it wasn’t until a bit later that you joined the group as a musician. How did that transition from behind the scenes to being part of the band come about? 

I met them all and was friends with them independently of each other and they asked me to go on tour and be the projectionist; I was actually in film school. The first Le Tigre tour I did was in the States in April of 2000, and on the tour everyone was like, “you should be in the band!” and I was like, “I don’t know what to say!”. Then a couple of months later, Sadie, who was in the band in the beginning decided she wanted to continue her own career so she left the project. I had already been working on stuff with them, so it just kind of happened.

You studied film at university, so did you have any musical aspirations before you joined the band or is it something you really just fell into? 

I played classical and guitar when I was twelve or something, and I really loved music. Music was a huge part of my life and I listened to it 24 hours a day and I promoted shows in school. But I never really expected it to be where my career would lead me. I think that a lot of what I was doing in film and video was translating well to music, so I think my learning curve was kind of high in terms of building on that. It was really cool, doing something new and approaching it in that much more of a punk way, because I just didn’t really care what was right or wrong.

A lot of Le Tigre’s songs have been used in adverts and T.V. shows, yet the band never really enjoyed the more mainstream success that would typically come from that sort of exposure. Are you disappointed that these media inclusions didn’t elevate the band’s status to another level or do you feel such attention would have deviated away from the music? 

I think we achieved the attention that we wanted. We really developed a scene of people that was full of feminists and queers and freaks and it was such an incredible space to be in every night. I guess I don’t really wish that anything had happened differently, you know? I think that we accepted offers for our music to be on television commercials and stuff like that based on the fact that we need to make money and we’re not really afraid of doing that. We’ve kind of reached the point where we’re not trying to gain more fans right now, what happened kind of was. We feel really positive about it and nothing could damage that, I don’t think.

MEN’s sound is more typically dance than that of Le Tigre. Is dance as a genre something you wanted to explore more? 

I’ve been DJ-ing for a while, so I think I’ve been influenced a bit by what I’ve been listening to, and also by seeing what kids are into. When I play a song and there’s a crazy build with kicks that roll, people are freaking out and that kind of energy isn’t something that we really paid attention to with Le Tigre very much. I think it’s a new thing also for a new generation, it’s crazy to watch kids respond to that, it’s kind of like a trigger. So I think that also had a lot to do with it; learning what’s happening right now. I learned to make music on Pro-Tool so I’ve always been an electronic music person, but it just moved into more of a club feel because I’ve been DJ-ing.

Do you prefer to DJ or make music? 

Sometimes I really love DJ-ing, and sometimes I really love to make music, so it’s hard to say. I think the part about DJ-ing that I really like is that I’m by myself, so if you fuck up, you fuck up, so it’s easy. You make the decisions on your own and you don’t have to talk about it all the time, so it’s been a nice departure for me, to have that space. There’s also less pressure as you’re just playing other people’s music and sometimes you can play what you want and sometimes you can read the audience and play what they want. [But] making music feeds my creativity. Being able to be creative inspires me more.

Who are your biggest influences, musical or otherwise, both past and present? 

Vocally I’ve been really influenced by Sean Paul and Joan Armatrading. I think that they both have this really interesting rhythm that is really different to a lot of other people. They’re not similar to each other, they’re both so different! So those are two people whose vocals I really love. Music wise, it changes a lot. A lot of times I’m really inspired by the people around me, like my friends. I love The Presets, I think their records are really great. I love a lot of Hot Chip stuff… these are people that I know, not extremely well but that I know. Also touring with bands… we toured with The Gossip and we toured with Peaches and I’m inspired by both of those bands and their live shows. My friends really are the people that most inspire me now.

You grew up with a huge interest in art, which carried through to your time in college. How does art influence your music, or do you view them as two separate entities? 

I think we are artists, I am an artist. I feel that everything I do is content-based, whether that’s lyrics or score or making a song that’s really long but only has one chorus. There’s a reason why it’s like that, there’s always a reason. Even if it’s only a sample, there’s a reason it’s that sample. I like to think of it as more art-based music making but I don’t really care if other people know where it comes from, that’s how I make stuff.

Do you still do a lot of art? 

Sometimes. It’s really hard time-wise and I definitely feel I have to be in a space where I’m like, everything else gets cut out. But there’s definitely days where I sit and make art all day.

Who are your favourite artists? 

(Pause) I really like my friend Emily Roysdon’s art. I really love my friend Brendan Fowler’s art, he’s really incredible. I guess Henry Darger, I think he’s amazing. Who else? I don’t know… My friends are incredible. Kate Hardy, Ulrika Ulrer, she did the cover of our ‘Credit Card Babies’ 12″ that I love.

You’re a passionate campaigner for gay and lesbian rights, and the issues raised within these are portrayed through your music and your art and dance projects. How important is it for you to have these outlets to convey your socio-political beliefs? 

I wake up in the morning and I’m queer, and I wake up in the morning and I’m an activist. Even if it means I’m just walking around on this planet. I don’t really feel like I need those things to be an activist, but they are really helpful to create visibility and queer rights and equal rights in general. I think even looking at those ‘It Gets Better’ videos, we don’t really need you to but it helps.

There’s been a recent spate of suicides in gay teens and you said in your biography that growing up and coming out was difficult for you, but you’d think that fifteen years later it’d be a lot different. What’s your take on the situation?

I think that it’s really interesting, I made like, five ‘It Gets Better’ videos and didn’t post them because I felt “I can do a better one, I can do a better one.” But today I read the lyrics for ‘Keep On Moving’ which was a Le Tigre song, and then I just did that because I said this ten years ago and it’s exactly the same now. One of my things I didn’t end up using was that I was lucky my community was so awesome when I was coming out, but it’s more about the pressure that you put on yourself. I think that’s the thing that people really need to pay attention to because you could have the most supportive family ever, but if you feel like you are somehow letting yourself down or something, then that’s where the real trouble starts.

What are your plans for MEN, do you see it as like a side project? Le Tigre have been on hiatus for a few years now, are you going to get back together and record, or are you going to focus on MEN? 

MEN is my priority right now for sure. Le Tigre is putting out a live DVD in March, I think, and that’s been pretty awesome to work with Kathleen and Jo again, and we also did some writing for another artist together, which was awesome too. But I think we’re all in very different places artistically time-wise and getting our schedules together is pretty intense. So, for now, MEN is my number one thing. I see it as my project, not my side project.

Finally, what are three songs you wish you’d written? 

That’s a good one. I was listening last night to Warpaint and I was like, “this band are awesome!”. You know that song ‘Undertow’? I kind of wish I had written that song, I think it’s really good. I also really wish I had written ‘Once In A Lifetime’ by the Talking Heads, and I also really wish I had written… this a good question by the way. (Long pause) I feel like there’s a lot of Gossip songs I wish I had written, but I can’t really think of just one. There’s this one song called ‘Jason’s Basement’ by the Gossip, it was on their first record, and I’ll say I wish I’d written that one. Although now I’m like, ‘I should have said this!’.

This interview was originally published on www.culturedeluxe.com