MEN (band)

JD Samson & MEN was a Brooklyn-based band and art/performance collective that focuses on the energy of live performance and the radical potential of dance music. 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 members JD Samson and Johanna Fateman. When the duo began to write new songs, it made sense to merge their efforts with JD's other new project, Hirsute. JD and original Hirsute members Michael O'Neill (Princess, Ladybug Transistor) and Ginger Brooks Takahashi (LTTR, The Ballet) then comprised the core of MEN, with Johanna Fateman and artist Emily Roysdon contributing as writers, consultants, and producers.
In 2009 MEN self-released an EP called "MEN" that sold out following US tours with Peaches and Gossip. MEN also toured in the UK and Europe during this time. Their debut album "Talk About Body" was released on February 1, 2011 via Iamsound Records in the US and through Sony/Columbia in Europe. With the release of the album, Takahashi was subsequently replaced by Tami Hart.
Until the spring of 2012, 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 in 2012, JD Samson & MEN released a single and music video entitled "Let Them Out Or Let Me In". JD 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. Like their 2012 EP "Next", this 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.