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MEN (the New York production, DJing and remix team turned art pertformance collective fronted by Le Tigre’s JD Samson) spoke exclusively to Lesbilicious about Dizzee Rascal, queer babies and beating The Gossip at bowling.

Whilst MEN aren’t yet anywhere near as much of a household name amongst hipsters as Le Tigre were, they are already infamous in both the US and UK for their live shows; calamitous electro-disco extravaganzas involving surreal costumes, stage dancers and audience participation aplenty.

Their eagerly-awaited return to UK shores took place last week, when MEN played three intimate but blistering shows in London and Brighton. Following US tours with both The Gossip and Peaches, during which they completely sold-out of their eponymous debut EP, they’re now back in New York, putting the finishing touches to their debut album. (“We’re 75% of the way through!” Michael boasts, bursting with pride.)

Alongside JD, MEN’s core members are Michael O’Neill and Ginger Brooks Takahasi. Whilst MEN was originally a DJ/production/remix team consisting of JD and fellow Le Tigre cohort Johanna Fateman, it’s since been melded with JD’s other project, a live band name Hirsute with Michael and Ginger.

As an onstage trio, although their appearance is eccentric, all three ooze talent, energy and charisma. Whilst Michael and Ginger were clad in Lycra catsuits with chainmail headdresses, JD sported a bizarre combination of black sequinned board shorts, an oversized t-shirt printed with child’s crayon drawing of a house, and a matching cardboard helmet with cut-out windows for eyes. Burly go-go dancers in sequinned tuxedo jackets tramp onstage at sporadic intervals, bearing DIY cardboard-and-tippex props including cut-out fists and a banner printed with the slogan ‘SILENCE=DEATH.’

On bowling with The Gossip, and glitter fights with Peaches:

We start by chatting about the US tours: “I’ve known both [Peaches and The Gossip] for a really long time,” explains JD, “so it was like touring with family. We had so much fun on tour together. We had a bowling tournament with The Gossip, and we kicked their butts. They were so upset when we won. They couldn’t believe it.”

Ginger interjects that she’d forgotten this victory, whilst Michael claims that their triumph was thanks to his bowling skills. They bicker about who was the best at bowling, and eventually come to the conclusion that Michael is correct. “The man of the band, of course,” quips JD, to which Michael rolls his eyes and retorts: “Hardly.” Michael also confesses that: “Peaches liked to douse me and Ginger with glitter every night.”

On pressure from Le Tigre fans:

JD admits that the pressure of living up to Le Tigre fans’ expectations can be a cause for concern: “It’s interesting because I don’t often think about it, but then whenever we have a big show it slowly creeps on me, and I realise that I do mean something to people and I have to live up to that. But at the same time, it’s just me, so I don’t have to try too hard. So I think the thing I have to remember is to not stress about it, and just be myself. That’s all that people want. And I’m lucky because the fans of Le Tigre are so open-minded, and curious about I’m doing, and what MEN are doing as a band, which is awesome because what we’re doing with MEN is totally weird!”

On Ginger’s love of Dizzee Rascal:

Although this time MEN were only in the UK for a whirlwind whistle-stop tour, in May 2009 they played a series of packed-out London club shows. And they’re certainly enthusiastic about UK audiences and their associated music scenes: “The UK definitely has a very different music scene, where people are much more open to new things,” JD reckons.

“The commercial radio and television stations seem totally open to young bands, and aren’t just focused on pop music. I think that’s really cool. But then the downside is that there’s a much higher turnover. Over here, people are only popular for ten minutes, then they’re gone. But we’ve been listening to the radio whilst we’ve been in the UK, and it’s really exciting. There’s just so much happening here.” When I ask if they have any favourites, Ginger has an immediate answer: “Dizzee Rascal! He’s so innovative. Although it’s weird how differently he’s seen here. In the US he’s totally underground.”

On making straight audiences dance to songs about queer babies:

Similarly to Le Tigre, MEN’s infectious electro-pop is often a vehicle for sincere commentary on queer political issues, and I’m curious about their musical and lyrical intentions, and the processes involved: “Sometimes the lyrics just come out in a big creative mess, and they focus on queer issues solely because that’s such an integral part of our identities,” explains JD. “But with Credit Card Babies especially, we definitely set out to write a song which focused on the issue of how expensive it is for queer people to have babies. But we deliberately set out to make it a song which was fun, and to juxtapose that with an important and often depressing issue. In general, what we want to do is incorporate the real queer politics which affect us on a daily basis into our music, and raise awareness of them.”

I’m curious as to how straight audiences react to this aspect of their music. “It depends,” says JD. “People bring to it what they want, and get from it what they want. If they come looking for queer content, they’re gonna find it there and celebrate it with us, and if other people just appreciate what it sounds like and want to get down to it and dance then of course that aspect’s there too, and that’s cool with us.”

On the future:

Last but not least, I want to know what’s next after the album’s finished. “A lotta, lotta touring,” says Ginger. But Michael has his sights set higher: “The next step is world domination.” JD chuckles at this: “Again, it’s the man of the band that says that. But what he means is that we’ll just work the record as hard as we can.”

Having witnessed MEN in action, the release, touring and promotion of their debut album is probably all they need to secure Michael’s ambition of global stardom. Onstage and off, they are intelligent, articulate, and endearingly eager to celebrate and share their music. At Madame Jojo’s last week, their show was a joyous, storming success (“It’s like one big queer happy family in here tonight!” JD remarked before their grand finale, to a cacophony of cheers from the ecstatic audience.)

Whilst the majority of Le Tigre’s loyal fanbase will find enough overlap to keep their ears engaged and their bodies dancing, there’s no doubt that MEN is a whole other beast. A beast that by turn might be boisterous, provocative, playful and fierce (with the occasional gentle interlude), but is guaranteed to get attention and affection from all who cross its path.

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