If you are looking for something fun to do October 15-18, look no further than Estrojam's annual Decibelle Music and Culture Festival. The multi-faceted festival, now in its seventh year, includes concerts, literary readings, film screenings and workshops with emerging and groundbreaking artists from around the world as well as artists who have already made an impact in their artistic mediums and in building a strong community for women to strive and succeed. Socially and politically conscious performers, such as JD Samson of LeTigre and MEN, hope to bring people out for the night and remind them of how important it is to have a strong and broad community of support. Windy City Times spoke with the perpetually busy Samson as she prepares for several upcoming performances around the country.
Windy City Times: So, you're going to be performing at Decibelle Oct. 16. Have you played the festival before?
JD Samson: They have asked me to play at the festival many times and I've never been able to. Every time we got asked to play it was just the wrong time of year for us to be coming through Chicago, but this time my band [ MEN ] is going to be on tour with The Gossip and we are playing in Chicago at The Metro that night so it just worked out perfectly. I'm going to be DJing at Berlin after we play with The Gossip.
WCT: Have you been to Berlin before?
JD SAMSON: Yes, I actually spent my twenty-first birthday there. I lived in Chicago for 1 summer, so I was there at Berlin on my birthday. It was funny. It was Prince night. I've DJed at Berlin a bunch of times, maybe five. I love it there. It's awesome.
WCT: What can people expect when they come out to Berlin on Friday?
JD SAMSON: I think it's going to be a really great night. It's a really awesome festival to be a part of and it's great to be able to do it. On the night of The Gossip show, I feel like it will be kind of an after party for us, and also it's really just great to keep that kind of safe zone, just headed down the street for dancing after the show. That's something that I am always really into, people being able to have this safe and comfortable space to dance and really feel safe. It's fun to be able to have that twice in one night.
WCT: Decibelle is promoted as an attitude-free event. What does that mean to you?
JD SAMSON: I think it's just like no drama. I respect that being written down so much, because people get really greedy, and I think, a lot of times, people take advantage of what they have and don't enjoy it. I think it's really great to tell people straight up, from the beginning, this is a time to celebrate our culture and not get bogged down by any in fighting or little things that could affect us.
WCT: The festival also promotes the concept of using art as a tool for social change, and I wanted to find out what it means to you, to perform at a festival with that message?
JD SAMSON: That to me is everyday. I feel that all the art I make is political, so it's not that far off for me to play with those guidelines. I think that is exactly why I play in general. Why I make art is for social change, and to be committed to that is something that's always come natural to me, but it's really awesome to play a festival with other people who feel the same way. I think that's truly awesome to have festivals like that, like Ladyfest, just kind of to bring together the people who do want to fight and also want to have fun.
WCT: So, is this the type of environment where someone can walk up to someone else and just start a conversation sort of knowing that there's already a commonality in being there?
JD SAMSON: I think that's what this whole thing is about is keeping the community alive and I think it does a really good job of doing that. Unfortunately, in this day and age, people are more inclined to go on their computers to find community. So, it's nice to see a festival still working hard to get people to come out and to be in the same room together. I think that's really important. I think that's what keeps these communities, whatever community, going.
WCT: Tell me about MEN and what are your goals for this new venture?
JD SAMSON: Well, Men started out as a DJ production remix team between Johanna and I, and then we started writing original music. At the same time, I was working with another band with some friends. Johanna got pregnant and didn't think she was going to be able to tour, so we kind of molded the two groups into one and that's how MEN became a live band.
WCT: Have you released anything or where are you in the process of producing music?
JD SAMSON: Well, we have a lot of songs, but the only ones recorded, finished and for sale are three songs that are on an EP that you can get on itunes and Amazon, but it's really hard to find because for some reason they spelled our name M.E.N. and we can't get it changed. I don't know why, we've been trying and we haven't gotten it changed yet, but it's called The Limited Edition Demo. We also have it on tour with us. We are recording right now and we should have the record out hopefully sometime in the spring. We are on tour with The Gossip in October and in November we are going on tour with Peaches, so we are pretty busy this fall with live shows in the states.
WCT: Why MEN? What's the basis in that choice in name?
JD SAMSON: Jo and I wanted to have a name for our project that wasn't just Jo and JD from LeTigre. We were thinking what should we do, and that day Jo was talking about how she wanted to live by this way of life which was what would a man do. The idea is that you don't apologize so much and it's really about confidence and how women apologize a lot and they don't take what they deserve a lot of times. So I was like, "Let's just call ourselves MEN."
JD Samson is scheduled to perform at Berlin, 954 W. Belmont, on Friday, Oct. 16, at 10 p.m. Tickets are $7.
