story by Megan Holmes
photo by Danielle Levitt

Le Tigre is a New York-based trio that speaks politics, feminism, and truth. Their last record, 2001's Feminist Sweepstakes, challenged homophobia and the status quo while calling for electronic revolution alongside radical change in our government. Headed by former Bikini Kill front lady Kathleen Hanna, they are part electronic, part guitar noise, and part free thinking renegades.

The roots of Le Tigre stem from a 1998 Bikini Kill show in Portland, after which current band member Johanna Fateman (then just an impressed fan at the show) approached Hanna to give her a copy of her feminist art zine. The two ended up writing tunes together and, along with queer filmmaker Sadie Benning, released their self-titled debut in 1999 on North Carolina indie label Mr. Lady Records.

The lo-fi dance punk collaboration took hold in the budding dance punk scene, while at the same time following in the footsteps of the feminist riot grrl movement launched in large part by Bikini Kill. Their dance anthems met their strong political beliefs more forcefully on Feminist Sweepstakes, an album which reflects the band's broader goal of making listeners dance - and think - at the same time.

SAMSON'S INNER VIEW "I think that we make music to express ourselves, so whatever we might be wanting to say is what we write about. Inherently we're political people. So we write about politics. We're not like, 'we want to make a political record'. We just write."

Yet soon after their first release the band experienced a major change when Benning left the group to pursue her art career and Le Tigre brought on JD Samson, a former band technician/roadie. The group experienced another major change after their second release, when Mr. Lady Records folded due in large part to financial problems and left the hard-core DIY members of Le Tigre searching for a label to lighten their workload.

Released last month on Universal Records subsidiary Strummer (home to other bands straddling the indie/major label line like The Rapture and Mars Volta), 2004's This Island offers a brighter, more radio-friendly polish to the band's electro-political dance anthems. It offers songs as varied as a lighthearted cover of the Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited" to more standard political bombshells like "Punker Plus" - an insurgent number that calls for "a universal health care deal" and "Kissinger on trial for real," while describing President Bush as "a right-wing king making Third World war."

With its new album and tour, the group will be looking to widen its audience beyond its core supporters of queers, activists, electro punks, feminists and fashionistas while helping make room for politics and radical thought on the dancefloor. Chicago Innerview had a chance to speak with Fateman and Samson about the demise of Mr. Lady Records, the leap to current home Strummer/Universal, and how they feel about the government and the issue of clean underwear.

Chicago Innerview: Do you feel like with what's going on in the government and with the November elections that you'll be able to reach more people because it's such a big topic - at least in terms of making a connection about politics with an audience that is not familiar with your music?

Johanna Fateman: Le Tigre has already been involved in things like Bands Against Bush [an international organization which puts on concerts and other events aimed at registering voters and unseating President Bush]…I think that we're just going to be driving home the point that you should actually go out and vote. That's the most important thing to do right now…I've always voted since I could, but it's never felt so urgent. I'm not the hugest John Kerry fan in the world, but we're at this point where we have a right wing dictator who wants to take over the world at no regard for the international community or legality of his actions. Anyone would be better than him at this point.

Chicago Innerview: Was Mr. Lady [Records] closing up shop a catalyst for you guys going to Universal? Or was it a natural progression?

JD Samson: Definitely. They had talked about not putting out any new records and we had a hard time figuring out where we felt like we belonged. We talked to a lot of different labels, independent and major, and we had a really hard time trying to figure out what to do once Mr. Lady had told us that.

CI: Was there any reason Universal was the one?

Fateman: I mean if you could find a person you feel comfortable talking to and you feel like has respect for you as artists and if you can find that, then it's just business stuff as usual.

Samson: I mean, we picked great people. They know what we do and they're not gonna keep us from being who we are.

CI: Do you feel like being a feminist and very politically active that it's something you're conscious of when you're actually writing lyrics? Or is it something that just comes out naturally?

Fateman: Well, I think it's a combination of both. I think that we naturally choose the subject matter just because the subject matter is our lives. I think that you get to a point where you're like, 'okay we've been working with these preliminary lyrics, do we want to take them to the next level and like make it explicit politically? Do we want to bring out the less obvious layer of political thought? Do we want to make that totally understandable to people?' I think there's some songs on the record that are unmistakable in their message and then there's some things that will be obvious to like feminists and queers - you know, certain references in the record.

Samson: I think that we make music to express ourselves, so whatever we might be wanting to say is what we write about. Inherently we're political people. So we write about politics. We're not like, 'we want to make a political record'. We just write.

CI: You guys are leaving in a few weeks for tour. What's the first thing you pack?

Samson: I pack so much underwear, like enough for every single day of tour.

Fateman: I think I actually bring two pairs of underwear per day, because I bring one to change into after the show. I really don't like sweaty underwear.

CI: What's the title of your new album, This Island, in reference to?

Fateman: It's kind of in reference to the island of Manhattan, but it also refers to this island Earth.

Samson: We think of it also as this island of like being in this band, and being political individuals in a world that's not so focused on that. Or just being like, an other.

Le Tigre :: with The Gossip :: Vic :: November 5.

Listen to an mp3 of Le Tigre's "Seconds," courtesy of Better Propaganda.