JD Samson

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JD Samson
JD Samson performing with Le Tigre in Manchester, 2005
Background information
Birth name	Jocelyn Samson
Born	4 August 1978 Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Occupation(s)	Musician
Associated acts	Le Tigre The New England Roses Peaches

JD Samson (born August 4, 1978, Cleveland, Ohio) is the stage name of Jocelyn Samson, a member of the feminist electropunk band Le Tigre. Samson grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Pepper Pike, Ohio and attended Orange High School. She came out as a lesbian at age 15. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York in 2000 with a degree in film.^[1]

Samson joined Le Tigre in 2000 as a replacement for Sadie Benning after working as the band's projectionist. She is also a member of the band The New England Roses and a member of electro-punk artist Peaches' live band, The Herms with Radio Sloan and Samantha Maloney. In 2006, JD collaborated with Junior Senior on the song "Can I Get Get Get".

Samson's contributions to Le Tigre include the song "Viz," which deals with her experiences as a member of a sexual minority. In 2004, New York Times music writer Kelefa Sanneh called her "an icon of nerdy cool."

Samson is a co-founder of the conceptual dance group "Dykes Can Dance," which performs unannounced, choreographed dance routines around New York in an attempt to break the stereotype of lesbians as bad dancers. In 2003, she released 'JD's Lesbian Calendar', a collaboration with photographer Cass Bird, which was followed up in 2006 with 'JD's Lesbian Utopia,' a calendar documenting Samson's travels around the USA in an RV.