This post was submitted by Zack Rosen

Juan MacLean (left) is the frontman for The Juan MacLean, the house-cum-synth outfit that is playing at the Black Cat tomorrow, May 23rd. He was formerly linked with another band, The Six Finger Satellite. Current LCD Soundsystem head James Murphy joined that band as a sound engineer. Murphy went on to form the influential DFA Records and MacLean birthed his current band, which DFA signed. Where Kevin Bacon fits into this, I don’t know. But I know that people complaining about DC residents seeming inability to dance at rock shows might get some pleasant surprises here.

MacLean was nice enough to answer some of my questions about being straight. You can read the answers below, and non-DC residents should check out their tour schedule to see if they hit your hometown.

The New Gay: When did you first realize you were straight?

Juan MacLean: This was actually a quite complicated process for me. As a child, I was very shy and my family moved around a lot. I was in a new school nearly every year, and it was usually a pretty traumatic experience for me. As a consequence I never really became comfortable around girls. I went to an all male Catholic high school, and sort of felt relieved. I didn’t have to deal with the social pressures of getting with girls or any of that business. It wasn’t until I had my first serious girlfriend as a senior in high school that I realized that I was very attracted to girls and even then I felt mostly embarassed by the whole scenario. If I would have known about the gay option, I would have chosen that, but back in the 80’s it wasn’t as popular as it is now as a lifestyle choice.

TNG: What is your least favorite stereotype about straight people?

JML: That we don’t know how to dress properly. As a lifelong member of the hipster community with roots in punk rock, I have always been concerned with fashion. I love to go shopping for clothes, and I have most of my clothes tailored, including shirts I buy at Goodwill for $3. There is this stereotype that the gay is the better dressed member of the species, but that certainly is not the case. I went to see a feminist oriented documentary last week and I was the only guy there. It was filled with smartly dressed women of the lesbian persuasion, and you got the feeling you were at a convention for retired librarians. Also, the DFA headquarters is located in the Chelsea area of New York City, a famous gay training ground, and you see a lot of bad fashion choices every day.

TNG: What obligations, if any, do you feel that you have to the gay community?

JML: I have two young children, a six year old daughter and a nine year old son. We have discussed what it generally means to be gay, something made easier by their neighboring babysitter having two mothers. One of the first talks we had was about the use of the word ‘gay.’ I was shocked to hear from my six year old that she heard kids her age using the word inappropriately, and I have tried to impress upon them how hurtful this is. So I see my own children as a place to start and there is no avoiding the issue. They will be exposed to homophobia at a young age, and as a parent you either address it or ignore it, but either way you have made a choice. It is pretty infuriating to realize that these little kids are getting all of this stuff at home, though, and taking it out into the world.

TNG: What are the biggest challenges faced by a straight person in today’s culture?

As a straight guy, the biggest challenge of my life has been getting girls to have sex with me. Gay guys can never relate to this because of the differences in approach between males and females. Traditionally, the dynamic is defined by the male wanting desperately to go as far as possible, as fast as possible, with some girl, while it is the girl’s role to put the brakes on the whole thing, withhold sex and dole it out in bits and pieces as reward for stuff like dinner, a movie, a piece of shiny jewelry, or a box of chocolates. This is why gays have it easy, because when you put two guys together they both just want to do it, no holds barred. They don’t have to lie about their accomplishments or pretend to be interested or ask a lot of questions about stupid shit they don’t care about just to trick someone into having sex with them.

TNG: If you had to “go gay” for one member of the same sex, who would it be?

JML: I have a specific type, for sure. If I had to pick one, I suppose Christian Bale would do. I love the brooding type with strong facial features, like Vigo Mortenson.

TNG: Given the seemingly endless number of “indie” artist in existence today, how do you think you set yourself apart from the crowd?

JML: I think we set ourselves apart from other dance or electronic acts in terms of the ‘liveness’ of our live show. Typically, artists in this genre of music tend to use laptops and stand on stage diddling a mouse. The Juan MacLean, however, is a full-on live band, with a lot of movement and dancing on stage. Our show is much more like a rock show, except instead of the audience standing with their arms folded there is a lot of dancing. Plus, we are very concerned with how we dress on stage. Nancy has been wearing these fantastic designer jumpsuits lately, and your readers might be interested to know that the rest of us have taken to wearing tight white jeans that leave little to the imagination.

TNG: Finally, why should Washington, DC come out and see you play tonight?

JML: You only live once, and if you got hit by a bus crossing the street on your way to work tomorrow, would you rather have spent your last night on earth participating in a sweaty feel-good dance party or staying home watching Law and Order reruns? That’s what we straight people call a ‘rhetorical question.’TNG

---

First time here? See what we're all about... Get involved... Send us a tip!...

---