Men Without Pants is Russell Simins (co-founder, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Butter08) & Dan The Automator (Gorillaz, Peeping Tom,
Lovage, Deltron 3030). Special guests in the Men Without Pants band and studio include Sean Lennon, members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and
The Mooney Suzuki, Cibo Matto, and Gillian Rivers amongst others. The live band includes Russell (drums, vox, guitar), Dan the Automator (keyboards,
programming), Sammy James Jr of Mooney Suzuki, Gillian Rivers(violin,vcls) Phil Hernandez, and any number of celebrity guests.
A conversation with Men Without Pants’ founding father, Russell Simins:
ETR: Why the name Men Without Pants and how’d you come up with Naturally for a title?
MWP: Because sex should be a part of everyday life.
ETR: How did you and Dan come to create this masterpiece?
MWP: We developed a deep-seeded friendship from working on Blues Explosion together, then wanted to do a collaboration that was ours
and ours alone.
ETR: Why the guests? Aren’t you good enough on your own?
MWP: WHY? BECAUSE WE CAN.
ETR: What can you tell us about newcomer Gillian Rivers, who is the lead vocalist on a few of the songs?
MWP: Mad cool, hot young phenom proffesional voilinist singer/songwriter. You’re gonna see a LOT more from (and of) her.
ETR: What’s the story live? Are you going to perform? Who’s in the band?
MWP: Of COURSE we’re performing live. The band is a buncha famous freaks including me and Dan. Others include and are not limited to
members of the Mooney Suzuki & Mercury Rev.
In case you’re not familiar, RUSSELL SIMINS is most notably the drummer and co founder of alternative rockers THE JON SPENCER
BLUES EXPLOSION. In the 15-plus years that the BLUES EXPLOSION have been together, Simins has gained a reputation as one of the
best drummers around. He has performed and recorded with many artists including Tom Waits, Elliott Smith, Yoko Ono, DJ Shadow,
Luscious Jackson, Cibo Matto, Beck, Ween, Chuck D, Fred Schneider (B-52’s), to name but a few.
Simins also produced, wrote songs for, played drums, guitars and sang on the now cult-fave indie rock record BUTTER 08 (released on
the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal label) with collaborators Cibo Matto. In 2000 he came out with the album PUBLIC PLACES under his own
name to much critical acclaim, also on Grand Royal, which he also produced.
Dan "The Automator" Nakamura is a San Francisco-based hip-hop producer whose work with "Kool" Keith (Sexstyles, Dr. Octagon) shot
him to unlikely acclaim in 1996. As opposed to DJ’ing like his Bay Area cohorts DJ Shadow & DJ Q-Bert (Skratch Picklz), Nakamura turned
his attention to crafting his own productions, which eventually culminated in the Dr. Octagon project in 1995. Nakamura’s studio, The Glue
Factory, also served as the workshop for recordings by DJ Shadow and Latyrx.
Automator racked up a host of other mix and production credits, including Primal Scream, the Eels, DJ Krush, a collaboration with Dust
Brother Mike Simpson for Cornershop and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (1998’s Acme). Nakamura then teamed up with former De
La Soul producer Prince Paul to form the Handsome Boy Modeling School. The year 2000 saw the birth of the hip-hop/psy-fi masterpiece
Deltron 3030, a collaboration with Del tha Funkee Homosapien and DJ Kid Koala. That same year, Nakamura issued a retooled version of
his debut EP (with several extra tracks) under the title A Much Better Tomorrow on Dan’s own label 75 Ark. In 2001, Nakamura snared his
widest audience yet with the cartoon band Gorillaz, an eclectic collaboration with Blur’s Damon Albarn, artist Jamie Hewlett, Cibo Matto’s
Miho Hatori, and former Talking Heads Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. This spawned Nakamura’s first major hit single, "Clint Eastwood."
Next, Nakamura returned to his Nathaniel Merriweather alias (his Handsome Boy Modeling School moniker) for Lovage, a lounge-fl avored,
Serge Gainsbourg-influenced project, featuring vocalists Jennifer Charles (Elysian Fields) and Mike Patton (Faith No More).
In 2004, the Automator teamed up with Daryl Palumba to form Head Automatica and released Decadence. In 2006, he produced the
tracks for 2K7, the soundtrack to the video game of the same name, featuring performances from E-40, Ghostface Killah and Slim Thug.
From 2006 thru 2008, DTA worked alongside Jon Spencer Blues Explosion co-founder and drummer Russell Simins as Men Without
Pants, to create the bombastic, instant classic DYI-style album “Naturally.”
