Princess is an American high-concept art-pop band and performance duo formed in 2004 and reinitiated in 2017 by Alexis Gideon and Michael O’Neill. Their performances and music challenge traditional understandings of art classifications and explore

queerness ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non-cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to r ...

through futuristic video, gender-bending costumes, and vocals and instrumentals drawing inspiration from a variety of musical genres.

History

Early years

After meeting through artist friend Andy Meerow as undergraduate students in colleges in the Northeast, Gideon at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

and O'Neill at

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...

, the duo experimented with improvisation, hip hop, and comedy, with projects including a rock opera with characters from

Saved by the Bell ''Saved by the Bell'' is an American television teen sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in prime time, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, ''Saved by the Bell'' was broadcast in the United ...

. They explored a variety of musical styles, at one point entering a Battle of the Bands competition with songs and costume changes for five different fake groups performing a range from bossa nova to

acid rock Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage rock, garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelia, psychedelic subculture. While the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with "psyc ...

. In 2003, they moved to Chicago's DIY art space Texas Ballroom and formed the art band Princess. Their early sound was described by Sick Room Records as a "gauntlet of experimental math-rock," with a wide variety of style inspirations and dozens of instrumental voices. Exploring ideas of femininity and masculinity, the pair frequently wore tutus, dresses, leotards, and other garments typically associated with women, incorporating

gender fluidity Gender fluidity (commonly referred to as genderfluid) is a non-fixed gender identity that shifts over time or depending on the situation. These fluctuations can occur at the level of gender identity or gender expression. A genderfluid person may ...

into their performances. For the release of their 2005 self-titled album, the band toured nationally and shared stages with

The Aluminum Group The Aluminum Group is an American pop band from Chicago, Illinois centered on brothers John and Frank Navin. The band has released eight albums, on various record labels including Minty Fresh, Hefty, Wishing Tree, and P-Vine. History The Nav ...

, Scream Club, Barr, and the Coughs, to promote their work. Reviewers commented on the album's genre-defying qualities, noting its experimental, mutant, and idiosyncratic characteristics and struggling to compare it to other contemporary music acts.

Hiatus

Princess dissolved in 2006. During the group's hiatus, both Gideon and O'Neill pursued other art-based paths. O'Neill moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and was active with indie bands

Hirsute Hirsutism is excessive body hair on parts of the body where hair is normally absent or minimal. The word is from early 17th century: from Latin ''hirsutus'' meaning "hairy". It usually refers to a male pattern of hair growth in a female that ma ...

MEN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

Ladybug Transistor The Ladybug Transistor is a Brooklyn-based indie pop group associated with The Elephant Six Collective. History Started in 1995 by Gary Olson, Edward Powers and Javier Villegas, The Ladybug Transistor released '' Marlborough Farms'' the sa ...

, The Point,

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

tribute band, High Time, and CRICKETS with

JD Samson Jocelyn Rachel Samson (born August 4, 1978), known professionally as JD Samson, is an American musician, producer, songwriter and DJ best known as a member of the bands Le Tigre and MEN. Background Born on August 4, 1978, Samson grew up in P ...

and

Roddy Bottum Roswell Christopher Bottum (born July 1, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist for the San Francisco alternative metal band Faith No More. He is also guitarist and co-lead vocalist for the pop group Imperial Teen, best know ...

. Gideon made the switch into visual arts performing his animated video operas at art museums around the world including at

Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is an art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The museum was founded as the Boston Museum of Modern Art in 1936. Since then it has gone through multiple name chang ...

(2015),

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...

in Stockholm, Sweden (2014),

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is on ...

(2013), and

New Museum of Contemporary Art The New Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum at 235 Bowery, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-name ...

Reinitiation

In 2017, O'Neill and Gideon reunited for a collaborative EP based on the

Four Elements The classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Angola, Tibet, India, a ...

. As Gideon says, "Towards the end of working on this, we looked at each other and said, ‘I guess Princess is back together.’” The group's next project, a video album and live performance piece, continued their experimental thrust while responding to the political climate during its writing. Gideon and O'Neill cite the

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

genre, the cultural power of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, concept pieces like

Deltron 3030 Deltron 3030 is an American hip hop trio composed of producer Dan the Automator (as the Cantankerous Captain Aptos), rapper Del the Funky Homosapien (as Deltron Zero/Deltron Osiris), and DJ Kid Koala (as Skiznod the Boy Wonder). They also c ...

, and activist movements like the

Women's March Women's March may refer to: * Women's March on Versailles, a 1789 march in Paris * Women's Sunday, a 1908 suffragette march in London * Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 march and rally in Washington, D.C. * Women's March (South Africa), a 1956 ma ...

and #metoo as inspiration for "Out There." Continuing their earlier work engaging with themes of gender, the group stated the album put forward "the role men ought to be playing during the current cultural reckoning of misogyny." This feminist political direction was reinforced in the rock opera, as the title card for the performance's video reads, “2028: Proclaiming Earth to be a misogynistic dystopia, the art-pop super duo Princess prepares a rocket ship to find a better world. As only two white men could.” Narrative-forward lyrics present battles with

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

and

toxic masculinity The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxi ...

, searching for a futuristic

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

. Accompanying stop-action animation showed the duo exploring a vividly hued outer space, while energetic rap overlays electric guitar and keyboard. Gender-defying costumes, at times recalling garments worn during the group's earlier work, extend themes of queerness and the power of the

Divine Feminine A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all reality, is ...

explored throughout the video. Acknowledging the problematic nature of a male duo speaking on such a female-centered topic, Gideon and O'Neill invited collaborators, which included rock band

TEEN Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

, artist Jennifer Meyers, and singer

. Performed in costume with pre-recorded video and live music, the 16-song, 55-minute album premiered at the

Andy Warhol Museum The Andy Warhol Museum is located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist. The museum holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archi ...

. With a focus on reaching art museum goers, many stops on their tour were booked at cultural institutions, including performances at

21c Museum Hotels 21c Museum Hotels is a contemporary art museum and boutique hotel chain based in Louisville, Kentucky. The chain also has locations in Lexington, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; Bentonville, Arkansas; Durham, North Carolina; a ...

, The

Bass Museum The Bass Museum of Art is a contemporary art museum located in Miami Beach, Florida. The Bass Museum of Art was founded in 1963 and opened in 1964. History Early years John Bass (1891–1978) and Johanna Redlich (m. February 21, 1921) were Je ...

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts is located in the Old Market Historic District of downtown Omaha, Nebraska, at the corner of 12th Street and Leavenworth Street. In addition to an international artist-in-residence program, Bemis Center hosts te ...

, MIT

List Visual Arts Center Established in 1950, the List Visual Arts Center (LVAC) is the contemporary art museum of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is known for temporary exhibitions in its galleries located in the MIT Media Lab building, as well as its admin ...

Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (abbreviated to moCa) is a contemporary art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the only contemporary art venue of its kind in Metropolitan Cleveland. The organisation was founded by Marjorie ...

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) is an art museum in La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the ...

, and

Wexner Center for the Arts The Wexner Center for the Arts is the Ohio State University's "multidisciplinary, international laboratory for the exploration and advancement of contemporary art." The Wexner Center is a lab and public gallery, but not an art museum, as it doe ...

Discography

* LP album, "Princess," 2005 * Video album, "Out There," 2019

References

{{reflist American musical duos 2004 establishments in Connecticut