The Juan MacLean

The Juan MacLean is the stage name of American electronic musician John MacLean. He has become known as a defining fixture of the New York club scene, as well as a very active international touring artist. The Juan MacLean got his start as a guitarist for a post-hardcore band named Six Finger Satellite, based out of Providence, Rhode Island. He soon became interested in music production and started working with James Murphy (later of LCD Soundsystem fame). After the dissolution of his band, The Juan MacLean took a break from music, founding the label DFA Records. Through James Murphy’s insistence, he got back into music, experimenting with new electronic music equipment. His first full-length album was Less Than Human (2005). He soon began touring the country and performing at electronic music events all over the world. In 2006, he released the remix album Visitations, followed by The Future Will Come (2009). At this time he started collaborating with artists such as Nancy Whang, Eric Broucek, and Amy Douglas (under the name Peach Melba). This served as a venue to release work that he deemed “too housey” for regular Juan MacLean releases. In 2014, The Juan MacLean released the album In a Dream, which was widely acclaimed by critics and fans of the electronic music genre. In 2019, DFA released the compilation album The Brighter the Light, and 2021 saw the release of the EPs I Can’t Explain and I Want the Night (the latter being a collaboration with Monika Heidemann).