Been thinking of blogging about this for some time, but a recent article in the Province Newspaper has given me the final incentive. This week is SXSW (South by Southwest) one of the largest gatherings in North America for musicians, marketers, geeks and the like. This article was written from that gathering (by the Washington Post and reprinted by The Province).
“New Generation of Lousy Band Names”
If you want to stand out at SXSQ – the week-long music festival where thousands of rock acts invade Austin each and every spring – your band will need a name that’s both unique and really, really cool. Bears are cool- as long as you don’t name your band Bear Hands, Bear Driver, Bearsuit, Boy & Bear, Deer Bear or the Bears of Blue River. Those bands are already booked to play in Austin once the festival ramps up on Wednesday.
Maybe you could pick a specific kind of bear. Like a Panda. Just don’t name it Hot Panda or Gold Panda. Those acts play at SXSW too. But gold is such a nice color. How bout Solid Gold? Already booked. So are Gold Beach, Gold Motel Golden Ages, Goldenboy, Such Gold and yes, Golden Bear.
Also, no moons. The Hot Moon, the Soft Moon, Moon Duo, and the Moondoggies are all headed to Austin. So are Diamond Rings, I See Stars and Babe Rainbow. Don’t name your band after anything you’ve seen floating in a bowl of Lucky Charms.
And please don’t combine two dull, sorta-unrelated words and call it a band name. This year’s SXSW, which begins Tuesday, is overrun with those acts: Slow Animal, Still Corners, Withered Hand, Bare Wires, Buoyant Sea, Brass Bed, Grass Widow and Lazy Native, just to name way too many.
Simplicity can be a good thing but don’t name your band after something simple that everyone dreads, such as Prison Christmas, or Taxes. And why would you name your band after a pun as lame as Guantanamo Baywatch? Ditto for Galapaghost. Can you imagine having to say, “Hi. We’re Galapaghost” on stage every night?
Maybe all the great band names have been taken. There’s a certain ‘its all been done before’ ennui that permeates this crazy information age. And it’s spawned a generation of musicians that sound like they’ve given up and resorted to naming themselves after whatever they see in their living rooms.
But that doesn’t mean your band should dash off to the other end of the spectrum and pick a super-wacky moniker just so people can find you on Google. I haven’t heard you guys yet, but you certainly have more dignity than Mustard Pimp, Gobble Gobble and Injured Ninja, right?
Good. Keep that chin up. Because in an era where Rock & Roll is searching for its missing mojo, nothing is more Freudian than naming yourself something idiotic and/or extinct, such as Dinosaur Bones, Dinosaur Feathers, Dinosaur Pile-up, the Dodos or Really Great Band Names.
Kidding about the last one. Really Great Band Names is a lousy name, but it’s available.
-Washington Post
Ditto! I firmly believe that some band’s just don’t ever make it, or get as far as they could, simply due to the name they’ve chosen and the mental image it conveys to not just fans, but prospective agents, PR people and even record labels. Your band name should be the embodiment of what you hope to be as a band, what message you wish to convey for the life of the band, and should match the genre or style of what you write. Make it a gooder.
