The Band Name/Naming/Re-Naming Thread

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I tried the "snippet of lyric" idea, but I only know my lyrics, not Sarah's, and I didn't want to have an album name that had the words "We" or "I" in it because I feel like that's a well-worn indie trope these days so all my ideas were really long-winded things like "Hit the Buttons Marked Record and Play" or "The Guys Stood to the Side and the Girls Danced With Each Other," which I thought were cool but my bandmates dismissed. Sarah wants the name to be "happy" but I'm worried about sounding twee, and I don't know what our drummer's problem is.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 3 November 2005 15:45 (eighteen years ago) link

But we went through the same shit re: band name and we eventually ended up with one we all like so I think it's just a matter of time and me eventually forcing my will on everyone else.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 3 November 2005 15:48 (eighteen years ago) link

I agree with your bandmates - those names are too long without being coherent enough to stick (whereas "And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead" for better or for worse, somehow does stick)

What's your band called right now, again?

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 3 November 2005 15:50 (eighteen years ago) link

We are called Tenderhooks, and I love the name, and we have no problems other than people putting The's on it and bands writing us and saying "you better change that or else, there are other bands called Tenderhooks". We generally reply "yes, luckily we are the best one."

― Roxymuzak, Mrs. Carbohydrate (roxymuzak), Thursday, 3 November 2005 16:02 (eighteen years ago) link

kinda

― Roxymuzak, Mrs. Carbohydrate (roxymuzak), Thursday, 3 November 2005 16:02 (eighteen years ago) link

We are called the F@ke F1ctions. One of our friends suggested the album be called "Short Stories by the F@ke F1ctions," which I also liked but our drummer dismissed again.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 3 November 2005 16:04 (eighteen years ago) link

Dude, he's just the drummer.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 3 November 2005 16:06 (eighteen years ago) link

j/k. I'm not a self-hating drummer.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 3 November 2005 16:06 (eighteen years ago) link

One of my old bands was called Less Miserable. Amazingly it was regularly "corrected" to read "Les Miserables" in newspaper listings and such. At least a few times someone showed up for one of our shows expecting to see something somehow related to a Broadway show.

― martin m. (mushrush), Thursday, 3 November 2005 16:13 (eighteen years ago) link

xpost I have a knee-jerk reaction against bands that do things that scream "We were English majors." Hence my hatred of the Art Brut cover.

ps I was an English major.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 3 November 2005 16:15 (eighteen years ago) link

I love the name of my current band. No one can pronounce it, let alone understand what it means. So it gets abbreviated to "The Curves" which I don't like as much. We are clearly SHIMURAS!!! which sounds really good shouted like a Samuri or a ninja turtle.

(x-post what about band names that scream "I was a maths major" even though I wasn't?)

― We might force K8 to change her name to Marie. (kate), Thursday, 3 November 2005 16:15 (eighteen years ago) link

Martin, that is pretty funny. Reminds me of a famous newspaper typo - quoting that an interviewee's favorite book was "Lame is Rob" by Victor Hugo.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 3 November 2005 16:16 (eighteen years ago) link

I got kinda carried away with the whole black humor pun thing after Less Miserable though... The band I was briefly in after that was called Mourning People which, as it turns out, is not nearly as funny and also conjures the image of some kind of metal band for most people I talked to.

I was a computer engineering major and a theatre major...

― martin m. (mushrush), Thursday, 3 November 2005 17:06 (eighteen years ago) link

None of us were English majors! We just, you know, like books.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 3 November 2005 18:22 (eighteen years ago) link

Ha: my best horrible idea for a F@ke F!ctions album concept is "Under the Covers with ... The Fake Fictions." Cover should depict a tented bedsheet with a flashlight beneath, only with two figures inside (N + S??), making out.

Ideas rejected as not-horrible-enough: "The Fake Fictions ... Play Reggaeton for You" and "Kittens Licking Fakes."

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 3 November 2005 20:43 (eighteen years ago) link

Aww, crap, dude: I carefully googleproofed the name in text, and forgot it in quotes. Does IMM have designated mods to fix that?

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 3 November 2005 20:44 (eighteen years ago) link

[PS I love my half-fake act name, which is Promqueen (not as hard-to-google as you'd think!), though I've fallen out with my previous all-fake album-in-progress name, which was "Is a Good Dancer." Let's make this a thread where you send me mp3s of your music/albums and then I name them, with all name-decisions serious and binding.]

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 3 November 2005 20:48 (eighteen years ago) link

hurting, dont change your band name. it rules.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Friday, 4 November 2005 00:00 (eighteen years ago) link

2) The word "Altitude" often gets misread as "Attitude"

i cant believe you dont remember the hissyfit you threw at the last plain parade show. asshole.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Friday, 4 November 2005 00:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Wha???

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 4 November 2005 02:28 (eighteen years ago) link

Don't worry Maria, I'm just going through one of my regular, cyclical periods of doubt.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 4 November 2005 02:30 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm not sure why you don't think "American Altitude" sounds classic rock, though.

I really like the long one about the boys and girls, Nick. Except it should be "boys" not "guys", maybe.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 4 November 2005 02:31 (eighteen years ago) link

dude, im just kidding.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Friday, 4 November 2005 02:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah, I figured. It was just one of those couldn't-figure-out-what-level-of-kidding moments. Nevermind.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 4 November 2005 04:04 (eighteen years ago) link

I've been thinking of using my screen name as a production name (or simply going under Tantrum) as it's just dumb enough to be memorable. What say youse?

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 4 November 2005 17:29 (eighteen years ago) link

I say BOOOO.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 4 November 2005 17:42 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah, I figured. It was just one of those couldn't-figure-out-what-level-of-kidding moments. Nevermind.

here's a tip: 99% of what i write on the internet is typed up while laughing.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Friday, 4 November 2005 17:57 (eighteen years ago) link

Doesn't that start to hurt, after a while?

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 4 November 2005 18:19 (eighteen years ago) link

Glad someone started this thread. We're going to be changing our band name pretty soon, too. We're currently called Empty Set. Here are some ideas we're throwing around. Anything stick out?

High Seas
Foxcroft Ponies
The Great Lakes

Do these names all suck? I can't even tell anymore.

― darin (darin), Saturday, 5 November 2005 00:54 (eighteen years ago) link

OK, but I've heard of Empty Set.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 5 November 2005 01:49 (eighteen years ago) link

And I like that name more than the others, but I'm nerdly that way.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 5 November 2005 01:50 (eighteen years ago) link

Foxxxkraft pwnies!

― Its morph 'em to pun cute (Matt Chesnut), Saturday, 5 November 2005 06:04 (eighteen years ago) link

High Seas
too nautical themed, id think you were really trying to be the next british sea power. i have a feeling someone's already named themselves this as well.

Foxcroft Ponies
i dont know what this is referencing, thats why i kind of like it.

The Great Lakes
there's already a band called the sixth great lake.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Saturday, 5 November 2005 21:04 (eighteen years ago) link

Also -- unless this is some other Empty Set, but that seems unlikely -- don't you guys have a website and everything? A domain name? You've spent cash money on your band name! Still, you know, it's all good.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 5 November 2005 22:32 (eighteen years ago) link

I like "The Great Lakes". "Foxcroft Ponies" doesn't roll of the tongue right.

"Tantrum the Cat" could work but it screams "whimsical".

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 5 November 2005 23:52 (eighteen years ago) link

There's already a band called Great Lakes, something to do with Of Montreal I think?

― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Sunday, 6 November 2005 00:00 (eighteen years ago) link

Vasari Teenage Riot (the opinion I'm most interested in is maria tessa's of course)

I like Empty Set too.

― k/l (Ken L), Sunday, 6 November 2005 01:56 (eighteen years ago) link

matt #2, that band would be the sixth great lake. not sure if they're associated with the of montreal folks but there's members of ladybug transistor in the band. close enough, i guess.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 6 November 2005 07:49 (eighteen years ago) link

Vasari Teenage Riot
i think of "vasectomy" and thus, i have a feeling this music is gonna be made by a bunch of pussies.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 6 November 2005 07:50 (eighteen years ago) link

i am pretty good at the band name thing. im shallow. also, i want to prevent people from writing shit like this:

Check this out, we're New York city's hottest rock band, _Edited_to_protect_the_stupid_. While there may be many bands with the same name , none of them our taking over the world like us. We mix all sorts of styles to come up with our own brand of rock n roll. Totally surpassing the newer trends of emo, prog-pop, post new wave , and nu metal with a brand of music thats melodic yet intense, catchy without a formula, and fun enough to make your mama dance. Check it out for yourself. The following agrees now lets get your opinion.

dont be like these dudes!

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 6 November 2005 07:52 (eighteen years ago) link

HAHAHAHA

Did you book those guys? Did they try to get booked by you?

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 6 November 2005 14:33 (eighteen years ago) link

no, they just sent PP a message on myspace. we don't book anyone who writes us on myspace to try and get a show. we explicitly state that we dont book bands via the site, they need to contact us through email. if someone cant follow those directions, there's no need to deal with them.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 6 November 2005 14:48 (eighteen years ago) link

i should note that we get a lot of weird/unusual/hilarious messages on myspace though. lots of married dudes trying to hook up with us. how weird, right?

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 6 November 2005 14:49 (eighteen years ago) link

Although the bulk of their message makes them seem kind of annoying, I don't think _Edited_to_protect_the_stupid is really such a bad name.

― k/l (Ken L), Sunday, 6 November 2005 15:55 (eighteen years ago) link

"Catchy without a formula" is the band equivalent to saying "I write free-verse, man!" It's one thing to understand a formula and then purposely work outside of it...

I like the implied mutually exclusive relationship. "Melodic yet intense." "Hey everybody, we're served hot yet delicious!"

― martin m. (mushrush), Sunday, 6 November 2005 18:20 (eighteen years ago) link

Okay, I'm thinking of two new possible names for the band:

1) American Apparel

2) House Un-American Altitude Committee

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 7 November 2005 14:18 (eighteen years ago) link

Thanks for everyone's input.

Casuistry - you must be from Portland. Yeah, we're that Empty Set. Are the Minor Thirds still together?

And FWIW, I like American Altitude.

― darin (darin), Monday, 7 November 2005 17:19 (eighteen years ago) link

We are still together, but people are buying houses and stuff, so we probably won't be doing terribly much with ourselves until spring. Hopefully recording a new album or two before then. Solo shows, that's where it's at, right now. Or something.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 7 November 2005 23:10 (eighteen years ago) link

"Tantrum the Cat" could work but it screams "whimsical".

Hmmmm... never thought of that...

I'm also thinking of the name GrandFormat ("large size" awn zee frawn-say) for my house stuff.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Tuesday, 8 November 2005 01:18 (eighteen years ago) link

"tantrum the cat" sounds like the name of a band whose members probably play a lot of hacky sack and wear dr seuss hats.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Tuesday, 8 November 2005 16:13 (eighteen years ago) link

Ouch. I didn't realize that the name had such horrible trustafarian patchouli stink vibes attached to it. I'm basically a house/tech/dancey/beats/whatever guy, and I liked the actual sound of the word "Tantrum", detached from its meaning. I was also kinda going for a Felix Da Housekat thing, too. But it seems like "Tantrum The Cat" is conjuring up exactly the wrong imagery for what I'm doing.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Tuesday, 8 November 2005 22:15 (eighteen years ago) link

Darin -- there's also a band called Great Lake Swimmers.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 8 November 2005 23:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Thanks - yeah, Great Lakes is out. I had a feeling it was just too good of a name to be unused.

― darin (darin), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 00:31 (eighteen years ago) link

Greater Lakes.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 08:37 (eighteen years ago) link

Greatest Lakes.

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 15:08 (eighteen years ago) link

Greatest Lakes' Greatest Takes

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 15:30 (eighteen years ago) link

Great Fakes

― martin m. (mushrush), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 18:23 (eighteen years ago) link

Great Fictions

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 18:26 (eighteen years ago) link

The Greatful Dead Seas.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 20:28 (eighteen years ago) link

two months pass...

I'm fed up. We played a good venue, they put a huge ad in the voice, and they misspelled our name "American Attitude."

What do you guys think of The Sea Wolf as a name?

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Monday, 9 January 2006 16:40 (eighteen years ago) link

Too many wolf bands these days.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 9 January 2006 16:52 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah, that was one of my problems with it. How about Wolf Blitzer?

Another idea I had was calling the band Freehold, since the two founding members actually are from Freehold, NJ.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Monday, 9 January 2006 17:06 (eighteen years ago) link

three years pass...

a really awesome band name would be Woodstock 99.

― congratulations (n/a), Thursday, 13 August 2009 19:30 (fourteen years ago) link

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