Of course the band playing "Death Cab For Cutie" was the inimitable 'Bonzo Dog Do Da Band' and that is one heck of a band name in anyone's book. If you're good enough (or crazy enough) to catch peoples attention, the name won't matter. Have fun.
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Secret for picking a band name.
- Thread starter pLewis
- Start date
Of course the band playing "Death Cab For Cutie" was the inimitable 'Bonzo Dog Do Da Band' and that is one heck of a band name in anyone's book. If you're good enough (or crazy enough) to catch peoples attention, the name won't matter. Have fun.
I remember this specifically... it was a surreal moment...
I was looking at my dad's old stereo highend speakers (Wharfdale's) and listening to my sister talking about her garden, especially the prolific garlic harvest they were having that year, over a few hands of rummy one steamy summer evening.
The garage hangout band I was in had a couple of house parties lined up and needed a moniker...
Maybe I was drifting off mentally at that hour listening to the conversations droning in the background that evening - but it hit me...
"Wharfdale's Garlic"
And so it was... and we rocked 'em hard.
Then there was "The Serengeti Dung Beetles" after a NatGeo special on the Serengeti... we made sure to throw a few Beatles tunes in the set list.
I was looking at my dad's old stereo highend speakers (Wharfdale's) and listening to my sister talking about her garden, especially the prolific garlic harvest they were having that year, over a few hands of rummy one steamy summer evening.
The garage hangout band I was in had a couple of house parties lined up and needed a moniker...
Maybe I was drifting off mentally at that hour listening to the conversations droning in the background that evening - but it hit me...
"Wharfdale's Garlic"
And so it was... and we rocked 'em hard.
Then there was "The Serengeti Dung Beetles" after a NatGeo special on the Serengeti... we made sure to throw a few Beatles tunes in the set list.
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Pick the subject of one of the YouTube videos the algorithm suggests for you: "Shiba Inu Scream".
"which one of yous is Travis?"
-The band is Travis
*look of confusion*
from an Ali G interview IIRC.
What you can do, is take one of the really outplayed, cliche, "theres 10000 bands called this" type of names, and put it into google translate until you find something cool.
Maneskin or what they're called literally just means "moonshine". Tons of other examples too
Oh, Blink 182 was called Blink, but that name was taken internationally so they had to change it. Just added a random number.
Davie504 I'm PRETTY sure was just named that by the YT algorithm, as Davie was taken.
This:
You may have different parameters depending on the genre of music (death metal? power pop? jazz?) and if you're going to be a covers band or an original music project.
I've always liked band names that come from a literary reference, be it a book or a lyric/title from a song of someone who influenced you.
23 Band Names Inspired by Literature
The Famous Songs That Gifted These 23 Massive Bands Their Names
Also, in these days of the Internet, avoid naming the band after something very common or well-known. I recall when I heard a song by the band Everest and I was really intrigued and wanted to find out more about them. So I Googled "Everest". Guess what I found. Pages and pages of links about Mount Everest. Then I tried "Everest band" and I got pages of links about a popular brand of watch bands.
You may have different parameters depending on the genre of music (death metal? power pop? jazz?) and if you're going to be a covers band or an original music project.
I've always liked band names that come from a literary reference, be it a book or a lyric/title from a song of someone who influenced you.
23 Band Names Inspired by Literature
The Famous Songs That Gifted These 23 Massive Bands Their Names
Also, in these days of the Internet, avoid naming the band after something very common or well-known. I recall when I heard a song by the band Everest and I was really intrigued and wanted to find out more about them. So I Googled "Everest". Guess what I found. Pages and pages of links about Mount Everest. Then I tried "Everest band" and I got pages of links about a popular brand of watch bands.
Turnaround
Commercial User
I wanted to name the band "Free Beer" so the marquee would read "Tonight Only Free Beer". Figured that would ensure a decent size audience.
I tried that. It was not well received by club owners.
I try to play on words. I try to do what others say shouldn't be done. Too many syllables? No such thing. Heh. I like family names, too. My current act is called the Dullards, simply because none of us are. In my past I've called acts lots of crazy things. If it causes a conversation to start? It's a good name. A long time ago, before the current scare of a cold, and during the then current paranoia of another affliction, I called a band the Ebolans. That caused some stir. Not all of it was positive. So, we changed the name to In Flew Engines. That, of course, a play on Influenza. Or, as we were a cover band, we said it was a play on Influences. I admit to being a smart ass. Cover bands, musicians in general, take themselves far too seriously. I try to use a bit of humor to name bands. It is, after all, our job to make folk smile.
Yep. Habitual denizens of the Grog and Tankard. My girlfriend at the time was backing up Root Boy Slim’s band.
Band name?
We did a grad party and halloween show at a VFW hall last year. Still dont have a name.
We did a grad party and halloween show at a VFW hall last year. Still dont have a name.
I have undergone gum surgery and a root canal, and would do either again willingly rather than again suffer through the band naming experience.
That said, I'll share a good friend's foolproof formula: "The [drummer's name] Project."
That said, I'll share a good friend's foolproof formula: "The [drummer's name] Project."
There was a band named Free Beer that put out a couple of albums in the 1970s.
Also a Californian skate punk band in the early 1980s.
Absolutely, and I agree on the latter point. There is (was? not sure if they're still active) an 80s cover band around here called Radio Star. That was an example of en pointe band naming - you instantly knew what they were going to play, and it was snappy and memorable.
Absolutely! I think way too many startup bands waste way too much energy mulling over names when they don't have the fundamentals yet, like a sound or a repertoire.
That was my issue with Rocasana - the guys starting it had already written a bunch of stuff, which I was happy to learn and play, but they also insisted they wanted the new members (me, a dummer and a keyboardist) to be full contributing members too, not just hired guns. I said if they wanted hired guns to play their songs, I was fine with that, and they could name their project anything they wanted. But I can write music too and if I'm going to be a full member, let's hold off on naming the group, making a website, any of that stuff, until we've spent some time working together and developing our style and persona as a group. We can let a name emerge organically out of whatever we turn out to be. Nope nope nope - guitarist wants to set up a website yesterday, it has to be now now now before someone else steals our brilliant name and then we can't conquer the world!!!!
Sighs and shrugs. Like I said - we played two of their songs for an online benefit during Covid, then the singer decided changes at his job would need too much of his time and the whole thing folded.
On the other hand, if I remember right, the Barenaked Ladies were booked with a name before a band existed. One of them responded to, I think a battle-of-the-bands competition invite or something like that, the organizers said "What's the name of your band?" and he told them "Barenaked Ladies!" They said "Ok, we'll put you on the list." And then he went and started calling his friends to say, "Hey guys, I need you to help me out for this thing..."
