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Stage Name

#41
I am in the same situation as the OP. Social media is the culprit here. No one at work has any idea I am in a band, much less what I do when I am off work. They won’t find it by searching my name online.

Hell, I don’t even see many real names on here. Sometimes it’s better to keep your professional life separate.

D.D. Gunz sounds much better than my real name for this project anyway.
 

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#42
I worked for three years in a job (not musical) with a professional name. It made so many things easier for me. It sounds like you have plenty of existing fans. Might or might not suit your situation, but I've seen this work (takes a little time) ..... if your band does introductions you can have whoever names you call you "John <Stage Name> Doe" on bass (I presume). After time, omit the "Doe" and then the "John". Again, not suited to all situations, just throwing it out there
Mike
 
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#43
hsech said:
Mine's easy............. Hot Rod Harry.
Click to expand...
Simple is often the best.

<Verb><First Name>
Jumpin' Jimmy, Weird Al.

<First Name><Rhyming Noun>
Jim Slim, Jack Black,

<First Name><Noun>
Joey Fender, Johnny Diesel, Tommy Ford, Charlie Fox.


Strung_Low said:
Shouldnt be too hard to come up with a good stage name for a punk/reggae band. Get together w bandmates or a friend or two, and have a drink an a smoke and see what you can think up. Twist something off your real name. Some folks taking your choice super serious on here, people use stage names all the time, its not weird or dishonest or cheesy, just part of the act
Click to expand...
Absolutely.
 
#46
At the last gig I told the BL to introduce me as Hot White Mocha on bass.

He did not.

All seriousness aside, I have no problem because our music is pretty acceptable and I go all suit/shirt/tie when I play. I have a very recognizable name in the community but it helps more than hurts.

I think you're on the right track, but changing Facebook with its facial recognition software and multitude of hooks and nets for your personal information is tough.

A friend uses his grandfathers name. His grand dad left the world about 20 years ago so no one complains.
 
#48
Seeing as you post on here as @FugaziBomb, then I don't see an issue. You already HAVE an "anonymous" pseudonym, so why not just use that, or Middle Name FugaziBomb or something.

Any other screen names from other Forums you use?

Clearing out your band activity from your own personal FB page is a good idea, transfer it over to your "new persona".
 
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#50
In a classic rock trio I was in, the BL decided my full given name, and my last name, were not sufficiently "rock and roll" for him to call out from the mic when introducing the band. So the first name got a familiarized form, and the last name was reduced to its initial - followers of that band know me as "Jonny C." You might go with that approach, just be "Danny Z" or whatever for band purposes while your professional contacts know you as Daniel Zbiegniski or whatever your real name is.

It sounds like it does make sense to create some distance between your entertainment persona and your day job identity, so that people casually looking for you for work don't stumble unexpectedly across the band if they're the types who would get offended. At the same time, it probably will happen sooner or later, no matter what you do, so be prepared for it. My bands are not as "out there" as yours sounds like, but still I've noticed that googling my name still seems to yield academic hits, not music ones. Just as well.
 
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#52
I get it. My band plays rock, pop and country radio standards which are mainstream and unoffensive, and I still have huge troubles with my image as a musician spilling over into the highly conservative medical conglomerate I work for. Our HR department monitors social media of employees to make sure no objectionable material is "corrupting the image" of their brand. I solve this by making sure I have no link to my professional job on social media. If you didn't do this from the beginning, I'm not sure of the best way to sort it out.
 
#54
You can give yourself a stage name but it won’t help your perceived image problem in these social media times. There will still be that one person who will see a picture of you grabbing your joint while giving the crowd the devils horns that will realize - hey, that’s Tom from accounting. Oh, and he calls himself Professor Funkalicious...how cute!

Listen, you already got the promotion despite your name being linked to your musician persona, so I wouldn’t sweat it.

Good luck trying to erase any mention of your real name in conjunction with your musician life off the internet. It can be done, but it’s not cheap nor fool proof.
 
#56
Skybone said:
Seeing as you post on here as @FugaziBomb, then I don't see an issue. You already HAVE an "anonymous" pseudonym, so why not just use that, or Middle Name FugaziBomb or something.

Any other screen names from other Forums you use?

Clearing out your band activity from your own personal FB page is a good idea, transfer it over to your "new persona".
Click to expand...
Bobby Fugazi
 
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#60
Congrats on your new-found success @FugaziBomb !!!!! This is a great problem to have!

I would put it off on your label or management or some other third party if it is awkward for you. Pick a name and go with it. If any of your local friends have a problem with it, just say "Cut me some slack, man. The label wants me to go with something other than (fill in your name here)." Appel to them as if it's not your favorite situation either, but that they would be doing you a favor by rolling with it.
 

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