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Who uses Stage Names?

#41
BigOldHarry said:
When I was front man in an original band, I'd make up names for my bandmate for every gig. I'd always make sure to have a goofy backstory for each "From the snow shrouded forests of eastern Latvia, on drums Roberto Sanchezovitch!" stuff like that.
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Once I was in a duo - myself, Pete Novak, on Bass, with Bob Good on Keyboards. We were called:

Novak and Good.

Later we got a drummer, Mike Steel, so we then became:

Steel, Novak and Good.

(read it out loud :help:)
 
#42
Let me get into more detail about the stage name nonsense. Please don't take what I'm about to type as pretentious ,because I have a feeling it may come off that way.

My nickname since I started going to shows is Trent (Because apparently I look like trent from Daria), with the rise of the interwebs akaTRENT makes a good screen name since to me it looks cool online and its true haha.

So for when it's stage time I tell people my name is Joe or Trent or both in place of my real last name, and heres an example why. A few nights ago we played a rather large venue, with.. I'll just say it, The Goo Goo Dolls. (Now I sound pretentions, sigh)

Anyway, Since we're a smaller band we talk to as many people as possible after the show to hand out free music etc. I used to make the mistake of giving using my real name on the band page, and I would get flooded with requests sometimes. My facebook is personal, to a degree, I don't want it to be flooded with people I met for five minutes at show. It's like Alex said basically.

Thats what the band page is for..., even on my YouTube I do it for similar reasons.
I love the people who love the music I play, but there is a level of space, thats appropriate, usually about 20 feet from the the sacred van and trailer haha.

So to everyone who doesn't get a stage name, trust me sometimes it's necessary if you care about privacy. I am by no means a big artist at all, but I have come across enough crazies at this point to go about things the way I now do.
 
#43
SteveC said:
I'm 45. I teach high school orchestra. I play in a pop/rock cover band, a jazz quartet and a funk/R&B horn band on occasion. My kids know. Some have seen me at gigs - where appropriate. Some have played with me at the open jam night for jazz.

We keep band pages on Face Book, but it's basically dates and stuff. Nothing crazy. We're all old and married and boring.

So far no issues. I certainly don't feel the need for a stage name. It wouldn't make a difference anyway. Kids, like teachers, have ways of finding things out no matter what you do to cover your tracks.

Play and have fun. It's good for kids to see that you are enjoying music as part of your adult life. Life long learning.
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I whole heartedly agree with the sentiment here. However, your school board (as an employer) may not approve of pictures of you having a good time. A stage name might not be a bad idea as a layer of protection professionally. It shows that you are making an attempt to keep your professional life (teaching/school) separate from your personal life (your band/music career).

Your students are going to find out. They will know that Wyatt Humperdink the bass player for Filthy Vertigo is really Mr. Murphy the Math Teacher. But you can playfully deny it, and everyone will be fine. Just don't get arrested for doing lines of coke off a hookers boobs in the park... like my high school music teacher did back 1985.

I think it is BS, but this is the world we live in. To be honest, I would rather you set a good example for the kids. A good example being a guy who plays music in bars/drinks and parties responsibly. However, I don't think that people would see it that way.

Pick a stage name. Make it a "professional working name".
 
#44
I'm struck by the idea of taking a stage name to keep music life separate from work life, especially for teachers. I teach college and I've been wondering to what extent I should actively promote the band to students, or actively avoid doing so (such as by taking a name). I guess one might be sensitive about whether students seeing me play might detract from the dignity of my role as a professor or something. But on the whole, I don't see why it should do so any more than them knowing that I eat at Wendy's from time to time or... well, or do any number of leisure activities. I have made a decision not to try out for bands where the act would be an issue -- those with too vulgar of a setlist or act or what have you. But on the whole, I think I'd welcome my students coming to a show. No stage name here.
 
#45
akaTRENT said:
Let me get into more detail about the stage name nonsense. Please don't take what I'm about to type as pretentious ,because I have a feeling it may come off that way.

My nickname since I started going to shows is Trent (Because apparently I look like trent from Daria), with the rise of the interwebs akaTRENT makes a good screen name since to me it looks cool online and its true haha.

So for when it's stage time I tell people my name is Joe or Trent, and heres an example why. A few nights ago we played a rather large venue, with.. I'll just say it, The Goo Goo Dolls. (Now I sound pretentions, sigh)

Anyway, Since we're a smaller band we talk to as many people as possible after the show to hand out free music etc. I used to make the mistake of giving using my real name on the band page, and I would get flooded with requests sometimes. My facebook is personal, to a degree, I don't want it to be flooded with people I met for five minutes at show. It's like Alex said basically.

Thats what the band page is for..., even on my YouTube I do it for similar reasons.
I love the people who love the music I play, but there is a level of space, thats appropriate, usually about 20 feet from the the sacred van and trailer haha.

So to everyone who doesn't get a stage name, trust me sometimes it's necessary if you care about privacy. I am by no means a big artist at all, but I have come across enough crazies at this point to go about things the way I now do.
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^^ Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!
 
#47
thombo said:
valid point about the filters, but i also don't want to limit the exposure of any projects i play in, especially because it is unfair to the other musicians. i am leaning toward a pseudonym, as suggested by agreatheight and aka trent, instead of a true stage name like Grundle or Slice.

i used to share the opinion joey3313, but it seems that this is a necessity of my career. i wonder if sting adapted his terrible name for this same reason, wasn't he a teacher?
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Don't limit exposure. Be smart about what is exposed (kids or no), and realize kids who are old enough to be on the net hosing around unsupervised SHOULD be able to understand the context, OR when you clarify.

You can do all kind of gymnastics (read: stage names and junk) to avoid the problem, or you can be an adult, treat the kids like they have the capacity to understand and learn something very important from the situation that will benefit them throughout life.

I know which decision I would make.
 
#48
Ps. If you just want a stage name, just be honest about it, and don't wrap up "it's about the kids" into the equation.

And there wasn't internet in 1976-1978 (or whenever) when Sting took his name. And he didn't take his stage name, demonstrably, for the reason of being a teacher. He always wore a yellow and black sweater, and got the nickname FROM SOMEONE ELSE.
 
#49
I have nicknames, Bildo, Dozer, Billdozer.Different groups of friends call me different things. Alot of people at work just call me by my last name for some reason. When I was in the military everybody called me by my first name. Bass Ackwards... thats a good name haha
If I was to use a stage name it would be Dick Savage. Which might be soon...
 
#51
Adam James - using my middle name is easier than trying to explain how to say and spell my last name 400,000,000 times - Dupps. It's not DOOPS, it's not Dubbs, it's not Bupps, Dumps, or Duffs! For crying out loud people, it's 5 letters that follow the basic rules of the English language! You don't say floof (fluff) or poopy (puppy) or oop (up) or roon (run) do you?!?! I just take it as a sign of that person's intelligence. So you see why I use a stage name. Plus there's a mysterious and romantic sense of anonymity about it.
 
#53
back in high school, i used the name "the plaid avenger" when playing in a band. more for comedic purposes than anything else. now, i don't use a stage name when playing music, but i don't give out my full name either.
at my day job, it's a different story altogether. i work at an adult video store, and for the first 6 months, i used my real name. people(primarily gay men) started calling the store and asking when i would be there, just so that they could show up when i was working. ever since, i've gone by a different name, and my staff knows that if someone calls and asks for me by my real name, it's someone i know.
 
#54
Word of caution: some of the most prominent and upstanding artists have used stage names in entertainment for any number of reasons, none of which are anyone else's business. Duke Ellington etc etc.

My 2c is it is inappropriate to spend too much time thinking about this one way or the other. Sure, cats who haven't earned pseudonyms can be viewed as arrogant; but projecting hate over a relatively trivial topic is equally worthless.

Get in the groove and let the PR stuff fall where it may.
 
#55
akaTRENT said:
So to everyone who doesn't get a stage name, trust me sometimes it's necessary if you care about privacy. I am by no means a big artist at all, but I have come across enough crazies at this point to go about things the way I now do.
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If it got to that point for me, I'd totally want the separation so I totally agree . . .

my last name is Buonanotte, which means "goodnight" in Italian so people usually refer to me as Mr. Goodnight (which, coincidentally, will crossover nicely should I ever decide to change careers into porn! ;))
 
#56
The band refers to me as bassist or bass player usually. My mates are always screaming POD from the audience so i'm guessing that one is gonna start to settle in peoples minds when we get better gigs and more people hear it, But as you can all probably see by my username, it is just a shortened version of my surname.

Liam
 
#57
it depends. I used to use my first and middle names only, but nowadays I don't really mind as much. It used to matter more regarding my old job than it does my current one.
But yeah if I were teaching or doing something related to that I would def consider changing it if you knew ahead of time and Googled your name and got them removed.
 
#60
When I was in construction I went by:
Plinth Gambrel.........construction site porn star
(maybe cause my A$$ was always hangin out)

It was a legal failsafe as well.........
If I put a nail thru an electrical wire while remodeling your house and it burned down later.........
Wasn't me. :hiding:
 

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