What's in a name? When your band rebrands

alparrott

alparrott

Diamond Member
This week will mark the second time in under 10 years that a band I've been in will change its name. This most recent name change is precipitated by the evolution of the band from a singer-songwriter and some hired guns into an actual equal-work, equal-credit band, and was actually suggested by the s/s himself. And so the Michael Carlos Band is becoming Calaverdes (a mashup of the Spanish words for "skull" and "green").

I was chuckling when I opened up a news article this morning that discussed how difficult changing a well-known name can be in the corporate sector. Some examples - does anyone think about Alphabet? Do you even know what it is? But everyone knows what Google is.

I would argue that the last band name-change was wildly successful. I joined a long-standing duo called Velvet Elvis and we decided to rebrand as The 509s (509 being our area code here in central Washington state). Because of its regional affiliation and some lucky side-by-side marketing (a local brewery had a "509 Pale Ale" that often was a featured tap anywhere we played), I don't think we ever got called Velvet Elvis in seven years of gigs.

What are your renaming stories/successes/nightmares?

calaverdes promo 3.png
 
Personally, I've always enjoyed listening to the former Sigma 6, Blades, KT Bush band, Garden Wall, Anon, Brew, Big Thing and Silmarillion. Heck, I even unabashedly love Festfolk!

What's in a name?!
 
so one of my bands - Go Robot, Go!!! was originally Shinola. We started to do some light touring and selling CD's, and got a "cease and desist" letter from a lawyer in WA representing a 2 man wedding band called Shinola. We thought about fighting it, but after a few months of discussion, we came up with, and really liked, Go Robot Go!! as it fit our often space themed futuristic surfy punk lo fi alt music better.

interesting to note that we found out about 6 motnhs after gettign the letter that the wedding band broke up....

my current metal band was Fools Crown for 20ish years, but after COVID, our old singer left, and the new singer wanted to re-brand a bit, so we created a list of over 500 names the year after COVID, and whittled it down to The Dead Scene. There are many many killer/hilarious/not so good names on that list as well...it is a a gem!!! The Dead Scene is a sort of spoof/commentary/tongue in cheek reference on the current metal scene in Central Ohio...

shameless plug....

both bands have stuff on Apple music/Spotify etc if you are interested!!! I play drums in Go Robot, Go!!!, and bass in The Dead Scene
 
alparrott said:
This week will mark the second time in under 10 years that a band I've been in will change its name. This most recent name change is precipitated by the evolution of the band from a singer-songwriter and some hired guns into an actual equal-work, equal-credit band, and was actually suggested by the s/s himself. And so the Michael Carlos Band is becoming Calaverdes (a mashup of the Spanish words for "skull" and "green").

I was chuckling when I opened up a news article this morning that discussed how difficult changing a well-known name can be in the corporate sector. Some examples - does anyone think about Alphabet? Do you even know what it is? But everyone knows what Google is.

I would argue that the last band name-change was wildly successful. I joined a long-standing duo called Velvet Elvis and we decided to rebrand as The 509s (509 being our area code here in central Washington state). Because of its regional affiliation and some lucky side-by-side marketing (a local brewery had a "509 Pale Ale" that often was a featured tap anywhere we played), I don't think we ever got called Velvet Elvis in seven years of gigs.

What are your renaming stories/successes/nightmares?

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given the image portrayed in the pic, that looks like a great name for you guys!!!
 
I've been in a few dozen bands, and only one had changed their name.

Parking Lot was an L.A. band with great songs. I really thought we'd make a splash with catchy, infectious songs and a good '80s alt sound (think Echo & the Bunnymen.) Quick aside, I came up with that name. early in our formation, we were rehearsing, and during a break we were trying to think up band names. I was standing in the doorway, looking out into the parking lot and.... yep, you guessed it.

Anyway, I sorta disappeared from the band for a few years, came back, and they had become Painting Over Picasso. Same key members, same old songs and new ones in the same alt-wave vein. Initially there wasn't a change in popularity, but the leader soon moved to Europe, put together some players under that name, gigged and supported themselves, and put out an album.

I doubt that had anything to do with the name though...

30+ years later I'm still in touch with most of the members.
 
My current band is called "High Street Band". Prior to that we were "The Mikes". Apparently, "High Street Band" is the name of an old Detroit area band dating back to the late 70's. Our lead guy is the only surviving member, so it has some emotional attachment. There was no vote, no discussion or no other recommendations. The lead guy just chose it one day. He still had banners and signs.

The bassist and I just rolled with it.
 
My band never changed its name and I'll not name it here, as I thought it was dangerously close to another band name with a hugely popular song, except for a plural Z instead of the more correct S. But, it wasn't my band nor was it my place to share my opinion - I was happy to play.

My next-door-neighbor, Keith, named his band Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate) out of frustration. Then they started to get noticed. :oops: Then they started touring. Then they toured internationally. Then... He realized it was too late to change the name. Brand recognition and all that. Funny story and probably a good problem to have.
 
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I would have been concerned about giving up any name recognition etc of an established band. Could make booking more difficult with venues etc. You can still call it that and handle the financials however you want.
 
AudioWonderland said:
I would have been concerned about giving up any name recognition etc of an established band. Could make booking more difficult with venues etc. You can still call it that and handle the financials however you want.
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We've been pretty "out there" in terms of the marketing on the name change. We started building up to it earlier this year, and I just got us scheduled for an interview with the paper... so as far as local bands go, it seems to be smooth sailing so far. Now I just hope the new music doesn't suck!
 
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