How to Name Your Band

Naming your newly-formed band should not be quick or easy. You need to put some serious thought into what that name is going to say about your style, the band's sound, and your collective personality. Below are some other points to keep in mind when tossing names around.

- Listen to people and read signs and posters. Recall all of the times you've heard or seen something and thought, "That would make a great name for a band!" Consider the names of other bands: what works about them, what makes them memorable, which ones would you change if you could?

- Use an appropriate name. Fuzzy Kittens is not going to sell well in the speed-metal market, and Death Brigade will not imply to listeners that you are a Bob Marley tribute band. Use a thesaurus to look up words that describe your sound or your message then play with some of the synonyms.

- A long band name will probably be shortened to initials like Southern Culture on the Skids who are often referred to, even by themselves, as SCOTS. Make sure that the result is pronounceable rather than billing yourselves as something like TLMJ. Avoid using the initials of the band members to create a name unless you can come up with a better story afterwards.

- Remember that, if you make it big, you'll be telling Teen Beat magazine and MTV the significance of your name for years. You not only need a killer name but a good anecdote for how you came up with it. Cheap Trick claims to have been guided to their name by a Ouija board.

- Have a sense of humor, but don't be too cute. Calling your band The Bob Smith Trio when there are 5 of you will only lead to the belief that you either can't count or don't know what a trio is. Such a move will destroy your credibility, unless none of you are named Bob Smith in the first place. There were no Ramones in The Ramones, after all. They changed their names to incorporate a pseudonym that Paul McCartney used. Again, having a good story about why you chose that name will allow you to get away with that sort of thing.

- Whatever band name you come up with, make sure all of the members spell and pronounce it the same way. What could be worse than having your lead guitarist mispronounce the name of your band on the radio or your concert posters show your name spelled wrong? Avoid "kre8tiv" spellings and the lengthy names of obscure deities from ancient cultures. These will only serve to confuse and frustrate people who want to find your work, hopefully to buy it.

- Check for other bands with your chosen name before you send that demo to the big labels. You don't want all of this work to be for nothing when Capital Records informs you that they already have an artist known as The Stranglers. This information is easily enough checked in the internet.

If you are successful, you'll be stuck with whatever name you choose. Be careful! Heed the example of the Goo Goo Dolls, who don't want to goo-goo forever but will lose most of their fan base if they change their name now.