Ok! So all of you are excited that FINALLY you got all your music gear that you had to save a lot of money on, worked two jobs and had to borrow money from your parents, family members, or banks, either way you want to make your talent known to the world. So how do you do this? For all newly formed bands of all ages listen up! The first and MOST IMPORTANT step into reaching out to your future fans and becoming well known is the heart of your band’s meaning, your name. Just picking a band name by random or whatever you just come up with ISN”T GOOD ENOUGH! You must put a lot of time, thought and heart into it, so that your future fans “feel you”. They will know that you are a real dedicated group just by alone the heart you put into your group’s name.
Let’s look at some major musicians in our biz today. Clifford Harris, known as T.I used the inspiration that he got from his grandfather that he looked up to named him Tip. Then he later used that name Tip for his stages performances more spelled like T.I.P then as his success grew he shortened it to T.I. You might be thinking “so what” but he was really close to his grandfather and wanted to take a piece of him, his good nurturing and share it with his fans by using the nickname his grandfather had given him. T.I makes the rapper not Clifford Harris, even though Clifford Harris is his birth name and legal name. T.I is how his fans see him and relate to him. Then there is Marilyn Manson. The two names that he came up with are very significant. Well Marilyn came from of course Marilyn Monroe, the hot sexy blond that made her major debut in the hit film All About Eve, and then the popular serial killer Charles Manson, but that’s not just the main reason for him naming his band that. Think of it. Charles Manson has killed numerous of beautiful women, and Marilyn Monroe even through all that beauty had her many struggles, some even say that her death was planned out. So Marilyn Manson in his acts uses a masculine approach to his stage acts, and the make-up reflects the feminine side with a Goth twist that make the famine side look dead as Marilyn Monroe when found looked very pale as decay was approaching and Charles Manson is the crazy side to his shows. This is how his fans know him and is drawn to his act.
The first step in deciding on the right band name is to use your heart and emotion. What made you form your band in the first place? Was it hard childhood and you and your band mates use your talent to get through? Was it remembering the loss or losses of love ones? Fans WANT to relate to you anyway they can so your feelings are VERY IMPORTANT when deciding on a name. The second step is what genre of music you are doing and how you want people categorize your music as. Again read the celebrity examples above. T.I fits a rapper image as the “nickname” sounds like he’s close with his homies, and family, and Marilyn Manson is just straight genius, very hard core rock. So with all that information, this should help gives you more insight as to deciding a name for your band. And lastly YOU MUST BECOME YOUR NAME! Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss all are great musicians, but alone they don’t make Kiss. All together they are known as Kiss. So with that DO YOUR HOMEWORK and mail me your name ideas and what inspired you to come up with them.
Keep Your Dreams Alive- Creative Firelight!