Saturday, March 13, 2010

The KEY to success for a band is the band name... (a satire)

Your band name defines you. Without a good band name, your band will never get out of the local scene. It doesn’t matter how good your band is. Yes, the key to success is to have the right moniker. Without it, you may as well hang up your instruments, cut your hair, and find a normal job. So, how do I get a good band name, you ask? Read on.

There are three keys to consider when choosing a name for your band. The first is to have a number somewhere in the name. This can be random or meaningful, and the number can be spelled out or in numerical form. Examples:

U2, B52s, UB-40, Blink 182, Matchbox 20 (originally Matchbox Twenty, but changed it later), Five for Fighting, Jackson 5, 7 Mary 3, Three Dog Night, Zero 7 (utilizes both), 98 Degrees, Maroon 5, Sum 41, 10,000 Maniacs, Four Tops, M83, All 4 One...

The list goes on and on. The second thing to consider is putting a color in your band name. Examples:

Maroon 5, Pink Floyd, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Eyed Peas, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Silverchair, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, The Black Crows, Cream (does this count?), Green Jelly, James Brown (this is a joke), Pink, Yellowcard, Great White, White Snake, White Lion, White Zombie, The White Stripes...

This list goes on as well. If neither of these ideas jump out at you, then there is still one more to consider. Try putting two random words together (this often works with the colors too). Examples:

Radiohead, Motorhead, Coldplay, The Talking Heads, The Flaming Lips, Maroon 5, Silverchair, Wolfmother, Goldfrapp, Lifehouse, Nickelback...

I’m sure you can think of more too. Again, I can’t stress enough the importance of these three keys when starting a band. If you want to be the biggest and best band in the world, incorporate all three keys into the band name… just like Maroon 5…

2 comments:

Andy said...

Third Eye Blind, Soundgarden, PearlJam, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeppelin, Moby Grape...
I'd also include band names that are The_________. One word works best:
The Beatles
The Killers
The Verve
The Monkees
The Clash
The Sex Pistols (combo name)
The Listening (bad example)
The Cure
The Velvet Underground (combo name)
The who
The Yardbirds

Unknown said...

agreed, so what's your band name?