Naming yourself or your band is one of the most crucial moments of any budding musicians career. A name is often the first thing many people will hear of you so you have to get it right. A good name will not only tell people what kind of musical experience they’re in for but also catch their attention and imagination. With that said here are a few ways, some easier than others, to name your band:
Common Ground
This one applies to a band, sorry solo artists. What I mean by common ground is try and find something that all of the band-mates have in common, besides the fact you’re in a band together. For example I used to be in a band called The 142’s. Why that name you ask? Because the A142 is a road that ran through mine and every other band members place of residence. It doesn’t have to be anything so specific as that but finding something that you all identify with brings you together and makes you look and feel more like a band.
Use a Dictionary
It may seem a bit obvious but using a Dictionary is a pretty effective way of naming yourself or your band. There are over 170,000 words in the English language and believe it or not some of those will sound really good as a band name. Simply skim through the Dictionary and see if anything jumps out at you. Bindlestiff? Great band name. Badmash? Great band name. Spaghettification? Maybe not. There are so many words to play with and combine that all have their own meaning that this technique may take some time but it’s probably one of the most fun ways to name your band or yourself.
Take a more stylistic approach
There have always been bands that have been a little creative in the naming of themselves. Many Artists use abbreviated words or display their name in all-caps. Lately a lot of bands use all-caps and abbreviated words in their name. For example artists such as PWR BTTM, SWMRS and GRMLN. So don’t be afraid to express yourself a bit more when naming yourself, want to throw in an accent? do it. Exclamation mark? go for it.
Band name generators
Finally we have band name generators. I personally wouldn’t use these to come up with your actual name but they can be fun and they often put you on the right direction when looking for things to name yourself. They often combine various words to make a phrase, these work to varying success. I tried a couple websites and quickly came up with a few decent sounding names. Stanley and the Midnight Doctors has a certain ring to it as does Between the Cats and Me, albeit a little odd. However Sweaty Teddy Bear Cult and Yummy Monday don’t quite sound as good.
Ultimately your band name has to represent something about you, whether that be what kind of sound you provide or what message you put out there your name should be reasonably well thought out. However the most important thing to do when coming up with a name for yourself is to have fun, this is the starting point of what could be a very special journey and you should start how you mean to continue.
