Come up with a name for a rock band. How did the names of the most famous rock bands come about?

The name of the Australian legendary rock band was inspired by two heavily compatible subjects: English group XTC and a local jam maker!

Let's go back to Australia. According to legend, AC/DC is slang for "bisexuality". In reality, the group refutes this interpretation and officially adheres to the tale of how the sister of the Young family, Margaret, spotted these letters on an electric sewing machine that could work on both direct and alternating current. The name immediately charged the group with the right energy and was approved unanimously.

The Prodigy

For connoisseurs of club and electronic spheres the name is not a mystery: Liam just remembered the name of his first synthesizer - Moog Prodigy.

Kasabian

Kasabian is the surname of Linda Kasabian, one of the members of the Charles Manson crime family who was Manson's driver.

Aquarium

Over the years, the name of the group acquired legends and hidden meanings, however, in its early interviews BG and his companions openly admitted the following: “We were driving somewhere in Kupchyna. We passed such a two-story "glass". It was called Aquarium. And someone said that here - "Aquarium". And we decided yes. [It's] Somewhere on Sofiyskaya or Budapestskaya... Now there's a kebab place."

Linkin Park

In fact, Lincoln Park is encrypted under this name, by which the band members constantly traveled on the way to the studio. However, the word Lincoln was changed to Linkin purely so that you could stake out for yourself Domain name in the Internet.

The Russians are extremely worried about the name of this British trip-hop group. There is an exact answer that the participants peeped the word "milk" in the book " Clockwork orange". The trick is that they did not even guess that the word was of Russian origin: in the text of "Orange" many slang terms have Russian roots, but this was not explained to English readers. Therefore, the Moloko vocalist in one of her early interviews naively boasted that after a long search she found the source of the word “milk” in some Greek dictionaries.

The Residents

The American avant-garde group could not decide on a name for a long time, but in the meantime they sent their records to labels. As a result, one of the films returned to them marked "To: The Residents" (that is, "To: residents"). The musicians decided that this was a sign from above.

The cult Boston indie-rock band chose the name using a scientific poke method, opening a dictionary and pointing a finger at the first word that came across. So they turned up "pixies", that is, "fakes". Moreover, the deciphering of the term “naughty little elves” made a special impression on the musicians.

Led Zeppelin

Origin of the great name Led Zeppelin is clearly documented and originates in a hilarious drunken discussion between Jimmy Page and a drummer and bassist from The Who who assured that the Page project was doomed and would collapse like lead balloon. After several manipulations with words and grammar, the ball turned into an airship. Figuratively speaking, Led Zeppelin is the same as "plywood over Paris".

Duran Duran

Dr. Duran-Duran is a character in the cult erotic-fiction film "Barbarella" with leading role. Fans of the group often joke: they say, thank God that they used the name Duran-Duran, and not Dildano ... Yes, there was such a character in Barbarella!

fall out Boy

In order to at least somehow name themselves for the first concert, the group took the name Fall Out Boy from one of the characters in the Simpsons series. For the second concert, more interesting names were already invented, but someone from the audience began to shout: “Well, no! You are the Fall Out Boy!” It was useless to argue.

green day

"Green Day" originated in Billie Joe Armstrong's brain when he did nothing but smoke marijuana all day long. As a result, he wrote a song about it, but it seemed to him that this was not enough, and he assigned the group a new (strange and not the most harmonious, what can I say) name.

The Velvet Underground

The band members borrowed the Velvet Underground's picturesque yet menacing line from the cover of a sadomasochka book one of them had picked up on a New York sidewalk.

Therapy?

It's funny the appearance of not even the word "therapy" itself (what's so surprising?), But a question mark after it. At the dawn of his career, the vocalist sent out cassettes with demo recordings to record labels, personally writing out the name of the group. But in the end I did it unevenly, the name went to the left, but I wanted it beautifully, in the center. So he added another symbol for symmetry. This seems to be the wildest story in the entire article.

Bring Me The Horizon

The vocalist of the now popular metal band from Sheffield admitted that he stole the line for the title from the first film "Pirates caribbean". "Now...bring me that horizon," Johnny Depp's character says at the very end.

The word "a-ha" would sound great in some song, so one of the musicians entered it in a notebook as a keepsake. After some time, when the question arose about the name of the group, it surfaced from the notebook. The band members were hooked by two things: first, that the word is beautifully spelled and easy to pronounce. Second: in many languages ​​of the world, this means approval or confirmation. That is, the usual "aha" in our Russian.

Butthole Surfers

The group acted as eccentric as ever and came up with a new name for each show! But at one of the concerts in 1984, the entertainer forgot how to introduce the group, and stupidly said the name of one of the songs - "Butthole Surfer". It so happened that the concert produced a fair amount of resonance, and the name had to be fixed.

Daft Punk

Future Members Daft Punk at first they were very kind to the work of The Beach Boys and in 1992 they made records under the name Darlin (that was the name of one of the songs Beach Boys). But in the music newspaper Melody Maker, their activities were doused with a fair amount of dirt, calling the music "a daft punky thrash." After reading this, the guys were very upset, but in the end they realized that they had to live with it somehow. And they made the curse the name of their new project. And by the way, we won!

Frankie Goes to Hollywood

The young group rehearsed in the room where they once were prison cell. There was a poster on the wall that said "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" from the time he moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. In general, as it is already clear, there were no big difficulties with finding a name for the group.

Five Finger Death Punch

The long and juicy name of a trendy Nevada metal band is overheard in the movie Kill Bill, where a special secret trick guaranteed certain death to the enemy from the movement of the fingers.

Ramones

Encyclopedias usually write that the band members adapted the surname Ramon only because that was the pseudonym of Paul McCartney when he fit into hotels. However, a number of interviews circulate in magazines and books, where the Ramones say that this name was taken for provocation and intimidation, because in New York in the 70s the townsfolk were very afraid of Latin American youth gangs.

Jethro Tull

The group on early stages there were great problems with concerts in London, and in order to be able to play several times in the same club, the musicians constantly changed the name. At one of these stages, the manager from the lantern issued " Jethro Tull"- the name of some agronomist of the XVIII century. The trouble is that it was under this name that the group received a residence permit in the club, the owner of which suddenly liked them.

Misfits

The name of the group copies the most last film Marilyn Monroe. And the logo with a skull migrated to the arsenal of the group from the 1946 film years Crimson Ghost.

Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor explains that he only chose the name because it's beautifully spelled NIN. And, they say, it does not carry the slightest literal meaning.

Boney M.

As you know, the first single Boney M. was recorded not by the group itself, but independently by producer Frank Farian. So he urgently needed to come up with a pseudonym. He described the brainstorming process as follows: “I turned on the TV somehow, and there ended the show of the detective series. I found only the final credits, where Boney was written. Great name, I thought. Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie... Bonnie M.! That sounds even better!”

Procol Harum

The word Procul Harun denoted a line of Siamese cats, one of which was owned by a friend of the group manager. The phrase, you see, is beautiful, perfect for the baptism of the group. True, the rule of a damaged phone intervened, and one letter in the word was still confused.

The word is derived from the original "Opet" that the band glimpsed in a novel by Wilbur Smith, which was the name of a fictional city in Africa.

The expression “as you call a boat, so it will float” has long become winged. Admirers and fans do not always know which interesting stories hide behind the names of your favorite bands. For example, how to understand "BI-2" or "DDT"? Turns out, creative personalities guided different motives by choosing a title.

We offer a kind of damn dozen stories that will reveal the secret of the appearance of successful names in the world of rock music.

Under this non-trivial name, the musicians released a dozen studio albums. Solo guitarist Shura (aka Alexander Uman), lead vocalist Lev (aka Igor Bortnik) appeared in the line-up in 1988.

The original name "Brothers in Arms" was quickly changed to "Shore of Truth". Ten years later, while in Australia, Alexander and Igor decided to create their own rock band. So in 1998, BI-2 appeared, which stands for "Coast of Truth 2".

Chaif

Another one legendary rock band With interesting name. Musicians from Sverdlovsk are fans of not only rock, but also very strong tea. What the townsfolk call tea brewing and use to paint over boiling water is actually called chifir and is great invigorating in its pure form.

Chifir was an essential attribute of the rehearsals of young musicians. The phrase “go to a rehearsal” quickly turned into a friendly “go to chifir”. The name "Chayf" unites the tea loved by all the participants and the buzz from it.

The name of the group "DDT" is actually consonant and of the same name with the DDT dust. No matter how many fans, fans come up with alternative transcripts, but dust remains dust. When choosing a name for an unnamed rock band from Ufa in 1980, Yuri Shevchuk insisted that the name should emphasize, strengthen the ultimate text of the songs. Therefore, the insecticide turned out to be the most suitable in all plans.

Agatha Christie

"Agatha Christie" replaced the former name "RTF UPI" in 1988 due to replenishment. Gleb Samoilov joined the rock group. During the choice of a new name, the team experienced a real crisis of ideas. Vadim Samoilov suggested "Jacques Yves Cousteau". Alexander Kozlov - Agatha Christie. For unknown reasons, the second option won, although the group members are impartial to the work of the British writer of detective stories. The title does not contain any context.

Nautilus Pompilius

"Nautilus Pompilius" used to be called "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves". The too long name was unsuccessful and it was decided to replace it in 1983. "Nautilus" version of Andrey Makarov. The title has nothing to do with famous captain Nemo and his submarine. This is the name of a deep-sea mollusk. Ilya Kormiltsev suggested adding the second word "Pompilius" to the name to make the group different from other Nautilos.

Movie

The legendary group broke into the Olympus of domestic charts in the late 80s. But its participants were familiar even before the joint work. In 1981, while relaxing in the Crimea, rock musicians decided to create their own group. "Garin and the Hyperboloids" has become the very unfortunate pancake that is lumpy. And a year later, Viktor Tsoi decided to rename the group. Required short word with broad meaning. Kind of like a Doctor Who police box that's bigger on the inside than on the outside. The word "cinema" was just right.

Alice

Everyone famous girl from the Looking Glass found a worthy place in rock music. Initially, the rock band was called "Magic". The ideological inspirer and musician of the group, Svyatoslav Zaderiy, drew attention to the fact that there are two heroes in the team famous work Lewis Carroll. They had " White Rabbit» Andrey Khristichenko. Svyatoslav himself bore the nickname "Alice".

All participants were in solidarity with the decision to change the name of the group. It remained to overcome the resistance of Nikolai Mikhailov, who was president of the Leningrad rock club in 1984. He was indignant, perplexed, asked to change his mind. The musicians managed to defend the new name. In the same year, a new vocalist Konstantin Kinchev joined the group. In 1987, the line-up changed again. The reason for this was the disagreement between Svyatoslav Zadery and Nikolai Mikhailov. The musician left the concert in an ultimatum form, believing that without him everyone would disperse. But "Alisa" successfully played the concert, and Zderiy never returned.

civil defense

Andrey Babenko, Konstantin Ryabinov and Yegor Letov decided to create a real group with a suitable name in 1984. Among the many options, the winner was a poster on the topic of civil protection, which hung on the wall in Yegor Letov's room. It would seem not at all musical title settled down very well. The musicians decided that the phrase perfectly expresses the content of their work.

Zero

It is not known who came up with the idea to call the group "Zero". However, all participants interpreted it the same way. Zero is always first, it is earlier than one and better than others indicates leadership. The group of Fyodor Chistyakov stood out from the background of others in that the solo parts belonged to the button accordion, and not to the electric guitar or drums. The Leningrad rock group appeared in 1987 and lasted until 2017 with a five-year break. The name "Zero" can be interpreted as "better than the first."

Okean Elzy

The group arose in October 1994 on the basis of the Clan of Silence collective. The name changed with the advent of Svyatoslav Vakarchuk. He sought to give the new team a name that could not be distorted when translated into other languages. His passion for the famous "Odyssey of the Cousteau team" affected. From here arose the first component of the name ocean. The second part was chosen female name, which is not distorted by translation.

Dancing minus

This option is the result of the transformation of a rustic original name"Dancing". Vyacheslav Petkun perfectly understood how futile it was to play rock with such a name. The group was renamed in 1995. The negative prefix unexpectedly turned out to be a big “plus” and the name stuck. origins unusual name lie in the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky himself. In discussion different options the bassist Alexander Pipa's version, which was read by Dostoevsky, won. Fyodor Mikhailovich in the story about the village of Stepanchikovo called the verses of the lackey Grigory Vodopliasov “Vodoplyasov’s screams”. This is an unexpected twist.

Night snipers

And here is the story of the name of the female rock band, which was created by Diana Arbenina and Svetlana Surganova. Their acquaintance in St. Petersburg had far-reaching creative consequences. Svetlana Surganova moved to Diana Arbenina in Magadan. The girls created and performed without a name. Their scene was institutions and casinos, apartments and offices. Once a taxi driver joked that the girls hide weapons in wardrobe trunks and they themselves are night snipers. The girls liked the well-aimed humor, especially relevant for the night Magadan of the 90s. Since 1993, their team began to bear the name "Night Snipers".

So, you learned to play an instrument or mastered the technique of vocals, gathered a band and wrote a few songs. But what to do next? In order to become really popular, you need to identify yourself on the rock scene, you need to come up with the name of the band. What is the original name of a rock band? In this article, we will share some simple and useful tips to help you come up with the right name for initial stage group formation.

Story

Rock music originated in America in the late 60s, before that, blues and jazz music was mainly popular in the world. And solo performances were more common, in fact, at that time, few people could play electric guitars at all, and those who could, made an impression of virtuosos. But closer to the 80s, the situation changed dramatically: the sound became more dense and varied due to the abundance of musicians on stage: guitarists, drummers and vocalists working in unison produced greater impression than solo instrumentalists.

When you perform alone, the question of the name of the group is removed, because you can perform under your own name or come up with a pseudonym for yourself. Vivid examples from history there may be or Steve Vai - virtuoso musicians, the greatest monsters of the rock scene of that time. But with the advent of quartets or even larger groups, musicians began to have questions: what to name the group? Under what name to act?

Consider this issue from the point of view of relevance and design.

Where to begin?

1) The name of the rock band should reflect the essence of the project and be applicable to the style of the future band. It will not work to name a rock band like other musicians, because each band is unique in its sound and creativity.

2) It is necessary to develop a logo. A bright and stylish logo with the name of the group always gives many advantages. Most future fans, oddly enough, start listening after looking at the album cover with the logo. You will not try a candy if it is in an ugly wrapper, no matter how tasty it is. This rule applies here as well.

Name

What is the name of a rock band? It's simple: decide on the style and final genre you're going to play. If you are a rock 'n' roll band or play blues as a four-piece, then a simple name will do, if you play heavier music or metal, then a bright, catchy and at the same time tough name will do. You can even try calling the band the first word that comes to mind. This really works sometimes, because listeners will always try to find hidden meaning your idea.

In this article, we will not analyze how to name a rock band in Russian, because the mechanism is similar, the only difference is that if you still decide to name yourself not in English language, be prepared for the fact that you limit yourself, because it will not always be easy for foreigners to read your name. We also do not recommend taking the name already existing group. In the age of the Internet, anyone can spot plagiarism, and a real group can even sue you for using their rights. There are exceptions when 2 groups are named the same and coexist with each other, but this happens extremely rarely. But you have the right to come up with a name for the group, like Western performers, without copying their original name. The characteristic softening prepositions "The" are often used in surf rock bands, just like the furious word "Death" (from the English "death") in metal bands. But the more incredible the name of the group, the better, of course.

Logo

If everything is quite simple with the name, then the logo will be much more difficult to come up with, basically there are several approaches to right choice and logo design. Let's consider each of them.

Just a font logo

The first and easiest decision in designing a band logo is to write the name in the logo in plain font. Once you've found out how to name a rock band and have decided, choose an interesting font, write the future name and arrange it so that it looks interesting. The most advantageous option will also be the fact that the readability of such a logo is the most accessible. And you don’t have to choose colors, because you can use a classic black and white combination.

Stylized logo

The logo you see above is a stylized emblem of the thrash metal band Napalm Death. It differs from the previous one in that it is drawn using the original font with a non-standard composition. Of course, this is much more difficult than using a ready-made font, but your own own style affect the audience as well. How more original band the more likely it will be received very favorably by the audience. Naming your rock band as uniquely as possible, creating some hits and designing your own logo is your secret to success!

Complex, unreadable logo

What do you see in the picture? Something illegible, isn't it? This interesting decision was used by the Darkthrone team and more than a thousand metal bands. Yes, sometimes completely illegible and absolutely not readable logo can impress. Such logos give the group a special charm and a special atmosphere. This technique was widely used among black and death metal bands of the early 90s and remains popular to this day. But do not forget that behind the illegibility you can not hide the ugly or not original name.

Conclusion

Naming a rock band is not the easiest process, sometimes the name comes by itself, even before the release of the first song, but after the start of use, the musicians realize that they have come up with an uninteresting and irrelevant name, and re-select their name. To prevent this from happening, first of all, think about the name of the group several times before promoting creativity to the masses.

Are you looking for an easy-to-remember name for your band? The band name can play a key role in your success or failure. Choice correct name is one of the highlights for your group. And one day, when you become famous, the process of choosing the name for your group may even become a legend. So don't be fooled!

Steps

Basic Rules for Choosing the Right Name for a Band

The title should quickly and easily show up in Internet search results. Nowadays, one of the selection criteria suitable name for the group is how easy it will be to find it on the Internet. When searching the Internet, common names like "Girls" can get lost in the sheer number of references to other things related to girls.

Avoid titles with hidden negative connotations. You need to feel how far you can go without damaging your group's reputation. Using the example of a band called "Viet Cong" you can get an idea of ​​how a band name can be a problem in getting gig invitations.

• Meaning should not condone bad behavior. One Scottish group called themselves "Dogs Die in Hot Cars", which literally translates from English as "dogs die in hot cars." This is not the best image for the group, although provocative.
• In the name of the group, avoid speculation on tragedies or human suffering. If the name is obscene, some radio stations may have difficulty pronouncing it.

1. Keep the title fresh. You should avoid names that were popular a long time ago and are clichéd today.

   Present an image of your group. What is your group? What are you trying to convey to people? What is your group like? Who is your target audience? Understanding the nature of your group will help you choose a name.

   • The band name should match your brand and genre. If you're a country band, you probably don't want your name to sound too punk rock. You don't want people to get frustrated because your band's name is something that the band isn't.
   • If you understand who is your target audience, then you can choose a name that is attractive to your listeners. Popular group « green day” in choosing the name was guided precisely by this principle. "Green Day" (literally from English "green day") refers to smoking marijuana, and the group appealed through slang to a specific audience, consisting of young rebels.

   Name choice

   1. Look for inspiration in pop culture or literature. This theme is durable. famous example is the group "Veruca Salt" ("Veruca Salt"), whose name was borrowed from the book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".

      • Mikey Way worked at Barnes and Noble and saw Irvine Welsh's book Three Stories of Love and Chemistry ( English name books - "Three Tales of Chemical Romance"), which prompted him to the idea to call the group "My Chemical Romance". The source of the name of the group "Good Charlotte" is also literature. The name of the group "Avenged Sevenfold" (literally from English "seven times avenged") was taken by Matthew Sanders from the Book of Genesis (the first book of the Pentateuch, the Old Testament and the entire Bible).
      • Once upon a time there was even a group called "Natalie Portman's Shaved Head" (literally from English "Natalie Portman's shaved head"). Not surprisingly, the musicians eventually had to change their name. Naming a band after a celebrity is not a good idea. And linking the name to some old case is even worse.
      • Use lyrics. For example, the Panic! At The Disco was inspired by the song "Panic" by Name Taken, while "All Time Low" took its name from the song "Head On Collision" by New Found Glory.

   2. Draw inspiration from simple things and products. Flowers. Food. Sewing machines. Well, you understand. Take a look around. You will find a huge number of things with interesting names.

      • Malcolm and Angus Young of AC/DC came up with a name for the band on a sewing machine. AC/DC (an acronym for "Alternating Current/Direct Current") was printed on the back. They decided to use it.
      • Product names can also work great for this. Remember " Black-eyed Peas» (asparagus beans) or « red hot chili peppers» (red hot chile peppers).

   3. Pick a random title. There are various methods on how you can choose a random name. Sometimes groups choose a random word from a dictionary. So did REM, The Pixies, Incubus, The Grateful Dead, Evanescence, and Outkast. "Apoptygma Berzerk" followed the same path, using two randomly found words.

      Use your first name or initials. It's always a good option, especially if you have a lead singer in your band. For example, the band name "Dave Matthews Band" is based on the band member's name. And it works.

      • However, this method of choosing a group name involves some risks. If your band changes soloist, it will be difficult for you to continue performing under the same name. And Van Halen is an example of that. Another problem with this method is that some members of the group may feel left out.
      • If you choose your own as the name for the group given name, you may need to add to it to make it sound more interesting. Or you can just use your last name.

   4. Come up with a new word. You can make a new word out of several others. Perhaps this new word or phrase will have some special meaning for you.