Deerhoof band photo

5 Tips to Name Your Indie Band

Indie Band Naming Guide

After 1,000 years of rock and roll, it’s getting harder and harder to come up with unique and clever band names. Use this handy Reglar Wiglar Band Naming Guide to help you and your scruffy indie rock pals name your indie band: By Chris Auman

TIP #1: Add an Extra Consonant or Vowel

To give your band that clever twist (and to help you search for yourself on Google) try introducing a few extra consonants or vowels into an otherwise ordinary noun. Where? Anywhere! This method expands on the popular one-word band names of the nineties by giving it a 21st-century twiist.

Examples: Stadiium, Tooothbrush, Clevver 

5 Tips to Name Your Band: Wavves band

TIP #2: Use the Word Magic

This is pretty self-explanatory: take the word “magic” and stick it in your band name. Anywhere. Also works with “crystal”.

Example: Maggikk Toaster

TIP #3: Misspell Shit

Purposely misspell your band name with a wink and a nod to the kids. This technique (or gimmick) sends the message: “Yeah, we know it’s spelled wrong, we did that on purpose. We could give a flying fuck what the grammarians think. They’re too old to understand anyway.” Magic is a good word to use and it also incorporates TIP #2: Use the Word Magic in your band name. Try pairing that word up to modify an ordinary household object, like a toaster:

Examples: Magick Muffin Krystal Bookcase 

TIP #4: Add Emoticons and Keyboard Commands

Why not try adding a keyboard command or shortcut to the mix? You can use a straight-up PC command:

Ctrl+Alt+Del

or for Mac:

Command-Option-Esc

WARNING: Mac users: make sure you save any changes before attempting this one! Here’s a particularly awesome keyboard command name: altX+altJ+altX which renders this little baby right here:

≈∆≈

Alt-j band photo
Photo by Jory Cordy

TIP #5: Pick an Animal Name

OK, this one may be a bit played out at this point, but some people haven’t gotten the memo yet, so if you are an animal lover, we say go for it. A good trick is to pick an animal and then incorporate an animal body part.

Use this diagram:

[your favorite animal] + [body part]

For example Giraffe + Neck = Giraffe Neck i.e. great band name!

Deerhoof band photo
Deerhoof

Try Them All!

Now that we’ve given you some good tips to get started, you can experiment with your own band names. Let us know what you come up with and don’t be afraid to try them all on the same awesome band name.

Example: Maggik Krystal Horsse Ballls 😉

Have fun!