All Band Names Are Awful

All band names are awful. All brand names are awful.

If a friend came to me and said they were starting a band called “My Chemical Romance” (in a world where such a band didn’t exist), I would tell them to change it immediately.

Bring Me The Horizon… is that the last line of Pirates of the Caribbean? The Killers… edge lords. The Beatles… is that a pun?

McDonald’s… who is McDonald? Nike… is it pronounced Nike or Nai-Kee? ChatGPT… I’m sure no one will ever say those letters in the wrong order.

I’ve watched vastly too many business owners have an existential crisis trying to settle on a name.

Naming isn’t an existential battle to concentrate and codify your entire identity into a single word. That’s phase two of brand-building.

A name is an expanding frame that holds your story together. They grow at a mutual rate.

You want a good name. You make it for yourself.