milly
Mmm, Shihad also went to The General Electric (I think) for a while but are now back to their original name. I think because of the controversy around the name change, they actually received a lot of attention for it.
I haven't heard of the At&T/Cingular thing..
Pat
Not exactly. Shihad planned to break into the US, then 9-11 hit, and Shihad sounded too much like Jihad, so it was changed to Pacifier. (Especially since they were touring US army bases etc) Once their album flopped in America, they went back to Shihad, since they never really wanted to change it anyway.
I don't see much of a problem with name changes. So many bands seem to break up, only to restart with the same core of the band under a different name and the fans seem to follow them anyway!
Brad
But they went by the name Pacifier on the Australian release of that album too, right? I'm not too familiar with the situation, but it sounds to me like that change was different to HVH's for a few reasons (like the fact that they were changing their name to start again in a new market, whereas HVH just arbitrarily changed it).
Anyway... I'm assuming you'll be at the Shihad/Gyroscope show in September? I've been getting into Shihad a bit lately too, similar to how I was literally the last Australian rock music fan to listen to Gyro. :D
Richaod
oh wait
OH THEY'RE BEYOND MINE. I saw them live at the Horsell Common Satellite Wonderland EP launch and they were awesome! One of the few genuinely original bands there... and I have their demo. Sweet. :D
milly
Ah, Pacifier, that's the one, thanks!
Pat
I'm down for Shihad/Gyroscope for sure. I would've gone to Shihad on Saturday if there hadn't been a more important band playing in our garage!
Are you going to the Tuesday show (Billboard) or Friday (Ferntree Gully Hotel)?
What's in a Name?
2008-06-13 01:51My post about delays in receiving House vs. Hurricane's debut EP reminded me about something else that I've been thinking about lately.
A lot of savvy marketing wanker types believe that branding is of utmost importance when trying to sell something - whether it's music or toilet cleaner. The AT&T/Cingular debacle in the United States is a good example of branding gone wrong, but House vs. Hurricane themselves are proof of the opposite: you can change your name without putting much of a dent in your reputation.
HVH were known for quite a while as Beyond Mine, and had built quite a following in the local Melbourne hardcore scene under that name. Inexplicably, less than a year ago they changed it to House vs. Hurricane (which, similar to the B-Sharps, is absurd the first time you hear it, but eventually you get used to it), and I remember thinking to myself what a boneheaded move that was.
But clearly, judging by how many people we've had coming into Fist2Face asking for HVH's EP, their popularity hasn't suffered at all. I'd love to speak with them in depth about the name change and its effects, to get a feel for what they did to keep their awareness high. Having good management would be a factor, but there would have to be more to it than just switching to a new MySpace URL and hoping people follow you.