Gone are the days when bands make a statement for themselves only through their tunes. Today, they are so much more! With an array of bands lined up in the city, a number of them have managed to stand out and grab attention with their band names! From Polly Wants A Cracker to Mad Orange Fireworks and Clown with a Frown, we talk to some of the local bands to know the story behind their names…
One would ideally think the name Polly Wants a Cracker was derived from the Nirvana song. But Jonathan Freer, the vocalist of the band clears the air. “We believe that apart from catchy music, a band should also have a name that sets them apart so people would want to know more about them. Contrary to belief, the name of the band wasn’t taken from the Nirvana song,” he says. Then how was the name derived? “A few years ago we were looking for a name for the band – we were looking for a cracker. And our band logo is a badass parrot so that’s how it all came together,” says Jonathan about the name that all the four members instantly agreed upon!
Seems like most band members know what they want in their name today. Describing their music as Orange Rock, Michael Dias of Mad Orange Fireworks explains how his band name came to be. “The three of us were just throwing some names together at a campfire one night, for our band name. I knew I wanted the word Mad to be a part of it because it’s like the initials to my name,” jokes the vocalist.
“I also wanted a colour in there – something bright and quirky and fun that described our music. And fireworks just came about since we were sitting around fire. And when we put the name together, all of us agreed that it was exactly what we had in mind,” Michael says about the band, who is now working on songs for their third studio album!
While some bands managed to come up with the perfect name in the spur of the moment, others planned the name much in advance and had a deeper meaning to it. “I was in the eleventh grade when I read a poem about clowns in my English textbook. I loved the idea behind them – clowns made people happy by doing this. But what about how they felt when they weren’t supposed to make people happy? Where did their source of joy come from?” asks Jonathan Reuben, of Clown with a Frown.
“And when I explained this to my band mates, we all agreed because we related to the paradox – we were self promoted struggling artistes and were looking for our own source of joy. It was a catchy title that was relevant to us,” says the guitarist about the four year old band which is all set to release their debut album in October!
And others, draw their inspiration for their tunes as well as their name from natural sounds. “We were exploring different kinds of music and got hooked to live psychedelic music,” says Abhijit Bhat of Mind Map.
“We realised that we could take people to different places only through our music and hence the word ‘map’. And for us, there is no mind without music. Once they came up with the name Mind Map, there was no looking back for us because it all just made sense,” reveals the didgeridoo player about the band who is in the process of completing their LP for the December release!
