Choosing The Right Name
August 05, 2003
The Tuesday after the August bank holiday and I feel relaxed and refreshed. Decided to avoid the crowds and stay in Dublin this weekend, what a great decision that was! Dublin, minus the August weekend holiday-goers, is a wonderful city. It reminded me of Dublin 15 years ago, before the boom when not every household had 2 cars. A gracious city styled for pedestrians.
Walking down Westmoreland Street or crossing the quays can be so pleasant when there are no noisy, heavy, polluting trucks and cars to stop your conversation and keep you stranded waiting for a green man for an intolerably long time.
On Saturday night, I was at a great party - perhaps one of the best of the summer season. There I met someone who has recently shared the same angst as me regarding creating a name for something special. This guy was a member of a heavy metal band. The group had taken the decision some time ago to change their name from one that wasn't working for them to something new. They had the same worries about message and brand as I had, and they went through the same process of disregarding English words to make up their own, only to go back to English once again.
And so, under a clear summer night's sky, we toasted our cocktails and agreed what a good thing it was to come up with a name that is new and one to be proud of. So if anyone comes across a band called God's Hellish Affair gigging at a venue near you - know that this was arrived at after a long process of deliberation. And please give them your support.