abbreviations | movies | books | places | languages | memories   myths | celebrities | records | misc. | list | submit artist's name named after... 3 Doors Down The band was walking by an old warehouse or something like that and there was a sign with letters that had fallen from it. The remaining letters read 'doors down', and there were 3 band members at the time, so it stuck. 311 One of the band members got arrested for indecent exposure when they were teenagers. The police code for indecent exposure in Omaha, Nebraska where they are from, is 311. Submitted by Tommy Alien Ant Farm Mike: "Our guitar player Terry was sitting at work one day when he had a real job. He thought: Aliens look down on the earth and the earth is like an ant farm with the glass and the sand and all that. We are all digging tunnels, eating each others heads and aliens are just watching. It has nothing to do with any concept or theory that we really subscribe to. It`s basically a chic name and an excuse to make good music." [source] Aphex Twin The A in Aphex stands for the acid quality of his music, while the ph is a reference to the pH-value of acid. Richard D. James' brother died three years prior to his birth and carried the exact same name as Richard David James. The twin is therefore a token of recognition for the brother Aphex Twin never knew, but who he feels is watching over him like a guardian angel. (There is also a manufacturer of music studio equipment, gates, compressers, limiters etc. called aphex systems. Thank you, Paul Aerosmith Aerosmith is some random word that drummer Joey Kramer used to tattoo on his textbooks in high school. submitted by Adam, thanks! Better Than Ezra "Better than Ezra" got their name when they were starting out in clubs. They were going on after a band called "Ezra" and when the MC was about to announce them he asked their name... they responded "...we're Better than Ezra". thanks to Jeff! Bikini Kill Lois Maffeo and Rebecca Gates (of the Spinanes) did a one-time performance in gorilla suites and called it "Bikini Kil". Toby Vail called one of them and asked if she could use the name Blondie Debbie Harry was in a band called the Stillettos. After the band broke up, Debbie and her boyfriend from the band decided to form their own group. They went through several names, when a passing truck driver cat-called out to her, as so many had before, "Hey, Blondie!" She decided that that had to be it! Chumbawamba Based on a band member's dream.. he didn't know which door to use in a public toilet because the signs said "Chumba" and "Wamba" instead of "Men" and "Women" A completely different explanation from the TV programme Never Mind The Buzzcocks, kindly submitted by Matthew: "There is a certain theory that states that if you gave an infinite amount of monkeys an infinite amount of typewriters and an infinite amount of time, they will write the complete works of Shakespeare. This was done as an experiment with 100 monkeys and 100 typewriters, one of the words that they wrote was Chumbawumba." Coldplay In an interview, bassist Guy said: "There's no real reason behind it, really. Johnny and Chris lived in a flat with two other people who were in a band. They changed the name of their band every other week, and for about a week they were called Coldplay. But they discarded it; so we thought we like the way it looked and sounded, so we used the stolen name." By the way: this stolen name comes from a collection of poetry. Crash Test Dummies Crash Test Dummies was adopted initially as a joke, at the suggestion of a friend in medical school. Apparently through constant use, the name stuck. Among other monikers considered were Skin Graft and the Chemotherapists. Source: crashtestdummies.com (Official Band's Homepage) Daft Punk ... a highly critical review of their former band, Darling, in a highly esteemed magazine Deep Purple ... apparently inspired by Ritchie Blackmore's grandmother's favorite song thanks to Liam for this sweet explanation :) Dr. Nachtstrom Als man im Jahre 1997 für den Elektroniker Dr. Nachtstrom auf die Suche nach einem Namen ging, erwies sich dieses Vorhaben weit schwieriger als erwartet. Walter Brantners (so sein bürgerlicher Name) Bruder kam auf den Namen Nachtstrom, auf Grund der jahrelangen Schlaflosigkeit des Herrn Brantner. Das "Dr." weist auf die jahrelange Tätigkeit Walters im geriatrischen Krankenhaus Graz hin. Don Der Name DON rührt aus dem Jahre 2000. Der österreichische Elektronikmusiker Dr. Nachtstrom sah den damals noch unbekannten Silvio Thonhofer während eines Auftritts im Grazer Arcadium. Die Auffälligkeit daran war ein Mantel, den Herr Thonhofer trotz extremer Hitze trug. Dieses Ereigniss wiederholte sich einige Male und Doktor Nachtstrom titulierte den Mantel als Don-Mantel und somit auch den Inhalt. EBTG an advertisement for a British clothing store that would sell you "Everything but the Girl". Faith No More The band members were in a band called "Faith No Man" and when they got rid of the lead singer, changed it to "Faith No More" as a joke. Fugees shortened for "Refugee Camp" (member's parents were refugees) Groove Armada ... a club the duo used to run, called 'Captain Sensual at the Helm of the Groove Armada' IMA Robot ... the following story is from their homepage: "I'm bleeding?!" Alex said, like he thought himself incapable of such mortality. ( Uncontrollable Laughs from Timmy the Terror) "I'm a pig?!" Timmy said, just before doubling over from the weight of humor he had just created for himself. Alex was now on the floor, catching up to his breath, which had left him for delirium...still, from the floor, he attempted to eek out yet another 'hilarious' phrase? "I'm a robot?!" - Pause...and then - Laughter of the large kind filled the building and threatened respiratory meltdown. Through the hallways one might have been able to hear that phrase as they desperately repeated it through heaving gasps - "IMA ROBOT?!" They had landed upon something that would come to haunt them for the rest of their lives - a phrase they could not stop repeating from that day forth (nor could they remember what was so damn funny about it) - a phrase that came to have great meaning for them - ima robot. Jane's Addiction ... a prostitute the band members had all met through. Jimmy Eat World Two of Guitarist Tom Linton's brothers, Jimmy and Ed, had a battle way back in their childhood. The brawl came to an end when Jimmy locked his smaller brother out of his room. Ed didn't appreciate this sort of rude treatment at all, got his crayons and drew a picture of his brother shoving what appeared to be the earth into his gaping mouth. The angry caption at the bottom of the picture read, "Jimmy eat world". Kill Hannah ...Once upon a time there was a girl named Hannah and a boy named Matthew. They dated during a period when Matthew was in another band. When they broke up, it was heartbreaking for him. He subsequently wrote a ballad for her called "Kill Hannah". This song's style was different from the normal musical format of the band he was in at the time. When Matthew started his new band he wanted to base it on this new style of music, so named the band after his song. Kings Of Leon ...The Kings of Leon is a band comprised of three brothers, Caleb, Nathan, and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. Their father and paternal grandfather were both named Leon. Led Zeppelin The gig for the drummer for the band, later assumed by John Bonham was originally offered to Keith Moon. He turned it down claiming that the band would 'go down like a lead zeppelin'. Le Hammond Inferno goes back to the first big party Holger and Marcus were organising. They called the event after a record which featured a Czech Hammond organist who wasn't doing a very good job at covering popular hits. Lynard Skynyrd named after their old school gym teacher, Leonard Skinner, a legardary antagonist of long-haired students. thank you, Dan! New Order The manager was reading the newspaper while he and the remaining members of Joy Division were brainstorming new names. He came upon the name of a guerrilla group in Cambodia called the above name, The People's New Order of Kampuchea and apparently said, "How about 'New Order'?". Limp Bizkit name came up in a conversation between Mr Durst and a friend of his who claimed that his brain was "like a limp biscuit". Addition submitted by Jason: I don't know if there's any correlation, but "limp biscuit" is a disgusting British game in which a group of gay men masturbate around a cookie and the last one to ejaculate on it has to eat it. Manic Street Preachers The band's name comes from something James Dean Bradfield was called by a passer-by while out busking. Marcy Playground The singer used to go to a hippie grade school called Marcy Open School. Monster Magnet Wham-O put out a toy called the Monster Magnet in the 1960's. It was a big red strong magnet with a molded plastic handle. Frank Zappa has a song about Monster Magnets as well. It's called "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet" and is the last track on "Freak Out" (1966) by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. Nico A photographer on the Isle of Ibiza called her Nico after his recently departed partner Nikos Papatakis Nickelback Bassist Mike Kroeger was working at the Starbucks Coffee in Vancouver. At the time coffee was selling for $2.95 to $4.95 a cup. He was so used to telling customers "Here's your nickel back" that when the band was trying to come up with a name, the phrase "nickel back" stuck in his head. No Doubt the name no doubt came from the faith that then lead singer john spence had in the band's success. he shot himself shortly after the band was formed because he was depressed that the band was all he had in his life, but the remaining members decided to keep the name to honor him, their dear friend. thanks to Devon Pearl Jam not known for sure. A few theories: Vedder's grandmother's name was Pearl and she was married to a Native American that influenced her cooking style. She had a recipe for preserves that included a Native American hallucinogenic substance (Peyote), hence, Pearl Jam. This is widely thought of as BS that Ed told to Rolling Stone. Another theory is that the members thought it would be funny to have frat boys wearing t-shirts that had the slang for, uh, a male bodily fluid on them. Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant: "Three of Chris' friends all worked in a pet shop in Ealing, and we used to suggest to them that they start a group called The Pet Shop Boys. When we started making records with Bobby O sometime later, we needed a name and took Pet Shop Boys." link Porno For Pyros There are two theories: Perry Farrell was reading a fireworks catalog on a tour bus when a pal said the magazine looked like smut for arsonists. It sparked his imagination. Farrell realized watching L.A. riots on TV was probably Porno for Pyros. R.E.M. Michael Stipe closed his eyes and stuck his finger in a dictionary... R.E.M. (Rapid Eye Movement) is a state of sleep. Other fun acronyms are: "Righteous Energetic Music", "Really Enjoy Masturbating" and "Rear End Men." Sleepy Jackson, The There are various stories I've heard. There was a guy called Jackson who used to crash out at Luke's house all the time. Apparently he had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome so he used to sleep a lot so was called The Sleepy Jackson. But there's another story. Luke was at a big raucous party and a guy called Jackson was with a girl. Everyone was like, "Where's Jackson?" And someone goes, "The Jackson's sleeping at the moment". I always thought it was kind of part of the Jackson family... Tito, Michael and the Sleepy Jackson. [source] Smashing Pumpkins There are a lot of rumours, but nothing has been confirmed... Billy Corgan claims Gene Simmons told him in a dream that "Joe Strummer is a pumpkin, drunken and smashed". Corgan has also claimed he meant "smashing" as an adjective, as in "daring pumpkins". Billy Corgan's home town is known for its pumpkins. The name is a rumoured revenge against his home town an ex-girlfriend who said he would be there for the rest of his life. Also, in a documentary with Billy Corgan, he reveals says that the 'Smashing Pumpkins' was the name of a ficticious band that he used to tell people he was in, long before the real band was formed. It was the first name that came to his mind when somebody asked him if he was in a band. Soul Coughing Originally, Soul Coughing was the title of a rather dire poem frontman M. Doughty wrote about Neil Young vomiting in the back of a bus. Whilst everybody hated the poem, they were quite intrigued with the name and thus Mr Doughty adopted it for his band. Sneaker Pimps The Sneaker Pimps took their name from an article the Beastie Boys wrote in Grand Royal magazine about a man that procured vintage athletic footwear for them and who was called a "sneaker pimp". Stone Temple Pilots they were fond of STP oil stickers, and thought up Shirley Temple's Pussy, Stereo Temple Pirates, and finally Stone Temple Pilots Tahiti 80 ... a souvenir t-shirt given to Xavier Boyer's father during a 1980 holiday on the Polynesian islands. Tocotronic ... a Gameboy precursor The Vines Craig Nicholls father had a band called "The Vynes" who never made it to release anything. Craig wanted to put honour to this band name and so they called their band "The Vines" Virginia Jetzt! Virginia war der Name einer angebeteten jungen Dame, die man(n) versuchte, mit einem selbstgemalten Schild "Virginia Jetzt" (hier abbiegen) auf ein Konzert zu lotsen. Über Erfolg oder Mißerfolg der Aktion soll an dieser Stelle nichts verraten werden, was jedoch blieb war das Schild und somit die Idee für einen guten Bandnamen. Weezer ... vocalist/guitarist/frontman Rivers Cuomo's the nickname in school. He was a bit of a geek and made weezing sounds because of his asthma. Wheatus ... the singer's nickname as a child.