Image is a tricky question. Everyone has an image. It may be as a student, as an athlete, as a gang banger or as a punk. A person’s clothes, hairstyle, makeup, attitude and a number of other factors help to construct an image. Sometimes we can’t see a person’s image because we have the same image and as with an accent, we can’t identify it because it’s so close to what we have and we certainly don’t have an accent. Well, to other people we do. To the people with accents we speak with a very definite accent and they have preconceived ideas about us as people and as a society just as we do about them. That’s our image. That’s not necessarily true, you say. Those preconceived ideas are stereotypes and prejudices. Yeah, image. Not real, not fact, not matter, not of any real substance, just an image, a mirage, a caricature, a cartoon. You’re going to have one whether you like it or not and once you step onto a stage and into a spot light it’s going to be magnified a thousand fold so you better construct one yourself rather than leave it to someone else or to fate.
If you decide you feel it phony to perform as anything other than “yourself”, you better have a very strong self image to begin with otherwise start looking for a character to play while on stage. It isn’t being phony to assume a persona while performing in a rock band any more than it’s phony to play a role in a play. You are an entertainer, that’s what you’ve chosen to do. Chose to do it well and without restrictions of your own making otherwise your time on stage will seem self-indulgent and your audience will lose patience. Ever dress up for a party or for Halloween? Why? Because it was fun. That is what you want to give your audience, fun. If you’re too self-conscious to wear something other than your street clothes when other people are dressing up just to see you, then maybe you need to wonder about why you dress different when you go to church or to a wedding or to a party. Now, you shouldn’t wear something that’s so silly you feel inhibited. You don’t have to go on stage in full KISS makeup and platform shoes, but if you joined a ball team wouldn’t you want to wear the uniform? Your band should have it’s own uniform. It should be something that, although perhaps not all exactly the same, still identifies each member as belonging to the same group. It should reflect who you are as people as much as possible and what you represent musically. Your clothes, hair, musical style, instrument sound, lyric subjects, instrument selection and band name should all work together to represent the separate but compatible pieces of a unified whole. Your audience should be able to look at you, hear you play and then say to themselves; “Yeah, that name really fits them.”
When it comes to choosing names be careful not to pick a name too trendy because when the trend is past your band may be perceived as being passe even though you’ve progressed musically with the times. Choose a name that is easy to pronounce and easy to read. You don’t want your fans being unable to buy your record or concert ticket because they can’t remember or pronounce your name. Also remember that when choosing a band name you are also choosing a brand name and logo for all your merchandise. As time goes by your band will discard songs from their set to be replaced by new ones and their costumes may change as often as fashion dictates but their name will always represent them.
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