An all-male rock band have decided to change their name from Girl Band, apologising for using a “misgendered name.”
The Irish four-piece announced their decision to change their name in a Twitter statement. “We will no longer be performing or releasing records under the name Girl Band,” they wrote.
“We apologise for choosing a misgendered name in the first place and to anyone who has been hurt or affected by it.”
Moving forward, Girl Band will become Gilla Band. “Gilla”, it seems, is an Old Irish word for “youth” or “male boy”.
The band’s statement revealed that their original name was “chosen without much thought.” “To try and negate any unfortunate role we’ve played in propagating a culture of non inclusivity in music or otherwise,” they added.
Gilla Band finished by thanking “those who spoke up about it and educated us on this, either directly or indirectly.”
Their decision was applauded on social media. Drowned in Sound pointed out just how male-dominated the music industry remains but it wasn’t as good news for one fan, who shared a photo of his Girl Band tattoo. “Throw an s on the band,” was another person’s helpful suggestion.
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We are changing our band name. We are also playing some shows in Dublin in January. pic.twitter.com/PNhZ19dL2m
— Gilla Band (@GillaBand) November 16, 2021
It’s reminiscent of the recent high-profile example of the Canadian post punk band Preoccupations, who were originally called Viet Cong before changing their name in 2016.
“We are a band who wants to make music and play our music for our fans. We are not here to cause pain or remind people of atrocities of the past,” they said at the time.
Interestingly, some members of Preoccupations were previously in a band called Women, although they disbanded before ever feeling the need to change their name.
On a less controversial note, acclaimed indie singer-songwriter Alex G changed his name to (Sandy) Alex G due to a clash with a popular YouTube cover star, before he changed his name back to Alex G again recently.
Gilla Band formed in Dublin a decade ago. They’ve released two albums to date, 2015’s Holding Hands with Jamie and 2019’s The Talkies.
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Check out ‘Shoulderblades’ by Gilla Band:
