Stage/artist/project name/alias/pseudonym

How important is your artist name?

Does it matter or do you just use your real name or something quickly made up because you have to have a name?

Do you work and publish under one name?

Or do you have several projects each with a unique concept behind them so as to separate your different ideas and styles?
Do you see your project(s) as your "brand" and associate the same art/logo/profile picture/banner across all your sites so as to maintain a single familiar identity to your fans?

Do you have the same logo/photo etc across each project or different identities for each?



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[Guest]

I much prefer to use my real name for all my projects and much prefer others to do the same. However this seems to be impractical as I have noticed the more conceptual work that I do discourages people who might like the ambient work that I do and vice versa. A similar problem exists with visual art - people like to have a consistent style they can rely on when accessing a name / brand. Recently I have started using garyglengeoffrey as my conceptual work name - it is an amalgamation of all the names I have most commonly been called by mistake

[GaryG]

I agree with Grant above. ;)

I've noticed that I tend to take people using their real name more seriously in some way; maybe it sounds more 'academic', less rock and roll if that makes any sense.

I was intending of using a name for my more 'produced' ambient work mainly because their would often be others involved and I like the idea of an umbrella term pulling it all together.

More personal/experimental stuff I'd release under my name. It's what I do and want to stand behind it.

I would definitely use other names for radically different projects though. If my long gestating guitar-noise-rock thing ever took off then I have a cheesy name from a Studio Ghibli film all lined up for that.

[Guest]

I agree with Grant above. ;)

I've noticed that I tend to take people using their real name more seriously in some way; maybe it sounds more 'academic', less rock and roll if that makes any sense.

I was intending of using a name for my more 'produced' ambient work mainly because their would often be others involved and I like the idea of an umbrella term pulling it all together.

More personal/experimental stuff I'd release under my name. It's what I do and want to stand behind it.

I would definitely use other names for radically different projects though. If my long gestating guitar-noise-rock thing ever took off then I have a cheesy name from a Studio Ghibli film all lined up for that.

thanks Geoff, appreciate the support

(agree about the 'more serious' point - it's the old commitment of putting your name to what you do)

on a side note I have noticed 'Craig' increasing in popularity over the last few years

[RikkiSho]

I understand and can actually appreciate the point you guys are making. Which I guess may be why I have one overall umbrella term - RikkiSho. But I feel I would not feel comfortable putting all my music under one name. It would feel messy.

So I have:

The Lime Room for traditional song structures - house/breaks/lounge.

White Origins for purely beatless ambient.

And new project Sketch & Sculpture for what I am going to call art music/audio paintings.

And I try to maintain familiarity by linking them with the RikkiSho name and the same logo and twitter/YouTube. One Man behind it All

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[phoenstorm]

I don't like to put my real name out there - I realize that has several drawbacks, but it also has its positives. So far I keep to one project name, but the question new name/sideproject, etc. is always present. I have decided to (or at least try to) not think too much about it and concentrate on making music

[seismic1]

..One name to rule them all.............

[MrBoingBoing]

This morning, my seven year-old son told me my name was an aliteration - like "Wonder Woman".

[RikkiSho]

Awww haha.

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[Duckett]

Well, I've gone by my name since 2007 over at ccMixter, and anyone who's ever wandered through the many uploads of mine there knows it's a veritable hodge-podge of styles;
though I've mulled over trying out different pseudonyms for possible side-projects focusing on a particular genre or style, my inherent laziness and terrible inner-cat-herding skills lead me to just keep it simple and consistent.
One thing that's been a plus- apparently I do have a certain "sound" that lets people pick out a track of mine, no matter the style.. at least that's what I've been told.

[RikkiSho]

Intriguing. So not a sound that you intentionally work with?

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[aoVI]

I use a variety of names. I put my actual names in any credits...usually.

ontol is for my old school ambient--often involves contributions from others
aoVI for more structured work and vocal pieces, usually solo
Elemental Phantastix for noisier, more experimental pieces, usually solo
DIOXIDE is a duo with one of my former ontol partners
LMAO is (was) a techno-ish thing I tried in the late 90's--now there is LMFAO, so....

all of these projects have significant overlap as well.

[ambientsketchbook]

An interesting debate. Different things work for different musicians, so here's what floats my boat.

I have never felt the need to deviate from the ambientsketchbook name. There are 3 main reasons for this.

1. No matter what genre I flit into (and there have been many, and will be more) the music shares common themes: strong melodies, resonance, textured elements and of course an intuitive, improvisational feel.

2. I am a strong believer in being challenged by the music you listen to; I don't want to know in advance that the next five albums by a particular artist will be minor variations on their current release. So many of my favourite acts constantly push musical boundaries and release radically different albums, without feeling the need to apply a different pseudonym to each varying release. Whether this means they are trusting their audience to grow with them or simply following their muse regardless of commercial implications, it's definitely the way I prefer to operate. I genuinely feel that worrying about whether my listeners might dislike my current direction would mean instant creative stagnation. Think about it this way: I release a lot of music, make it all available to stream beforehand and make paying voluntary. Hopefully people will move with me and enjoy being introduced to musical ideas they normally wouldn't hear, but if not, I haven't shafted anyone out of their hard-earned cash with something called The Spaghetti Incident.

3. I can't be arsed maintaining multiple profiles. It takes away from creative time. :D

[Toaster]

I've used another name, other than 'Toaster' and it was a disaster. People were confused. I still use it, from time to time.

Toaster, on the other hand, has and is used by other bands, and is also a common noun, so it's a fairly lousy choice. On the other hand, I 'own' it on band camp, so...

[GaryG]

I've used another name, other than 'Toaster' and it was a disaster. People were confused.

Yeah, Toaster is much more sensible.

(love the graphics stuff you did in the 90s btw, SeaQuest DSV FTW!)

;)