Third Eye Blind popped into my head this morning and I always thought their name was pretty clever. I started thinking about a few others I like and got stuck on “modified birth names”
City & Colour - stage name of Dallas Green
Corto Alto - stage name for Liam Shortall (Corto Alto means “short tall” in Spanish)
Dora Jar - stage name for Dorothy Jar (door ajar)
I don’t love when artists pick names based on other artists, though. I love Chet Faker’s music but wish he stuck with Nick Murphy.
Are there any that you really like?
[Edit] Please explain why you think a name is clever! I’ve looked up the origins of the unfamiliar names getting posted but I’m definitely missing what’s clever about some of them


Being afraid to state one’s opinion of a band because it might offend someone who disagrees only leads to incredibly boring discussions of music. Nobody’s take is objective, because that’s how opinions inherently work, and pointing out that “not everything is made for you” is a pretty silly thing to say in a discussion forum. Have the courage to state your likes and dislikes openly - otherwise why bother talking at all?
You’re right about one thing - music is not a hobby for me. It’s a career. Maybe that’s why I’m comfortable taking it seriously and not hedging what I think in case someone feels differently. That passion is positive as often as it is negative, just not when the subject is a particularly annoying third-rate corporate alt-rock band.
This is a post is about clever names.
Someone comes in and says “I looked up the band you mentioned and I don’t like it.” They don’t comment on the name nor provide any of their own.
And then you drop in with the same vague opinion and equal amount of clever names in tow.
So what have you done here besides give yourself a little hit or dopamine from saying something mean? You’ve added nothing but negatively to the post. Congratulations on saving music discourse.
Hilarious that you think “they suck ass” is taking it seriously. With takes like that, something tells me your music isn’t anything like Guthrie.