The Morning Benders name change statement....
Received via email yesterday. Thoughts?
When we started this band in 2005 we had no expectations. From an early age I had a deep love for music and its power to bring people together, but the truth is, in 2005 I had just finished writing my first songs and all I wanted to do was start a band as soon as possible. That same year I had moved to Berkeley to attend college, and of the first 5 people I met, 1 of them happened to be a drummer, and 1 happened to be a guitarist. It was kismet; we started a band. It wasn't long before we got offered our first show on Lower Sproul (Berkeley's school quad). Now all we needed was a band name. We came up with two options: "The Beatles 2" and "The Morning Benders." We went with The Morning Benders.
Fast forward to 2010, many a dive bar, school quad, house party, county fair, pizza parlor later. We had just released Big Echo, and for the first time we were preparing for a world tour. We had toured a fair amount leading up to Big Echo, but never overseas, so when it came time to tour the UK and Europe we were quite excited. The touring went well, and we had an amazing time, but also something happened that we hadn't anticipated. As soon as we had landed in London people started asking us about our band name. "What does 'Bender' mean to you?" people would ask. "Are you seriously called 'The Morning Benders' ?" was a common question. For those of you reading from America, you may still be confused. Well, it turns out that the word 'bender' in the UK and many parts of Europe is a slang term for 'homosexual.' We were told our band name was the equivalent of 'The Morning Fags' in America. We had been called The Morning Benders for 5 years, and we were just finding this out now? It was shocking. And quite sad, to say the least. We had spent those years touring night and day, championing our name everywhere we could, only to find out that the name had an alternate meaning- one that made us look hateful, or at best, ignorant.
At the time we didn't really have many options; we had already booked several tours as The Morning Benders and had just released our new album. We couldn't very well change the name right then and there. We had unwittingly gotten ourselves into a problem with no immediate solution, it was extremely disappointing. But that's all said and done. Now it's 2012. We are at the tail end of making our third album, and we have been given the opportunity to change our band name. We've decided to seize that opportunity, and here's why--
1. We simply cannot go on using a name that is demeaning to the gay community. The reason we are making music is to reach and unite as many different kinds of people as possible, and the idea that our name may be hateful towards anyone makes us sick.
2. In the UK and many parts of Europe the name has simply become too distracting. The MUSIC has always been our number one focus, and we want to present that to people in as pure a way as possible
I know that many people around the world have grown to love the name "The Morning Benders," and understandably have memories and experiences associated with it. Obviously we can understand this, we've lived and breathed this band for 7 years. However, for those of you that know and follow us, you also know that we are committed to change. We've always promised our fans that we will never settle into a place that feels safe and easy, because that leads to boring art. It is true that we didn't anticipate this specific twist in the road when we set out on this musical journey, but we still like to think of this as merely a further embodiment of our commitment to change. We believe that it will only lead to new growth and excitement.
Thank you for your attention, your love, and your support.
From henceforth we shall be known as POP ETC
- Relevant artist taggings:
- Pop Threat »[x]
- Morning Benders »[x]
- The Benders »[x]
- The Morning Benders »[x]
- Bender »[x]
- ...Bender »[x]
- Gay Against You »[x]
- The Homosexuals »[x]
- Endless Bummer »[x]
- Embarassing Fruits »[x]
- Tied & Tickled Trio »[x]
- Them Beatles »[x]
- Bumsnogger »[x]
- Bent USA »[x]
- The Bent Moustache »[x]
- Bent »[x]
- Bentley Rhythm Ace »[x]
- Bendover »[x]
- Pop Will Eat Itself »[x]
- Experimental Pop Band »[x]
- Morningwood »[x]
- arsequake »[x]
- We Smoke Fags »[x]
- Willy Moon »[x]
- The Twang »[x]
- PUFFY »[x]
- Exit By Name »[x]
- Does It Offend You, Yeah? »[x]
- No Use for a Name »[x]
- Anal Thunder »[x]
- Gay For Johnny Depp »[x]
- White Boys For Gay Jesus »[x]
- The Good The Bad & The Queen »[x]
- The Last Morning Soundtrack »[x]
- A Change Is Gonna Come »[x]
- The Who »[x]
- Micropenis »[x]
- Bendy Monsters »[x]
- Gay Dad »[x]
- Killing Joke »[x]
- British Beef »[x]
- Bad English »[x]
- School of Language »[x]
- School of Language »[x]
- Billy Childish & The Musicians Of The British Empire »[x]
- Foreign Exchange »[x]
- Das Pop »[x]
The Benders
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they're not very good at band names, are they?
I'd start by thinking of a better new name
Wow
they really fail at coming up with decent names, don't they.
I think the new name is even worse.
none
Good work virgins
would be a better name.
POP ETC :')
although it means I'll stop mentally confusing them with The Halo Benders, so probably for the best
it was never an issue
Doug Martsch and Calvin Johnson, dude. only Benders that ever mattered.
and you can bend a halo. can't bend a morning.
What about John Bender of The Breakfast Club?
I thought The Morning Benders
was quite a good band name.
Pop Etc is an awful name and probably destined to pull them into obscurity when it doesn't stick.
Isn't "Morning benders!"
a regular line from The Inbetweeners?
yep, and therefore a very good band name. idiots.
never heard anything by them though.
morning, benders
would have been better
Aww, I feel quite sorry for them.
Did people really think it was offensive or demeaning? It didn't take much effort to understand what they meant, and there was clearly never any intent for bender to mean it's colloquial use.
The new name is merely offensive by its awfulness.
should have changed it to something
like The Morning Blenders, POP ETC is surely CAREER SUICIDE.
so what does bender mean in the USA then?
As in, er, something bending.
Binge?
should have changed it to
'The Drinking Lots of Alcohol in the Mornings'. obvious, really.
Actually this is a good point.
I assumed, based on nothing but free association from when I saw their album cover (which had ads on here I think) that it was about waves - like a surfing term that meant big waves in the morning.
That's not very likely though, is it?
A wise cracking robot from the year 3000?
not much had changed, but they live under water?
I was expecting them to alter it slightly, like The Morning Bends or something
Bands changing their name COMPLETELY once they've released some albums is usually suicide (except Caribou).
Cariwho?
I have real doubts about the whole 'demeaning' angle
really, how many complaints would they have had? I think more than likely they're just tired of being taken the piss out of and had to reason it somehow.
Mm, I was under the impression 'bender'='gay' is fairly antiquated now
except for stupid comedic purposes, and especially with the tabloidese of "24 hour benders" drunkenness.
I always thought that meant
someone was gay ALL THE TIME.
a regular school insult was "you're a 24-hour bender."
haha
Bender can also mean a heavy session can't it?
I have never heard their music, but can't say the name would put me off. What about the Yawning Fenders or something.
yeah, I actually thought that was what they intended
maybe it was? Like, we're so rock and roll we get really drunk in the mornings.
Pretty interesting band name replaced with shit band name.
Hrm.
I wonder if they ever considered just calling themselves
Rock and Pop
Think it's a bad decision
The success of Futurama outside the US agrees with me.
They've over-thought this.
BENDERS
The first time i heard the name i did wonder if i had heard it correctly, but after that to me it was pretty obvious that there was an alternative meaning. I'd rather give a band the benefit of the doubt if thier music clearly doesn't correlate with a potentially offensive name.
However i'd feel differently if it was Tyler The Creator's new project.
See also - 'Art Fags'.
:(
I've liked Morning Benders for years and it never once struck me as an offensive name! This is ridiculous and I think they will lose a lot of their following over this. The name is a big part of a band's identity and as they have been going for a while, they should stick with it.
The Mourning Benders might be worse :S
The new name is thousands of times more offensive than The Morning Benders was.
POPpers ETC (dildos, anal lube, whips, chains, handcuffs, ...)
Good move indeed.
Pop Etc?
Sounds like something off Nathan Barley.
How about 'Music, Yeah?'
Came here to post this ^
Keep it futile
You know they added the question mark by deed poll...
think they're being really wet about this
they're acting like they accidentally called themselves The Cunt Dyke Negro Parade Goblins
don't know who they are
really tired of indie bands semi-ironically using the word 'pop' in stuff
NIRVANA 2
http://boomkat.com/vinyl/508379-john-bender-memories-of-mindless-mechanical-monologues-1976-1985
After the first paragraph I was hoping for this...
'So, after two albums and seven misguided years, we realised that The Beatles 2 was, in fact, the better name'.
I like this band
but gotta agree with the majority. "Morning benders" - even in the gay sense - is funny. "Morning benders" - in the let's get drunk in the morning sense is also funny.
Pop Etc sounds generic and lame...which for a band who sometimes border on generic and lame (but not really cos Big Echo is really awesome!), I just don't know. Tsk.
Still surprised nobody's picked up Wishpig's "Buy Me an Ice Cream, You Cunt" band name. Somebody ought to text Morning Benders dude before it's too late!
Pop Etc
sounds like something U2 would've come up with in about 1993. I remember using (oh, alright then, hearing) the word "bender" at school as far back as the mid-70s and thus have a considerable amount of affection for it. Especially when shouted in a high-pitched voice, as in "BENDUUUUUHHHHH!!!" A very bad decision by this band methinks.
just remembered this
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/aug/12/the-last-airbender
maybe they were right
Still remember seeing the trailer for that in the cinema and having a proper WTF laughing attack.
It meant I listened to Big Echo yesterday which I wouldn't have otherwise
Well played POP Benders.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
CC: When we first announced it, there was a lot of positive feedback. Some of the negative comments suggested that we "sold out," or that we were pressured by "the Man" or some bigger thing to change our name. In reality, though, our brand as the Morning Benders is obviously more valuable than a random new brand that no one's heard about. The idea that we didn't do it for our own reasons is just ridiculous.
People have also come out to say a lot of homophobic stuff, like, "Your new name is much gayer." That's just disgusting. When I see those comments, I feel empowered that this is why we had to do this-- to show people that it's not funny, that it's a problem, and it's detrimental to progress.
http://pitchfork.com/news/46067-pop-etc-talk-name-change-new-album/
in an attempt to avoid demeaning the gay community we're changing our name to "the magic poofs"
This reminds me of when Special Needs changed their name to The Needs
That made some sense as it was a very similar name.
Pop Etc. is a fuck awful name.
Most importantly
Those new tunes are shite.
THE BEATLES 2!!! :'''D
probably my favourite thread-title ever
see also
Acoustic Ladyland - Silver Birch
Acoustic Ladyland was never a great name (although it was obviously fitting for the first album) but I don't like Silver Birch either