Cosmostanza
“We didn’t know what to call our band. We had a few ideas — although nothing was really sticking — but we both had a common love for Seinfeld. Then it hit me, and I envisioned George Costanza’s head in space. The name came from there, Cosmostanza. I called Raney (Aboud, bandmate) on the phone the moment it popped into my mind, and he loved it, too. We’ve been Cosmostanza ever since.” —Maxwell Moore, vocals/guitar
DEERPEOPLE
“It’s taken from an episode of [TV’s] King of the Hill — the one where all the guys take their kids hunting for the first time, and John Redcorn tries to explain how spiritual hunting can be to a less than enthusiastic Joseph. We write it as only one word, in all caps, because we’re typical and pretentious.” —Alex Larrea, guitar
The Gentle Art of Floating
“‘The Gentle Art of Floating’ is the name of a subchapter in a book titled Supernatural by Graham Hancock. The book’s about his search for the birth of art and creativity in man, and his journey opens a lot of doors about our history. He started with the first known artistic expression of man: cave paintings. One thing leads to another and he discovers that different groups of mankind — separated by continents — were depicting very similar imagery in these paintings, and one particular chapter details peoples’ accounts of floating. The correlation between art’s beginnings and the beginning of this new music project seemed fitting at the time.” —Colin Nance, guitar/vocals/keys/samples
Giraffe Massacre
“A family is on vacation in Africa, shooting footage of a giraffe crossing the road, when out of the brush comes this ferocious lion to take him out of the game. It’s an epic scene: Kids are screaming, everyone in the car is in a panic. Then the dad says, ‘It’s nature!’” —David Carlyle, guitar
IndianGiver
“An Indian giver is defined as a person who gives something and then takes it back. It’s been brought to our attention that the historical views of the name IndianGiver carry a negative connotation, but we’ve never seen it that way. For us, the attraction to the name stemmed from the fact that it’s unique to our culture; it’s very Americana. Although the original context of the term referred more specifically to the literal giving and taking of a gift, we prefer to view it in a more figurative light.” —Zachary Pearson, strings/melodica
JUNEBUG SPADE
“I came up with the name JUNEBUG as a band name first, because I thought it was kind of cool and paid homage to The Beatles. I later found out that there was already a band with that name, so at the last second before a show, I drunkenly told the emcee to announce us as ‘JUNEBUG SPADE’ after the character from Keenan Ivory Wayans’ I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, because it’s quite possibly one of the most underrated films in history. I did it jokingly, but everyone thought it was cool, so it stuck.” —Peter Anthony Seay II, vocals/guitar
Jumpship Astronaut
“Our name comes from the idea of jumping ship from our previous musical projects to a newer, more refined one. And the astronaut aspect is due to the inherent awesomeness of astronauts. We’re also really inspired by the undeniable sexual charisma of Buzz Aldrin.” —Ryan Bryant, vocals/guitar
Skating Polly
“Skating Polly was originally spelled sKating Polly. The K was capitalized for Kelli (Mayo, bandmate), and the P was capitalized for Peyton. We also liked it because Polly is sort of a princessy name, and skating — as in roller derby girls — was basically the polar opposite of princessy. We had just watched that movie Whip It and were into the idea of roller derby girls. We wanted a name that would age well so we wouldn’t feel like we needed to change it to a more mature-sounding name as we got older. Some might think it sounds like a kid band name, but Sonic Youth sounds like that, and it worked for 30 years for them.” —Peyton Bighorse, vocals/guitar/drums
Hey! Read This:
• ADDverse Effects interview
• Cosmostanza — Champs review
• Deerpeople interview
• Colin Nance interview
• IndianGiver — Plafond EP review
• Junebug Spade interview
• Jumpship Astronaut — Lights Burn Out review
• Skating Polly — Lost Wonderfuls review
This article appears in Aug 14-20, 2013.