Soko to Sokoband (reprinted from myspace blog)

Sunday, September 06, 2009

We have a new band name Current mood: rejuvenated OK, so after 19 years our name still wasn't original enough and never really stuck. We started out as "Third Ear," until we received a "cease and desist" order from the attorney of a bluegrass band in the San Francisco bay area. We then became "Zoom" for a while, but nobody really liked that. Then Houston said "it's gotta be 'Soko.'" That's what people had been calling me for as long as I can remember, and Houston felt that it was a snappy name (it is) that had to be original (it wasn't). Shame on us -- especially after the "Third Ear" go-round -- to not perform due diligence and find that there was already a groovy funk band by that name from the American south, who had released a successful album called Hurry Up and Wait. We also didn't take note of Johnny Sokko and his Giant Robot, nor did we consider the numerous Japanese and American businesses with the name of "Soko." Then, of course, came "SoKo" -- AKA Stéphanie Sokolinski -- the compelling indie singer from Paris, who just blew us out of the water in terms of name recognition. So, finally, we get it. Time to try again. While it would be fun to brainstorm and vet a bunch of new band names (who doesn't enjoy doing that?), we are falling back on "Sokoband." It's close to our previous name but it's unused -- and "sokoband.com" has been our web URL for 14 years. It only makes sense. Keep an eye out for a completely overhauled website at that address in the near future, and stay tuned for our next album: Sokoband, featuring our new drummer, the great Nir Z (Genesis, Chris Cornell, Jason Mraz, and others), and special guests: Steve Kimock, Leroi Moore, Tim Reynolds, David Darling, Dave Matthews, and more. The record has been mixed and mastered, so release should not be too far behind. Thanks for reading, Michael Sokolowski and Houston Ross