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I used to think that stage names were a silly invention if you are a serious musician. I mean, okay, Elton John's real name is, apparently, Reginald Dwight, and I suppose with a name like that, I can't really blame the guy for wanting a different one. But I used to subscribe to the view that it was the music that was important, not the name of the musician. Isn't Bob Dylan's real name just... "Bob Dylan"? (or is it? maybe I have that wrong ). I guess I kind of thought that it was like "puting on an act" for the audience, and becoming someone else on stage, instead of being yourself (the "real" you).
But then I discovered that PDL's name was really "Francisco Sanchez", and I think surely "Tomatito" is not Tomatito's real name. But what about Paco Pena, is that real? I guess I wanted to know why some artists feel the need to create a new identity whilst playing. This question is mainly aimed at solo guitarists, as obviously a collective band might require a collective name. But people like Miguel De Maria (if that is a stage name)... what made you decide to use another name?
Also, if you are going to choose another stage name, how do you go about it? Isn't PDL's something to do with his mother? I read somewhere that authors who write fiction books also often use fake names. I think there was actually a method available for coming up with one, which was something like using your Middle-name as a first name, and then using the road/street name of the first house you lived in as the surname... or something like that...
Anyway, any informed opinions are welcome as usual.
In my case, the stage name is a part of the overall marketing plan. This may seem a cold-blooded way to go about being a musician, but ya gotta make a living. The truth is that people don't just want a guy that plays well, they want a guy who looks like their image of a musician, who plays well, who dresses well, and who has a name that, if not evocative of the type of music they like, does not clash with it.
There are exceptions...for example, Ottmar Liebert. He has been very commercially successful with an Engelbert Humperdink kind of name.
If you want Spanishy music, you are going to look for a Spanishy name. As a musician, you may not place as much emphasis on looks or name or image, but most non-musicians do. It's a fact of life, to be ignored at your peril if you want work.
My name came about in a pretty obvious way. My name is Michael, the English form of Miguel. My favorite guitarist was Paco de Lucia, so I adopted the same format as his name. My mother's name is Mary. Voila! Instant stage name. I asked some people what they thought, got good responses, and there you go. By the way, I didn't ask people on internet forums, I asked people similiar to my prospective clients.
~Bob Dylan's real name is Robert Allen Zimmerman - strangely I can imagine many might think that a good stage name
quote:
I read somewhere that authors who write fiction books also often use fake names
In history women were not always thought superior to men (as now). In fact the opposite. Thus they often published with a mans name - George Eliot is Mary Ann Cross
James should you not have a stage name as a top luthier??
By the way El raton de Watford is not my real name either
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nigel (el raton de Watford - now Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz)
Well look, in Spain everyone has similar names, so the artists have a nickname or "stage" name to differentiate. Like Pepe de lucia, Tomatito, Camaron, are all named "JOSE". Imagine the anouncer, "now we will have perfoming Jose sanchez and Jose monje accompanied by Jose fernandez, enjoy". People in the audience have the same names as those guys, so pretty soon everyone will forgot which jose was which. So the nickname sticks. Like John, Paul, George and...Ringo. Imagine if they were John, John, John and...Jon. . At least it is not like Ahmet Moon Unit and Dweezil.
would you ever rent a XXX movie called Gertrude does the dishes?
fevictor, Don't forget that not everyone is in their twenties... "Gertrude does the dishes" I think is a beatifully understated title that leaves it up to the potential buyer's debauched imagination as to what Gertrude actually does...
I could be wrong but thinking of St. James, it could be Santiago. Makes a nice stage name anyways.
Kate
Thanks Kate! You're right, I did a google search... Santiago is "of St. James". Apparently "Diego" is the literal translation. Although I think I prefer Santiago...
The stagenames like Paco de Lucía, Camarón de la Isla, Tomatito... have a familiar meaning, very usual in Spain. There are people with nicks that are 3-generation depth. If your grandfather was a butcher, your are going to have a butcher-like nick when you born. It's like the Johansson from nordic countries "Son of Johan" so in Spain "Paco de Lucía" means Paco (from Francisco, like Terry from Terence or Nacho from Ignacio) and "de Lucía" from Luzía, his mother's name (Luzía was born in Portugal).
Of course, sometimes the stagename comes just to remembers someone's name, for example "Paco Arroijatrulabeitia" it's not a very easy name to remember / print on CD's...
"Gertrude does the dishes" I think is a beatifully understated title that leaves it up to the potential buyer's debauched imagination as to what Gertrude actually does...
haha. I suppose you chose that name yourself. The tradition with spanish stagenames is actually that you don't choose them yourself. Either it's your nickname from everyday life, your family-nickname, or someone gave it to you to describe your artistic expression.
And just to make everything clear. My name is Ellen - La Contratiempo I chose only for this forum, nobody gave it to me, and I don't use it on stage :o)
Ellen
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El Corazón es el que manda cuando la duda está en la mente.
"Bob Dylan's" birth certificate says Robert Zimmerman.
Sabicas' nickname came from an infantile mispronunciation of 'habas' [broad beans] of which he was inordinately fond as a child.
Perico el del Lunar obviously had a big mole.
The singer that Perico el del Lunar often accompanied at La Zambra in Madrid in the 50s and 60s had a nickname that is of a bit more standard type. The singer was Rafael Romero "El Gallina". "Gallina" means "hen", so it is obviously feminine. Why is it preceded by "El", the masculine article? It's really a contraction of "El [niño de La] Gallina. His mother's nickname was La Gallina, hence "the boy of La Gallina"--shortened to the self-contradictory "El Gallina".
Then there was the overwhelmingly masterful, creative and famous singer of the late 19th, early 20th century, "Enrique El Mellizo". Literally, "Henry the twin". But he wasn't a twin. His father was, thus again "El" is a contraction of "El niño del".
There are nicknames that come from place names: Manolo de Huelva, the famous early 20th century guitarist from one of the Cinco Puertos; Melchor de Marchena, Diego del Gastor, even the great singer Manuel Mairena.
There are nicknames from personal caracteristics: the one-eyed Rafael el Tuerto, Manuel Torre, who was tall and strong.
There are nicknames from personal fashion: La Niña de Los Peines always wore a tall, elaborate comb in her hair.
There were nicknames from occupations: El Rojo el Alpargatero was both red-headed and a sandal maker.
Then there are nicknames that seem weird because we don't know where they come from:
Tia Anica el Borrico--aunt Annie [daughter of] "the donkey". We, or at least I, don't know how her dad got the nickname "The Donkey" [or even "the ass" or "the dunce"] so it seems a little funny.
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). I guess I kind of thought that it was like "puting on an act" for the audience, and becoming someone else on stage, instead of being yourself (the "real" you). 
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