Girl Band become Gilla Band, apologise for choosing “misgendered name”

Girl Band have announced a name change and apologised to “anyone who has been hurt or affected” by their “misgendered name”.

The band, made up of four men, have released a statement: “We are changing our name. We will no longer be performing or releasing records under the name Girl Band. We apologise for choosing a misgendered name in the first place and to anyone who has been hurt or affected by it.”

They went on to explain that the name “was chosen without much thought, from a place of naivety and ignorance.

“We had no grasp of the weight of it at the time and in the past few years have found it impossible to justify or explain this choice.”

We are changing our band name. We are also playing some shows in Dublin in January. pic.twitter.com/PNhZ19dL2m

— Gilla Band (@girl_band) November 16, 2021

“Regardless of our intention the effect of the name has been damaging to individuals. To try and negate any unfortunate role we’ve played in propagating a culture of non inclusivity in music or otherwise, we have decided to change it,” the statement continues.

“Thank you to those who spoke up about it and educated us on this, either directly or indirectly.”

The band will now be known as Gilla Band, with Gilla being a given name taken from Old Irish.

Gilla Band last released an album in 2019 with ‘The Talkies’. A live album ‘Live At Vicar Street’ followed in 2020.

To see in this new era of Gilla Band, the four-piece will be hosting a residency at Dublin venue Whelans in January 2022 to play new music. Tickets for the three shows go on sale November 18. Check out the tour dates below:

JANUARY:
14 – Whelans, Dublin
21 – Whelans, Dublin
29 – Whelans, Dublin

Gilla Band will also be supporting IDLES on their February 2022 European Tour with Porridge Radio, Bambara and Witch Fever joining the Bristol-based band on select dates.

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