I seem to have written a rather lengthy story to explain my predicament, so if you're in a bit of a rush, or your dinner break at work officially ended five minutes ago simply scroll down to the bottom and cast your vote. You won't have missed much.
*clears throat*
I have been using the name 'Morph' since I first started buying records back in 1999. Within a year of deciding upon the name, another
Morph had appeared on the drumnbass shelves of my local record shop, but rather than simply changing my name there and then I decided to stick with it.
Years of DJing to the mirror in my bedroom under the name Morph then followed, until Breakout was first formed in 2003 and the name was attached to the posters and flyers. I decided that since I had thought of it first, I could justify DJing in Bristol under that alias.
It was also around this time that I first started to learn the basics of writing music, and decided that if I ever wrote anything strong enough to be released, I would have to use a different name.
Four years later, and I have heard nothing more of the aforementioned
Morph, indeed the discog on the link suggests he hasn't released a track since 2003. Also, Doug Kubiks, the established producer who's studio tuition led to my first release this summer had never heard of him. On top of this, when I spoke to the label owner who confirmed the release, he said he had never heard of him either.
So, I decided to go with the name Morph for the release, a decision which I am now regretting.
Last month, I sent a new tune of mine called 'Solitude' around some labels, and an established producer called
physics got back to me and asked if I was the same
Morph. When I said no, he had a bit of a go at me, and said I should get in touch with him. He pointed out that he would be really annoyed if someone came along using the same alias, and it would be better to sort it out now with just the one collaboration forthcoming, rather than waiting until further down the line to get an angry email.
I could see his point, and he made me feel quite guilty. I began to ask other drumnbass 'headz' if they had heard of that
Morph. Pretty much all of them said yes.
I decided to bite the bullet and get in touch. Within a few days I got the following response:
"Hi Andy, wow! really good of you to get in contact, that seems to be a rare professional quality missing from our crazy scene."
*sheepishly hangs head*
He went on to say:
"Its a weird old name as if you contact one of these companies that collect royalties they will advise you not to use it as there are many of us, all sorts of genres too."
"I liked the name because it suited the fact that jungle drum and bass morphs the lines between music. I think the name is cursed too!!! LOL"
"Did you know there is also a MORPHY who weirdly had a release on Urban Takeover a few years back at the same time as me.!!! then there's the small Plasticine character with no bollox too."
He did also say that he is still producing under the alias Morph, but doesn't like any publicity so keeps it low profile.
I am disappointed, but have now come to terms with the fact that I am going to have to change my name with one collaboration release due at the start of November. I wish I had sorted it out sooner.
Incidentally the Eat Phunk LP, which will feature the release is now being promoted on the
DOA Forum and has been getting a good response. Also, Doug Kubiks was saying that he's been getting loads of good feedback for the track, in fact it's also currently the first track featured on the
Phunkfiction Myspace.
Doug also said that everyone has been asking him who Morph is. In fact, many have been asking if it's that same
Morph, the one that he had never heard of before. Doh!
So anyway this is where I need your help. I am just putting the finishing touches to my latest track, and very soon I will begin sending it around some labels under my new Alias. Many people have already come up with suggestions, and I have finally come up with a bit of a shortlist, although I would of course still welcome any new proposals.
Firstly, these some of the suggestions that were almost instantly ruled out...
- Xoanon
- Pnotsk
- Anders Van Simp
- Giant Power Lizard Disaster Orgy (Four there from Dave, who recommended saying this one out loud before ruling it out)
- DJ Butterfly
- DJ Quim
- DJ Toothless
- DJ Hydro
- DJ Blim
- DJ JD
- DJ Ones and Twos
- DJ Smirnoff
- DJ Coopers (9 there from Jonny, although DJ JD did get a few seconds thought)
- Niagra (from Mike, who also said he wouldn't stand in my way if I wanted to use his alias 'Porch')
- J.Sim (Em's suggestion from the pub - sounds too much like Jason or Jism)
I have also ruled out quite a few of my own ideas...
- Din
- Tintamar
- Sonance (three there from the thesaurus - I did like Sonance but it's already been used)
- Cymbal
- Cymbalist (Well, I did used to play the drums)
- Sim (unfortunately it's already been used by three different artists)
Which brings me to the final three...
- Merlow - this is purely inspired by the fact that I drink red wine every night. Some people really hate it, but others seem to like it. I don't like the way it sounds a bit like Merlin, but I like the fact it's completely original and also keeps it simple.
- Simph - Chris' suggestion from the pub where we were thinking of variations of my name. I like it because it includes the first four letters of my surname, and the last two letters of Morph. It also sounds like 'symphony'. I don't think it rolls off the tongue very nicely though, and I fear I would constantly have to spell it out to people.
- Phorm - A genius suggestion from one of my uni mates this-morning. You might have noticed it's an anagram of 'morph'. It also sounds like 'form'. The drawback is that according to discogs.com, (which has become my temporary bible) there already is a Phorm, although he writes ambient music and only has a few releases so I reckon I could get away with it.
Please do vote and offer any thoughts. As you can probably tell I have been struggling with this.
