Girl Band – the Irish indie act made up of four guys – announced Tuesday it is changing its name to Gilla Band “to try and negate any unfortunate role we’ve played in propagating a culture of non inclusivity in music or otherwise.”
In a statement on social media, the band’s members said: “We apologize for choosing a misgendered name in the first place and to anyone who has been hurt or affected by it.”
The name was chosen a decade ago “without much thought, from a place of naivety and ignorance.”
They explained: “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 ... Regardless of our intention the effect of the name has been damaging to individuals.”
Girl Gilla Band has released two studio albums – 2015’s Holding Hands with Jamie and 2019’s The Talkies – as well as a pair of EPs and several singles.
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