The band formerly known as Viet Cong have finally changed their name after months of criticism an controversy. They will now be called Preoccupations.
Controversy arose last year when critics of the Calgary post-punk band’s old name was deemed racist, insensitive and appropriative by many within the industry. Last September, the band announced that they would be changing their name, but continued to tour, promote music and announce shows under the name Viet Cong, which included an Australian tour earlier this year.
The band have released a statement explaining their name change and apologising for those who were offended:
After finishing our latest record and taking some time off, we are excited to announce that we will be performing and recording as “Preoccupations” going forward. We will be previewing new material from a forthcoming record in a series of festivals and shows in North America and Europe in the coming months. We apologize to those who were adversely affected by our former band name. This was never anticipated nor our intent. We are artists and not politicians, we understand that the name reflected pain to some individuals and we are happy to change it and move on and focus on our music. Thanks to all our friends and fans. See you all soon.
For some, the name change isn’t enough, and indeed some are already criticising the new name, saying it’s a slight again those who were preoccupied with the old name.
https://twitter.com/gravesmeredith/status/723142036170354688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/1000TimesYes/status/723142335299784704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
While I agree it’s almost certainly in response to the criticism, I have no problem with this. If you’re going to get forced to change it (and it WAS a bloody stupid name), there’s no reason why it should not be addressed in this way.
While there are lessons to be learned from the band formerly known as Viet Cong, they certainly wouldn’t be the first to pick out a poorly chosen name just because it sounded cool. Though not their intent, calling the band Viet Cong did spark a conversation, and ultimately that was a good thing. As far as the band is concerned, if they’re content to stay out of these murky political and cultural waters and focus on their music, this will no doubt be a great step forward for those who fundamentally had a problem with the band due to its name. A rose by any other name, right?
Along with the name change the band has announced new material coming soon and a series of tour dates for this spring and summer, so keep an eye out in the coming months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW1kP99mok4
Image: Chart Attack
Co-written with Torben Berhard, originally for Indie News
You’ve probably never heard of postpunk band Viet Cong, but heaps of others have, and not in a good way.
Earlier this month, Viet Cong had received some backlash over their band name. It is said to be racist and offensive. As a result, one of their gigs at Dionysus Disco, scheduled for March 14th, was cancelled.
Now the band have released a statement in regards to the controversy behind their name:
Our band, Viet Cong, has existed for a little over three years now. When we named ourselves, we were naive about the history of a war in a country we knew very little about. We now better understand the weight behind the words Viet Cong. While we don’t take any concerns about the name lightly, we feel it is important to let you know that we never meant to trivialize the atrocities or violence that occurred on both sides of the Vietnam War. We never intended for our name to be provocative or hurtful.
We truly appreciate the seriousness of the feedback we’ve received, and we will continue to be open to listening to issues and concerns from all perspectives.
With love from the band Viet Cong.
This comes after Gang Of Four released a statement on the same issue, saying the controversy was “ridiculous” and “anti-progressive.” Guitarist Andy Gill said:
It’s a little ridiculous to ban bands for their name. We can all think of dozens of bands with really quite offensive names and as soon as you get into being the guardian of public morality, taking it upon yourself to decide what’s OK and what is not, you are acting in an illiberal, undemocratic and anti-progressive way. People should be treated as grown ups, capable of making their own decisions. We should not be deciding for people what we think they are capable of understanding or not. Artists; film-makers, writers, musicians need to be un-censored so they can make their point, political or otherwise.
What do you think? Offensive or just another wacky band name?