Jimmy Eat World Shares Advice for Picking a Band Name Based on the Awkward Situation They Accidentally Created
Picking a catchy name is part of the fun of the music industry. While some groups, like Daughtry, prefer to keep it simple by naming themselves after their founder and lead singer, others like Pink Floyd like to keep it interesting. Jimmy Eat World, however, came up with its name in a unique way. The band once shared advice on making an awkward situation into an opportunity.
Jimmy Eat World picked a band name hurriedly before a performance
The members of Jimmy Eat World are pioneers in the alt-rock world. While the band name seems to align with the genre of music, it’s interesting to know they gave the decision just five minutes of deliberation.
In 2018, one of the band members, Zach Lind, gave Jimmy Eat World fans “a little history” lesson and some “advice for new bands” concerning the acronym used on merchandise (via a Twitter thread captured by Billboard).
After they landed a gig in February 1994, they realized they didn’t yet have an official name for their group. Lind revealed that his bandmates, Tom Linton and Rick Burch, had played in another band that regularly changed its name. A name they used once, Jimmy Eat World, “stuck with [him].” “I’m not sure who threw that name out but it was brought up and we discussed it for less than 5 min.”
Though Lind doesn’t dislike the name, he notes, “when we have to design merch or artwork I often wish we would have deliberated a bit more” due to the acronym, JEW.
Where are they now?
Jimmy Eat World gained prominence after releasing numerous recordings in the late ’90s, having landed a recording deal with Capitol Records in 1995. The band released Clarity in 1999, but the album didn’t take off. Still, they continued to record music releasing more albums, including Bleed American (which featured the smash hit “The Middle”), Futures, and Chase This Light.
In 2019, the band announced that the completion of their tenth studio album, Surviving, was underway with a fall release date. Surviving dropped on October 18, 2019. In December 2020, Jimmy Eat World announced a virtual concert amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The group returned to playing live shows in 2021 with an appearance at Lollapalooza in Chicago. They are also scheduled to perform at the We Were Young Festival alongside other bands like Paramore and A Day To Remember.
Other bands with unique names and their origin stories
Jimmy Eat World is far from the only band with a somewhat odd name and a story to go with it. According to MTV, another ’90s band, Bowling for Soup, adapted their name from a Steve Martin comedy routine.
Another band from the era, Fall Out Boy, was also inspired by pop culture. The group got their name from a fictional character with the same name in the widely popular animated series, The Simpsons. Apparently, a fan at a concert yelled out the suggestion, and it stuck.
Like Jimmy Eat World, other bands aren’t happy with their names. “Foo Fighters is like the stupidest f—ing band name you’ve ever heard,” Dave Grohl told Conan O’Brien in 2011. He explained he “read it in a UFO book, and it stuck.”
