It’s sort of sad that I keep thinking about this question so much given that I have like 30 songs a quarter of the way done, but I keep thinking about whether or not I should put out music under my actual name or come up with another “band name”.
In a recent interview, Hannes Grossman talked about how he just put out music under his name, and people complained that it didn’t have a “metal” name. And yet, jazz musicians did this all the time, he pointed out.
What effect does it have on the listener? I’m sure people are more excited to listen to a dungeon synth album if it comes from “Old Tower” than from “Joe Gumburger.” But if Old Tower wants to put out a bitpop album, its name could hold things back.
Then again, Gorguts released a revolutionary avant garde album that was as much “New Music” (the genre) as it was death metal. Not only did death metal fans listen to it, a lot of people outside of metal eventually got around to listening to it.