Steve Gullick
Irish rock group Girl Band have confirmed that they will now be known as Gilla Band. In a statement released alongside the name change, the band said they landed on the original moniker from "a place of naivety and ignorance," adding: "We had no grasp of the weight of it at the time."
The group are signed to Rough Trade Records and have released two albums; 2015 debut Holding Hands with Jamie and 2019's The Talkies. In addition to the name change, Gilla Band have also announced an upcoming residency in their native Dublin for early 2022. The group plans to debut new music at the gigs. See below for dates. They will also be supporting IDLES on their February 2022 European tour.
Gilla Band's statement reads: "We are changing our band name. We will no longer be performing or releasing records under the name Girl Band. We apologise for choosing a misgendered name in the first place and to anyone who has been hurt or affected by it.
When we were starting off it was chosen without much thought, from a place of naivety and ignorance. 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. To try and negate any unfortunate role we’ve played in propagating a culture of non inclusivity in music or otherwise, we have decided to change it.
Thank you to those who spoke up about it and educated us on this, either directly or indirectly. Moving forward we will be performing and releasing records under the name Gilla Band. Gilla being a given name taken from Old Irish."
Gilla Band will play:
14th Jan 2022 - Whelans, Dublin
21st Jan 2022 Whelans, Dublin
29th Jan 2022 Whelans, Dublin