On Tour
Indie-Dance Act Rufus Announce 'Atlas' Tour
On the eve of the release their much anticipated debut album ATLAS, Sydney trio, RÜFÜS announce a national headline tour with support from YesYou (East Coast) and Motez (SA/WA).
Introducing RÜFÜS DU SOL, the North American RüFüS
- Details
- Written by Ally Cole
And just to make a name like RüFüS more confusing, the Sydney dance trio have been forced to change their name to RÜFÜS DU SOL for the North American market, due to trademark issues.
This name change comes after “months of strongly worded letters and colourful internal debate regarding an existing US trademark on the name.” Although the source of this debate isn’t clear, the name bears obvious similarity to Chaka Khan’s 1970s Chicago funk band Rufus, maker of hits like Tell Me Something Good and Ain’t Nobody.
RüFüS took to Facebook to announce the change, stating, ‘We’re going to be known as RÜFÜS DU SOL in North America Only…because trademark is a serious bitch. We vibe the name though, so all is good.’ Having signed to the iconic Columbia records, their debut album Atlas will be distributed under the name RÜFÜS DU SOL in America and Canada.
RüFüS’ name situation is definitely not the first of its kind. Countless Australian bands through the years have been forced to change their names, with the cause for change ranging from trademark complaints to Twitter spam.
The Temper Trap, who coincidentally are also signed by Columbia, were originally known as Temper Temper, until they learnt of an American band of the same name.
Brisbane’s Cub Sport were recently forced to change their name from Cub Scouts, after Scouts Australia took legal action over their trademarked name.
Sydney trio Pivot were forced to change their name to PVT, following news of an American nu-metal band with the same name.
Jonti Danilewitz’s Danimals altered the spelling of the moniker to Djanimals after a children’s yogurt brand threatened to “eat his head off” for trading under the same name. He now performs under the name Jonti.
In another spelling case, The Preatures changed from The Preachers because of “Google hits for Whitney Houston, religious Twitter spam, and being mistaken for a Hillsong band.”
2010 Triple J Unearthed winners Stonefield originally formed as Iotah, changing their name for legal reasons after their discovery of Australian cabaret performer iOTA.
Moral of the story? When starting a band, research your potential name thoroughly. Or just make up a word. And then research that too.
