Gin n' Juice no longer, name changed to Plasma!

[esa]

Ebonics, Linguistics, Musical Notations, and me.
It could be like, peter paul and mary...but heavier.
Plasma is a good name and the old Gin and Juice boys are awesome. I can't wait to come hear the new style.
And if Plasma ever falls through, you can go with White Blood Cell Count. I hear that's a popular name in them big cities...

[bassist_25]

"no surrender" is an unkewl name.

Isn't it funny that people who have never been in the music business try to tell those who are how things should be?

BTW, I also found out that LASERS can form covalent bonds also.

[MOONDOGGY]

LMAO! Hilarious Jimi Hatt!!!

You sir, are a genius!

[no surrender]

OK, MAYBE THE 3RD TIME'S A CHARM, ONLY LESS SUBTLE:

THERE IS ALREADY A BAND WITH 3 CDS THAT PLAYS IN WESTERN PA NAMED PLASMA

http://www.plasmapit.com/

looks like i did some good..
i feel better

[SpellboundByMetal]

i saw Gin ' N juice once at city limits. i thought they were really good. kevin was drumming that night. i was very impressed.

[ZappasXWife]

Why isn't anyone listening to lonewolf?

[SpellboundByMetal]

yeah...they cant use plasma. i think they get it.

[Ron]

OK, MAYBE THE 3RD TIME'S A CHARM, ONLY LESS SUBTLE:

THERE IS ALREADY A BAND WITH 3 CDS THAT PLAYS IN WESTERN PA NAMED PLASMA

The band in Western PA doesn't matter. Actually, if they have 3 CD's, they are in DEEP SHIT. They have sold what seems like a lot of merch under the name "Plasma". Unless the trademark holder has been compensated along the way, they owe some guy in Sacramento money for each piece they've sold, and every show they've played, since he also holds the service mark.

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f= ... g8jd.3.109

[lonewolf]

OK, MAYBE THE 3RD TIME'S A CHARM, ONLY LESS SUBTLE:

THERE IS ALREADY A BAND WITH 3 CDS THAT PLAYS IN WESTERN PA NAMED PLASMA

The band in Western PA doesn't matter. Actually, if they have 3 CD's, they are in DEEP SHIT. They have sold what seems like a lot of merch under the name "Plasma". Unless the trademark holder has been compensated along the way, they owe some guy in Sacramento money for each piece they've sold, and every show they've played, since he also holds the service mark.

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f= ... g8jd.3.109

There's nothing like more reasons not to name a band something.

The guy in Sacramento will get screwed in any legal action, since the guys in Cleveland have a copywritten EP from 1997 that predates the trademark. The guys in Cleveland have legal grounds to revoke his trademark if needed.

[Banned]

Why isn't anyone listening to lonewolf?

What?? does your Rockpage talk to you? How do you get that upgrade?

[Ron]

The more I research it, the more confusing this gets. Trademarks, unlike copyrights, don't have licensing/royalty payments that copyrights do. The guy in Sacramento couldn't get any back payments from a band, but he could try to force them to change their name.
The pre-1999 copyright doesn't protect them from a trademark lawsuit, but it could help them to establish a "first use" defense which could help them in case they got a "cease and desist" order from the trademark holder. They would then have to pay to have the name trademarked, pay to have it transferred, or change their name to avoid having to spend any more money.

[bassist_25]

Chanes are that what ever original band name you think you've come up with, there's probaly 50 other bands with the same name.

Didn't Badwrench/Wrench go through some name changes due to legal reasons?

[jim bagrosky]

Bassist, yes we did go through the exact same thing. We were first "Wrench", put out a demo cd, got a ton of shirts and shit made, then were served our letter that we had to change the name. It really sucked cause we lost a lot of cash in merch. (not to mention we toured the whole east coast under the name Wrench, so it took awhile for people to warm up to Stept on). We researched it the best we could at the time and it all seemed very legitimate so we had no choice. The OTHER Wrench was from somewhere out West. Still not sure how they found out about us. We all felt pretty "stept on" at that point and there you go.

This situation really sucks, and it's still very difficult (at least for me) to understand all the laws behind this. Run a search on the website listed in the Law section here, also www.bandname.com is also a good starting point (though not quaranteed).

[bassist_25]

Thanks for the info, Jim. I always wondered how that exactly went down. I always thought that you were Badwrench before Wrench. Then again, I was only like 12 or 13 back then, so I didn't keep up on all of the happenings in the local scene. *LOL*

[ToonaRockGuy]

Actually, Paul, before Jim was with them as Wrench, they were Badwrench. Slightly different lineup, kickass band. I still have my "Cosmo Rocket" t-shirt. If I remember correctly (perhaps Jim or Adam Zimmer can fill in the blanks), they dropped the "Bad" from the name to get away from a certain annoying booking agent affiliated with a company named after a flying horse who had a hammerlock on them.

[Bert|Evil]

Actually, Paul, before Jim was with them as Wrench, they were Badwrench. Slightly different lineup, kickass band. I still have my "Cosmo Rocket" t-shirt. If I remember correctly (perhaps Jim or Adam Zimmer can fill in the blanks), they dropped the "Bad" from the name to get away from a certain annoying booking agent affiliated with a company named after a flying horse who had a hammerlock on them.

... and if you go WAY back, they were "Mr. Badwrench" when they played the teenie bopper shows. After all, who's the arch nemesis of Mr. Goodwrench???

[bassist_25]

Maybe someone should do a Mr./Badwrench/Wrench/Stept On retrospect so everyone's clear on their history.

[YankeeRose]

Plasma is a good name and the old Gin and Juice boys are awesome. I can't wait to come hear the new style.
And if Plasma ever falls through, you can go with White Blood Cell Count. I hear that's a popular name in them big cities...

It's a shame if they can't use "Plasma" - "White Blood Cell Count", or even "Platelets" wouldn't be quite the same name wise, you know? What if a word was added before or after Plasma, to make it "Plasma Something" or "Something Plasma"? Bank, Check, Dog or Dogs, Donation, Door, Pink, Pure, Red, etc... (I think Plasma in Blood, when it's spun and separates, is Beige to Clear.) With the other meaning for Plasma ("Energy") and having heard the band and/or people in it play at City Limits many times, it is a fitting name, if only they can still find a way to use it...best of luck, guys!

[jim bagrosky]

Ok, here it is. After Badwrench and my old band (blue skye mourning) called it quits, Adam, Chuck, Matt (former Badwrench) and I got together to form a band. Since I was really the only new guy we kinda wanted to keep the name Badwrench. It wasn't the agent who had a problem (I'm sure he could have made more cash on us with name recognition alone) it was the other Badwrench members that didnt return to the line-up who had a huge problem with us using that name. (and rightfully so, now that I look back) Those members threatened with a lawsuit right off the bat. We scrambled our ass off for a quick fix and shortened it to Wrench.

If anyone remembers, we advertised our first shows as "formerly Badwrench". We took a lot of shit for that too. We were going strong as Wrench for a couple of years til shit hit the fan again (see above post).

Right about the time we fired our agent, we got served letters from the Wrench out west. (Coincidence?? I think not, but I'm not going there) WE LOST OUR ASSES BAD!

At the same time we got sued for breach (spelling?) of contract for firing our agent. I'm not going there either! I guess you can figure out why we felt stepped on.

(No damn wonder I drank so much!) But we all lived and we're still good friends. (As long as we don't spend much time together! lol) just kidding.

Oh the memories. I love this business!

[Jim Price]

Maybe they could toy with the spelling, i.e. "Plazma," "Plazzma," "Gin & Plazma," etc.

Names are tough; unless you come up with something totally off the wall, chances are somebody is using the name, somewhere...

[ZappasXWife]

Psychedelic Plasma

[MOONDOGGY]

I know this is retarded, but what usually is a fail-safe way of not accidentally copying someone's band name is to ranodmly pick 2 or 3 words, kinda like those band name generators. That little band I was in didn't exaclty pick random words, but it's along the same line.

Our singer was into Ganster, Mob, and Mafia movies. His favorite ganster was a guy named Cooler. His nickname was Mad Dog. So.......He came up with Mad Dog Kool. (Note the use of a 'K' instead of a 'C'. KEWL!!!!)

So, for a plasma name reinvention, I choose:

Plasmatic Crack Addict! It's got a nice ring to it.




(P.S.- I'm joking)

[Jones]

Maybe they could toy with the spelling, i.e. "Plazma," "Plazzma," "Gin & Plazma," etc.

Names are tough; unless you come up with something totally off the wall, chances are somebody is using the name, somewhere...

use a backwards Z ......just a joke!

Wow Bags, I haven't thought about that history in a long time. Ah the good old days.

[bassist_25]

Ok, here it is. After Badwrench and my old band (blue skye mourning) called it quits, Adam, Chuck, Matt (former Badwrench) and I got together to form a band. Since I was really the only new guy we kinda wanted to keep the name Badwrench. It wasn't the agent who had a problem (I'm sure he could have made more cash on us with name recognition alone) it was the other Badwrench members that didnt return to the line-up who had a huge problem with us using that name. (and rightfully so, now that I look back) Those members threatened with a lawsuit right off the bat. We scrambled our ass off for a quick fix and shortened it to Wrench.

If anyone remembers, we advertised our first shows as "formerly Badwrench". We took a lot of shit for that too. We were going strong as Wrench for a couple of years til shit hit the fan again (see above post).

Right about the time we fired our agent, we got served letters from the Wrench out west. (Coincidence?? I think not, but I'm not going there) WE LOST OUR ASSES BAD!

At the same time we got sued for breach (spelling?) of contract for firing our agent. I'm not going there either! I guess you can figure out why we felt stepped on.

(No damn wonder I drank so much!) But we all lived and we're still good friends. (As long as we don't spend much time together! lol) just kidding.

Oh the memories. I love this business!

Damn Jim, that's a lot of bullshit you went through. You have enough material there to do a Behind the Music episode. Sounds to me that you were making some good coin, and there were a lot of leeches trying to get their share. I can see why you were so into the Wake Up Screming project.

[jim bagrosky]

Bassist, that's only the beginning! We could've had a Behind the Music. Things didn't get any better when we were trying to secure a deal in NYC. Leeches Galore! This business is filled with the suits who try to guide your career to line their pockets. Sadly, the more successful we became the more they were coming out of the wood work.

Wake up Screaming was our answer to the shit we put up with in Stept On. Pissed off, abrasive, un-apologetic metal. Kind of backlashing against our old frustrations.

Luckily I got past the negative shit. My new project will be somewhere in between, not quite as angry and a bit more melodic. (shameless partial plug) I'll be letting everyone know about it very soon.