The following article was written by Jeremy Styles of Pearl and the Beard:
Ah, the band name. It can be the bane of any musical group’s experience. It either creates a quick and easy reference point to others in order to identify a group of people’s musical contribution to the world, or a confusing bar conversation resulting in an Abbott and Costellian “Who’s on First?” scenario. It can also be an awkward moment of bittersweet pride upon seeing one’s name listed in the paper or marquee and having the name misspelled or words omitted or added.
At the beginning of a band’s career the name can be a great conversation piece. One that any musician is eager to share. I know with my band, Pearl and the Beard, I loved telling the story of how we came up with the name, and all the great options that made the cutting room floor. (Battlesnakes, my personal favorite, has since been plucked from the ether by a group in Vancouver).
But after a year or so of telling it, it can grow tedious hearing yourself tell the same story over and over again and you begin to let people form their own opinion as to what the band name means. I’ve loved hearing the different ideas people have about the name and have since stopped “correcting” them as each idea brings in a different demographic and possible new fan. But here are some ideas that we have encountered as to what our name means:
Pearl and the Beard interpretation #1: People often ask if I am “the Beard” as I have a beard, and am the only male in the group. This is the most obvious question, and one that I answer with humor or ignore depending on how tired I am. I often say I am the “and”. When coming up with this band name it occurred to us briefly that people might assume one of us is “Pearl” and the other the “Beard” but then shrugged it off since it was going to be a group with more than two people and we assumed people would just take it as a signifier of another band like Radiohead, Weezer, They Might Be Giants etc. This, however was a web of lies we spun in our heads and this question remains the most frequently asked even a couple of years later.
Pearl and the Beard interpretation #2: I have since learned that the term “Beard” refers to a woman who is acting as a heterosexual partner for a homosexual man in order to create the illusion that said man is straight in order to deflect any homophobia from unaware parents, friends, etc. In this case people have thought maybe one of the girls is my “Beard”. Many people have thought that we are a gay band based on our haircuts, or because I am from California. I just let them think this as the gay community is very supportive and has money that I want to take just as much as from the straight community.
Pearl and the Beard interpretation #3: This is the sexier of the bunch. I guess the “Bearded Pearl” is a reference to the clitoris.
Pearl and the Beard interpretation #4: It conjures up pirate-y goodness. Nautical themes, the ocean, mermaids, grog. Scurvy.
Truthfully, the name used to have a meaning for me. Now, as it has gone out into the world and into the hands of people I don’t know and between the band members, it has taken on new meanings for me. Like the lyrics to a song, it means something different to everyone. I prefer this idea. I don’t like limits. I don’t like completed things. I enjoy open dialogues and the possibility of change. It’s a simultaneously freeing and crippling feeling to make a place for yourself in this world and wait for a reaction. But I think the most important thing is to just make a move.
There’s plenty of space on this rock and certainly enough room for you to be yourself and say what you want to say how you want to say it. Sometimes it’s gonna be misinterpreted and that’s ok. Oftentimes you’ll be able to correct this mistake. Other times you’ll find yourself in Nashville, TN reading in the local paper that “Pearl and Berrel” are playing tonight, and all you can do is finish your plate of grande nachos and try not to throw it all up onstage.
-Jeremy Styles (Vox, Guitar of Pearl and the Beard)
