Photo: Carla Mundy
Nottingham favourite Baby Godzilla have been forced to change their name following a legal battle with the Japanese cinema giant.
Godzilla is a Japanese film series of Tokusatsu films featuring the character Godzilla, created, produced and owned by Japanese theatre production and distribution company Toho Co. Ltd. Tut tut, Baby G.
The mischievous four-piece say: “This may seem abrupt but following some fairly conclusive and forceful instructions it is time we instigated a change. We, the collective of Matt Reynolds, Jonny Hall, Tom Marsh and Paul Shelley, will from now on and henceforth be known as HECK.”
Frontman Matt Reynolds says that originally the band thought they were safe: “We thought ‘surely this can’t be a huge problem, we’re only a small band’. But we were mistaken.”
“The name HECK is really all about self-censorship. The big Japanese company came in and said you can’t have it. Every name we were coming up with had the word fuck in it, but everybody said it was too self-destructive, so we settled for HECK.”
French death metal band Gojira were originally called Godzilla before they, too, were forced by Japanese Toho studios to change their name.
“There’s a running joke that this big Japanese giant have prevented people from even saying the word Godzilla,” says Matt. “Like there will be this giant monster terrorising the town but no one will be able to say ‘Godzilla!’ In this case, we have been bullied by the big giant.”
Although the name change was not ultimately the band’s long-term plan, they are looking forward to an exciting new chapter.
“To all of the incredible people we have had the absolute pleasure of meeting, working with, playing with and playing to make no mistake; this is still us. We will never compromise and we promise you our undivided commitment, ambition and passion. Every drop of blood and energy we have belongs to you.”
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