Ha Ha Tonka

Why did we change the name, you ask?

There are a few reasons for us changing the name... none of which have anything to do with our style, members, label signing, etc. We are the same band moving in the same direction, only now with a new name. The foremost reason is because of two existing bands - "Amsterdam" (Based out of the UK) and "The New Amsterdams" (Kansas City, MO). Both bands are quite a bit higher on the "ladder-o-rock" at this point, so out of respect for them and some fear of confusion in the Amsterworld we decided it best to put some new letters in front of what we're doing. It had also came to our attention many times that "Amsterband" could and has backed us into the same corner as the "hippie jam band" world. That's a great world, but a far cry from what we're doing, so we couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy about that instant label... especially with the national release coming up, and the hope of some new and vast exposure. Please keep in mind, this was a daunting task for us. Ever since SXSW we've been battling with name after name to figure out what best suits us. The more we battled the more we realized that whatever name we picked we were pretty much going to have to grow into it rather than just instantly "be" that name. We've been "Amsterband" for so long now... how could we just put on a new outfit and not have people think it's strange? So after more than a month of tossing out names, laughing, crying, fighting and keeping all of this a secret, we have decided to go with a name completely original to the Ozarks. So without further ado…our new name is Ha Ha Tonka. All of you old fans, take it in. Say it to yourself a few times. Let it roll off the tongue. : ) Here's a little background from whence the new name is derived - http://www.mostateparks.com/hahatonka.htm

We ask that you please update and change all of your myspace and facebook stuff that says "Amsterband"... and just ride it. It'll grow on you. It has us. We love you guys for accepting us for who we are, name change or not, and we'll continue to do what we do…footstomp and be crazy. Ha Ha Tonka it is!

Well - Laura already gave us her opinion on the name in a previous post. We want to know what everyone else thinks as well. Be honest - it's not going to cause us to change it to something else or hurt our feelings, we just want to know whats on people's minds... maybe help walk you through this a bit...

Love you guys.

Sadly I have to agree with her though.

I dont know if its the name, or the fact that I loved the name Amsterband so much, but I'm not a big fan of the name Ha Ha Tonka.

I'm going to try though, and hopefully it will grow on me.


Maybe I need to go there to like the name.

Here's the deal. First off, I'm sad I didn't know about this previously. I thought I was in on the loop, but I guess not. Secondly, Yes it will be sad to see the Amsterband name...previous CDs, Shirts, Posters, all those amazing amsterpuns. I guess I'll be the first to say I do like the new name. Yeah it's going to be hard for me to adjust to it, but I think it's very catchy and when you guys start getting bigger and attracting new faces I think it's going to be great. It's just going to be hard for us Amsterfans to complete forget about all those great years supporting our Amsterboys. I think it's awesome you took the name of an Ozarkian Park. And I read up on that place and I think I'll take a trip out there this summer. Sounds like a neat place. I wish you guys the best of luck with the new name.

I will say you may need to do some updating on the website. It's a little plain. I'm guessing it's just temperary as you work on something better. Anyway, those are my thoughts. Can't wait to see you guys again. Peace.

I like the name too! But just like everyone else, the change will be hard to do. You guys will always be Amsterband to me. But the Ha Ha Tonka park is beautiful just like you boys, so its fitting. We should plan a street team meeting at Ha Ha tonka. Lol Have a picnic!

I hope you all won't get upset if an "amster" term gets slipped here and there. Oh and there are many walls with amsterband on then in Columbia, that's alright jaime and i will go and change those! haha

I'm soo diggin that idea to have an amsterband...I mean Ha Ha Tonka street team party at the state park.

I know! Am I a genius or am i a genius? haha jk But still that would be uber fun!!!

So...I never said why I don't like the name. Basically if I were looking at a list of bands I've never heard of, and Ha Ha Tonka was on the list...I wouldn't be tempted to check them out. I'd make fun of the name...but not listen to the music...lol

On the plus side...I do like that it's memorable, and I like that it gives a little feel for the type of music.

The one thing I really don't like though is that you didn't give your Amsterfans a heads up. I would have really appreciated the opportunity to talk you out of this name...even if it didn't work.

Out of curiosity, what were some of the other names you guys threw around?

I really don't know my thoughts on the new name. I mean, I laughed when I read it. But I don't know my actual thoughts.

I guess it will take some getting used to.

Thanks a lot guys for posting your thoughts.

I understand that some of you might feel like we should have brought this out a little sooner, as opposed to having it be the ultimate shock. Either that, or kept some of you in the loop. Think of it this way... what if we would have let all of you know that we were going to change the name, then all of a sudden something happened where we couldn't? I think that would have made us look terrible. Plus, there are times when band business is just band business. We were very top secret about all of this. Maybe 10 people TOTAL knew what was going on. This of course includes wives and close family... so don't feel like you were the only one's. Amy Lynne and Audi didn't even know, and they do more for us than anybody! With a decision like this, the more people you bring in, the harder it becomes. Trust me on that.

As we stated in the write up... we expected that there would be some that wouldn't like the name. It's like calling your friend James by that name forever, then all of a sudden he wants to be called Mike. It'll just feel weird. I mean, you knew him as James since the beginning! What the hell?!

Things that really sold us on the name are as follows.
1. It has an Ozarkian connotation.
2. There is no way that you can connect the name Ha Ha Tonka to one style of music. It might put you in the frame of mind of a specific style, but that opinion will probably be completely different to someone else.
3. It's unique. "Why would they name themselves that?" "What's this band all about?"

You may laugh at the name now... that's fine. No hurt feelings. You may also think that you wouldn't check out a band named Ha Ha Tonka for the first time... but think of it this way.

If you had never heard the music of the following bands, would you check them out? It'll be easier to say yes now, because you know them... but put them in the same situation as us...

- Minus The Bear
- Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
- Wilco
- Superchunk
- Modest Mouse

Those are all names that I might not find the most appealing, and a couple of them I'm not even fond of their music so much, but they've had some great success. Or are working on it... why? Because of the music.

When people like the music, that's what the name becomes.

So - love us or leave us, we'll still love you.

ps - Other name options are not important now... the choice has been made.

I'll still love you guys....just not your name...lol. I'll just have to forever call you Amsterband (now Ha Ha Tonka....what were they thinking?)

PS: This would have been the most amazing April Fool's day joke ever....

Ha Ha Tonka is awesome. That's all I'm saying I feel bad that some people aren't liking it. I'd totally check out a band I've never heard if their name was Ha Ha Tonka. I think it's very catchy and would appeal to most people. I'm sad to see Amsterband go, but I think you've done well with the new name. I am a little upset I'm going to have to buy all new Amsterapparrel. I mean Ha Ha Tonkapparrel. You have any t-shirt designs in the works yet?

Rafelicious...new merch is in the works! However, in the meantime, feel free to make any adjustment(s) you might see fit on the old Amstermerch.

I find "boniero"s comment quite strange. you say:

"When people like the music, that's what the name becomes."

so why did you change the name in the first place then? if it doesnt make a difference what people associate with the name than your argument to change the name, saying it has a certain hippie band clichee attached to it and you guys are trying to move away from it, wouldnt hold true.

if your music is that good that it would overcome a bad choice of band name than you could have just stuck with amsterband, right?

also, why wouldnt you include your fans in choosing a new band name?

you say it makes it harder, i say it would have made it much easier. you would have had more ideas coming from all different kinda people that look at the choice of a band name from totally different perspectives.

the funny thing is that you are starting a discussion about the name now that no one has any influence on the decission anyway. so what difference does it make whether or not people like it? apparently none because its not going to change.

in the end you just want people telling you how great that name is, like this rafe guy, who is kissing your ass so he can be your backstage betty at the next show.

This is going to long, but I just want to put in my two cents.

Personally, I like the new name! When Brian said there was going to be a big change Saturday, of course I expected the worst (someone leaving, breaking up) so when I heard it was a name change, I was relieved. So I'm very happy with a name change.

First off, I completely understand why you would want to change it since there are other bands out there with a similiar name to Amsterband. Since you are now signed and your cd is going to be released nation wide soon, you want to be known as YOU, not someone else. When I look through a magazine and a band name catches my eye, if it sounds like someone else..I usually just keep on going. If it's unique, then of course I'm going to want to know why that name? Which is what I think you are trying to achieve.

Also, I love that it's very YOU in the aspect of it being Southwestern Missouri. The first thing I did when I got home Saturday was look up Ha Ha Tonka state park and it's beautiful and I'm pretty sure other people will do the same! It's a great story and I'm so glad is actually does mean something, unlike some bands where their name is just words they through together because it sounds cool. Ha Ha Tonka has it's own meaning to the band and it will now have it's own meaning for all the fans. It's more than just a park now.

Now, of course it's going to be VERY hard to break the habit of saying, "wanna go see Amsterband this weekend" ...but I'm sure sooner or later I'll break it. Yeah we don't have Amster-isms anymore, but at least we HAD them at all.

So that's my two cents...take it as you will.

CWK - just thought I would try to reply to what seems to be your concerns regarding the name change.

You said ...

"so why did you change the name in the first place then? if it doesn't make a difference what people associate with the name than your argument to change the name, saying it has a certain hippie band clichee attached to it and you guys are trying to move away from it, wouldn't hold true.

if your music is that good that it would overcome a bad choice of band name than you could have just stuck with amsterband, right?"

Well - not quite. In my first post I made the reasons for our decision quite clear, and it includes the following...

"There are a few reasons for us changing the name... none of which have anything to do with our style, members, label signing, etc. We are the same band moving in the same direction, only now with a new name. The foremost reason is because of two existing bands - "Amsterdam" (Based out of the UK) and "The New Amsterdams" (Kansas City, MO). Both bands are quite a bit higher on the "ladder-o-rock" at this point, so out of respect for them and some fear of confusion in the Amsterworld we decided it best to put some new letters in front of what we're doing."

You also said...

"you say it makes it harder, i say it would have made it much easier. you would have had more ideas coming from all different kinda people that look at the choice of a band name from totally different perspectives."

Again, sometimes band business is just band business. We felt it incumbent upon ourselves to come up with a name that we could identify with as a group and that hopefully people would come to identify us as.

Lastly....

"the funny thing is that you are starting a discussion about the name now that no one has any influence on the decission anyway. so what difference does it make whether or not people like it? apparently none because its not going to change.

in the end you just want people telling you how great that name is, like this rafe guy, who is kissing your ass so he can be your backstage betty at the next show."

Again I will quote myself from a previous post in this same thread.

"Be honest - it's not going to cause us to change it to something else or hurt our feelings, we just want to know whats on people's minds... maybe help walk you through this a bit.."

The main reason to ask for people's opinions is because we want people to understand what's going on. When you want to chat with somebody and find out how they feel, you ask a broad question... figure out what's on their minds, what's frustrating them, etc. and try to help them see where you're coming from as well. If we didn't want negative comments, we would simply block all comments until we approved them. The whole reason for this sort of interaction is to have these sorts of discussions. We realized full well that some people wouldn't like the new name and that a little conversation might help the transition.

And as for Rafe being a "backstage betty"....or "kissing our ass(es)...as you said in your post....well, we've known him for a long time and he's a good guy who's always told us how he felt good or bad. Anyways, let's refrain from bashing other people on the boards, eh? Not really a kosher thing to do. Feel free to rip into us though, or the new name. Again, that's the reason this post is here.

paix amour.
Lennon Bone
Drummer of Ha Ha Tonka

first of all, no one was ripping into you or your new name. in fact i never once mentioned how i felt about the name and i wouldnt be on this board if i didnt like your music.

i was merely pointing out that i find it humorous and strange that you defend the choice of your band name by saying it will grow on people and it will outgrow the meanings associated with it. listing other band names that seem weird as well and might have outgrown the first shock of reading that name. SO DID AMSTERBAND!!

as far as other bands are concerned, there is a band named TONKA, CHIEF TONKA, KING TONKA, and also a DJ TONKA which seem to be equally famous or not as the ones mentioned named after amsterdam.

so when you type in ha ha tonka into google you find hundreds of pages about the park and related to it. some even talking about the bands mentioned above. obviously your sites and mentions will start poping up soon as well.
but when you type in amsterband nothing but amsterband related sites pop up. i mean not a single one of the sites listed have anything else to do with but amsterband.
was that not ever a factor in finding a new name? finding something unique that has not been used like that before rather than naming yourself after a state park where you can have band picnics??

as much as i hated the name amsterband i always thought it had a uniqueness to it that is hard to come by in a band name. all the band names you mentioned that are weird at least seem like the band came up with something unique rather than naming themselves after parks. in fact if you knew what minus the bear actually stands for it is a very clever band name.

sorry for the cheap shot on that rafe kid. i figured he knows the band since he has been crying about being out of the loop since the old posts about what big thing is going to happen soon.

in the end you guys made a choice and are obviously comfortable with it so more power to you.

will you guys be playing native american benefits now???

[b]

You know....that's a really good point....

If the only reason the name was changed is because there are other bands with "Amster" in the title....then why would you change it to something where there still are several other bands with similar names? Won't you run into the same problems?

And since when does Amsterband have a hippy jam band connotation? I've never had anyone think that. Though when I'd talk about Buckel in the Bible Belt...the next question was usually...oh, are they a Christian rock band?

CWK, you play the role of devil's advocate well! No worries, all of your concerns mentioned were vetted out in the selection process through a lot of research beyond the realms of Google, though I will readily admit Google’s realm(s) seems to be quite large nowadays! Issues of trademark & copyright law are way beyond me, but well within the reach of our legal team.

And to answer your Q, we would gladly play a Native American benefit concert if we were so asked. We would have done that under the name Amsterband as well.

As for your post above Jessica, feel free to keep using Amster-isms as cleverly & as often as you like!!!

okay okay, i joined this forum just for this topic.

name change? i don't know. it's a lot different after having known you guys as amsterband for so long. its definitely one people won't forget for awhile. but then look at all those bands ridiculous names like cute is what we aim for, or panic! at the disco and all the other bands lennon named. they're hugely popular. i personally don't think cute... etc is any better/worse/memorable than other bands out there, save for their name.

when i'm downloading music (okay okay, thats bad, but not the issue here) i'll be more likely to check out a band with a name that stands out rather than one that seems generic. !!! is an amazing band, but seriously. what the hell is with that name?

and so on.

anyway, i think it fits. it's a little off color, but then so are you all.

point i'm going for: it'll take some time to get used to. maybe you like it already, maybe you're set on growing into it. maybe you absolutely hate it. but seriously, it has nothing to do with the quality of the music so dont let it stop you from going to shows and supporting these guys. if you can't bring yourselves to say the name ha ha tonka, well, there are abbreviations and acronyms for a reason.

Okay, like SarahxBeth, I joined to talk about this. I found out on Saturday at The Feed concert at Ciceros down the street from where Ha Ha Tonka was announcing this change. I didn't know until the fabulous Amy Lynn came to my concert. The music was loud when she told me and I thought she said "Ha Ha Tucker". Which I loved, haha But when I was online the next day, I found out it was really "Ha Ha Tonka" and I didn't understand at all. But now I do.

You guys obviously thought long and hard about this. I'm indifferent on the name. I like it, but I really liked Amsterband. I thought it was different and original. But then again, Ha Ha Tonka is definitely that, too. I'm going to miss the "Amsterpuns", also. They always made me smile. But I'm sure we will have many Ha Ha Tucker puns. I think we should still call them the Amsterboys, though. Just to keep it around.

I know that some of y'all know Treaty Of Paris. They used to be Empyrean. No one seemed upset at that name change, and it's just as crazy.

I'm sure it really bothers the guys that no one seems to like the name. I just think we should support them fully during this.

you guys have got some live ones on here...



i love you all.

i love your tunes
and

i love your name.


theee end

everyone hates change...

you'll all get over it and go to all their shows from now untill the end of time, buy all of their ha ha tonka merch and you'll LIKE IT!

Breena wrote:

I know that some of y'all know Treaty Of Paris. They used to be Empyrean. No one seemed upset at that name change, and it's just as crazy.

I'm sure it really bothers the guys that no one seems to like the name. I just think we should support them fully during this.

Okay,

ONE, Empyrean and Treaty of Paris are two completely different bands. Empyrean added a new member [and lost a few] and wrote all new music to form Treaty of Paris... and from the beginning the guys in Empyrean wanted a new name, and that was readily known as Dan and Mike made fun of the name all of the time.

And TWO, if the guys didn't want to know our opinion, they wouldn't have asked. Its not that no one supports them anymore, of course they do. We're just giving them the feedback that they asked for.

I have, and will always love the music, and they could rename themselves Sanjaya if they wanted to. I would still love the music they make and the name they have will never make a difference on that.

/endrant.

Stop with the name calling please! Rafe has been a long standing Amsterfan, and doesn't need to be a "betty" to get backstage.

Ha Ha Tonka, Amsterband, whatever. The name DOES NOT matter. We are all here because these boys are amazing people, and it was their music that drew us into them as fans, not their name.

I love these boys as my brothers, and like Lennon said, I was not even included in this decision. No hard feelings, I know these guys, and I trust them, apparantly they know what they are doing as far as band business goes, or they wouldn't be where they are today.

Everyone needs to take a chill people and show some respect. Remember why you are here in this forum at all!