The Whore Moans ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Tomorrow night at Columbia City Theater marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one for the Whore Moans. The band will be taking the stage for the final time under their perfect punk rock pun name and playing the songs that made them one of Seattle’s favorite rock banks for the final time, before being reborn as the Hounds of the Wild Hunt.

Changing their well-known, eye-brow raising name has been a difficult and unpopular decision for the band. Internally, the decision caused the Whore Moans’ biggest blow-up in its five year history, threatening the friendships that bind the band, and for a day, they even broke-up. Externally, fans and internet trolls alike have loudly questioned the bands decision to change their name, labeling them “sell-outs” and punk turncoats.

There is no doubt that with the decision to change their name, the Whore Moans/Hounds of the Wild Hunt are facing an uphill battle that they are bringing upon themselves. It is a fact the band is keenly aware of. Sitting on their back porch after band practice this week, bassist Ryan stopped the conversation silent by saying, “Let it be known this is a scary decision.” His band mates nodded in agreement and took deep swigs off their dwindling beers. With the weight of the five years they’ve dedicated to and succeeded with a name that has felt at times as much as blockade as an entry point for the band, leaving the Whore Moans behind wasn’t a sudden or easy decision. In fact, the band almost changed their name before their first LP was released.

As a long time fan and supporter of the band, I wanted to hear from the Whore Moans in their own words their reasons for changing the name, why they chose The Hounds of the Wild Hunt as their new moniker and what we can expect from the final Whore Moans show. Here’s what they had to say.

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So, why change the name?

Jonny: “We’d all been frustrated by the name, for various reasons, save Jason, for years. The main reason is once we had some respect for what we played and it was more than a joke, it was more than about me wearing short shorts and a sweat band and talking about punching God in the face, it was hard to be known by that pun, that joke.”

Ryan: “The more our lives revolved around it, the name spoke less to what we were doing. We were playing these new songs and it seemed absurd that these things we had poured our hearts and souls into …. it almost seemed funny that the title of those things, that were so real and serious and important to us, were being presented under the title, The Whore Moans. It felt like I was wearing a clown hat.”

Jonny: “And to then be constantly matched with other bands, no matter where we played and no matter what they sounded like, who had joke names: Butt Problems, Rape Door, Penetrator, Loaded Revulvas, Ugly Fat Kids …”

Ryan: “If a town had a band with a really funny, shitty, usually sexist name — we would be paired with them — no matter their music had anything to do with our music, just because of the name Whore Moans.”

Nikki: “It was a good name. It was good to us. It got us a lot of attention. It was part of the reason Rolling Stone paid any attention to us, they led their review with something about the name. But it came with a lot of baggage, not only for people who wouldn’t listen to you because of the name, but those who would had expectation about what a band called the Whore Moans were going to sound like.

We started to ask, what if we didn’t have this name? Would we still be being paired with bands called Rape Door or Butt Problems? I didn’t want to have to explain or justify it any more.”

Jason: “On tour we had to prove our talent night after night. And night after night we did and people would tell us they liked us in-spite of our name. It was fun proving people wrong.”

Nikki: “It was fun, but we’ve done it.” Jonny: “Over and over and over again.”

Ryan: “Plus … every drunk guy, in every town we’ve ever played: ‘Hey, how do you make a whore moan?’”

Nikki: “That is our personal ‘Free Bird.’”

Jonny: “We know every punch line to that joke. Never hearing that joke again would be reason enough to change our name.”

The entire band nods their head in agreement.

To read the rest of the interview …

But I know it wasn’t a smooth or easy decision, so what really happened?

Jason: “I was adamantly opposed to changing the name, as I always had been. (Since the first time the band discussed changing their name before their first LP.)

I felt changing it was like taking a huge step back. And so many people have supported us and loved us as the Whore Moans, with this name, that it feels like it was a blow to the people who have always supported us.”

Jonny: “So unfortunately what had to happen was Ryan, Nikki and I had to all go and tell Jason we wanted to change the name, we had to and kind of gang up on him. It felt terrible. We were scared to death. We were absolutely terrified, because Jason has more conviction than anyone I know. I think the direct quote, standing up in our living room was, ‘We are three GROWN ASS MEN terrified of telling our drummer that we no longer want to be called The Whore Moans.’ And we started laughing hysterically.”

The confrontation resulted in the band’s first big fight in five years. After a week of silence, despite living in the same house and practicing together, the band had it out over the name change.

Ryan: “It turned into a gigantic screaming match. And there were some really personal, mean, nasty things said.”

Jason: “I screamed at them, ‘I’m not quitting the Whore Moans, you’re quitting the Whore Moans!’ and told them I wouldn’t stand for it.”

Jonny: “I had to get away from the fight and went upstairs to take a shower and I could hear them screaming through the floors and the running shower. When I went back downstairs, they were all gone.”

Nikki: “I went to the comic book store immediately.”

Ryan: “I said I was never going to speak to Jason again.” Jonny: “I went straight to drinking and probably had the saddest, most pathetic drunk night of my life. We all did. We sat around asking, ‘What are we going to do? We just lost our best friend, our drummer, and our band.’”

Jason: “I left and stayed at a friends house because, you know, we live together and I was really pissed and didn’t want to be there. But when I woke up the next morning, I just thought, ‘This is ridiculous.’ I wasn’t hearing what they were saying, what my best friends were saying. All I could hear and think was ‘sell-outs,’ but it wasn’t that. And I realized, they were right. It has been five years. It is time for a change. These are my best friends and this band has always been a welcoming community and it was going to be destroyed because people had a conflict of opinion on the name the Whore Moans. … I realized it was the stupidest thing to fight over.” Nikki: “Over a joke!”

Ryan: “Over a pun!”

Jason: “So I realized I had to go and try and talk with them. I realized if I get to keep playing with these people, my best friends, that’s what matters. So I went and found each one of them individually, wherever they had spent the night in anguish before and I told them, ‘I think this is the worst idea ever, but lets do it.’ Plus, the new name is pretty damn cool.”

Ryan: “Let it be known this is a scary decision.”

Jonny: “And a huge gamble.” Jason: “I mean, it’s a big under-taking and a tricky thing to do. We have a label and a booker and they all work with The Whore Moans … we’ll have to see about The Hounds of The Wild Hunt. It is a scary thing we are doing. We’re not sure we’ll have all these other things we’ve had as the Whore Moans, but we’re optimistic.” Ryan: “But hey, it’s still us. We’re still going to play hard. We’re still going to play sweaty. And we’re still going to still play with the same passion. And what really matters is, after all this, we’re still friends. What matters most is playing with people who I have more in common with then the fact he’s playing the same chord as me.”

How did you come up with the new name?

Jonny: “It came from this book, called Magickal, Mystical Creatures by D.J. Conway.” Nikki: “Which I bought him for his birthday. We’re really all just big nerds.”

The book describes itself as “a comprehensive guide describes the history, symbolism, appearance, associated traits, and magickal abilities of over 200 magickal creatures.” And it compels its readers to “Draw upon the knowledge of Griffins, Water-Folk, and other entities to eliminate barriers blocking your magickal and personal progress. Invoke the energy of the Centaur for artistic inspiration. Call upon a helpful Magickal Serpent when you need a financial windfall. Let the Phoenix resurrect your hope and energy.”

Jonny: “We got really drunk … so, okay, all of our stories kind of start out that way. We were in the living room, really drunk, reading out all these hilarious names from the book. And when I read out “Hounds of the Wild Hunt,” the room actually fell silent. And over the next few days we all went up to each other on our own and said ‘You know, I really like that Hounds of the Wild Hunt.’”

When Jonny reads me the definition of “Hounds of the Wild Hunt” aloud, one line stands out above all others, I furiously jot it down in my notebook: “They summon a death omen to anyone who heard them.” Underneath it there are two words, heavily underlined: “Bad Ass.” To me, that sounds just as punk rock (if not more), than the Whore Moans ever did.

The band then makes me promise I will share the other almost chosen band names, courtesy of Magickal, Mystical Creatures. I keep my promises:

White Eagle of Zeus White Snake of China

So, what can we expect from the final Whore Moans show? Jonny: “This Saturday we’re going to burn the Whore Moans in effigy and light the pagan fire to usher in years of the Hounds of the Wild Hunt.”

Jason: “A solid Whore Moans set from the core.”

Ryan: “We’re going to do what we do. We’re going to get really sweaty. We’re going to play everything you want to hear. We’ll be putting some of these songs to bed for good and some for a while.”

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It strikes me as ironic that a band that is changing their name, in part, so they don’t have to continue to prove themselves to be more than just a name, have chosen a path that in turn will have them doing just that all over again. After this Saturday, the Hounds of the Wild Hunt will have to prove they are more than their former clever moniker and prove to their fans that changing their name, hasn’t changed what they loved most about the band.

And if anyone can do it, my vote is for these guys. Sure, the Whore Moans was a clever punk rock pun, one of my favorites in fact, but what kept my attention and affection for the band for the past four years had nothing to do with their name and everything to do with their songs, their passionate performances and the fact that every time I saw the band, they were better than the last time. This will no doubt be true for their final show as the Whore Moans, which is sure to be a punk rock spectacle of epic proportions. If you’ve missed the Whore Moans until now (because of their name or otherwise) or if you’ve been in the front row for years, come out and celebrate the final show of one of Seattle’s best bands and to witness the birth of another.