British band forced to change name by easyJet's brand group owner reveal new name following lawsuit
The alternative indie band forced to change their name by easyJet's brand group owner have revealed their new moniker.
Formerly known as Easy Life, they were served up a lawsuit by easyGroup, who demanded they change their name or face legal ramifications.
While they wrote on social media how they found the ‘whole situation hilarious’, they were ‘virtually powerless’ and had to drop the name.
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The Leicester group ended up playing a farewell show on 13 October 2023, as well as sharing a statement that they ‘simply don’t have the funds to access a fair trial in the high court’.
The band added that they thought a legal battle would go on for years, halting them from releasing music and putting their ‘careers and lives’ on hold.
In January, frontman Murray Matravers described to NME how the whole legal battle had ‘actually been a good thing’.
“We’ve reached people that would never have heard of our band before," Murray said.
"We reached older people that read broadsheet newspapers still. It’s not a bad thing. I’m trying to see it like that, otherwise I’d break down and cry."
And a little appropriately, as they revealed their name change today (11 June), they’ve also released a new single named 'tears'.
Making their return, the band’s name is now 'hard life'.
As this was announced on BBC Radio 1’s Future Artists show by Jack Saunders this evening, they wrote to X: “Hey it’s been a while. Safe to say the last 9 months haven’t been easy. New song ‘tears’ out now.”
Speaking about this new release (and the band’s comeback as hard life), Murray said: “Since our pretty public run-in with the well-known airline, my life has been turned upside down a little bit.
"Everything has been on hold. All of us have had to reassess what the band means to us and come to terms with the idea that everything has a beginning, a middle and indeed, an end.
“The naive optimism we had in easy life has been swapped for something more raw and, I suppose, authentic. Sitting with my thoughts and going backwards and forwards with IP lawyers, I wrote ‘tears’.
"It highlights the absurdity of the situation as well as thanking the people who have had my back throughout this whole ordeal.
"Of course, this song makes me smile, and I suppose that is my way of processing. Anyway, we’re back. Thanks for your patience."
In its legal claim, easyGroup accused the band of promoting a tour in 2021 and 2022 with an easyJet plane modified so it said their former name instead.
Their legal document said: "By wrongly creating a link with the claimant, the defendant benefits from an association with that positive view and vast brand recognition, regardless of whether the link was intended to be provocative or humorous."
It went on to say that the band was 'riding on the coat tails of the valuable reputation' of easyJet and considered their claim to have a 'substantial' financial value.
Jess Battison