{"id":70653,"date":"2024-06-11T18:39:25","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T18:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/11\/easy-life-band-renamed-hard-life-after-easygroup-legal-row\/"},"modified":"2024-06-11T18:39:25","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T18:39:25","slug":"easy-life-band-renamed-hard-life-after-easygroup-legal-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/11\/easy-life-band-renamed-hard-life-after-easygroup-legal-row\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Life band renamed Hard Life after EasyGroup legal row"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Easy<\/div>


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\n
By\u00a0Noor Nanji,\u00a0<\/span>@NoorNanji<\/a>,\u00a0Culture reporter, BBC News<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The band have “made their peace” with the name change<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

The band formerly known as Easy Life have changed their name to Hard Life, after a threat of legal action by the brand owners of airline EasyJet.<\/b><\/p>\n

Last year, the indie band said<\/a> EasyGroup was suing them because their name was too similar.<\/p>\n

“We felt angry and powerless,” frontman Murray Matravers told BBC News. “But if our name affects them that much, I’ll walk away from it – because it’s not worth it.”<\/p>\n

EasyGroup has said it would have been “unfair” to let the band use the Easy brand name without royalty payments.<\/p>\n

The Leicester band announced their new name – and a new single, Tears – on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Frontman Murray Matravers said the band were “excited” to be back<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

The band, which Matravers formed in 2017, has five members.<\/p>\n

They found themselves locked in a battle with EasyGroup last year, after the company said the band had promoted their Life’s a Beach tour, in 2021 and 2022, with a poster showing a plane in the style of EasyJet’s orange livery but substituting the airline’s name for their own.<\/p>\n

In its claim, lodged with the High Court, EasyGroup also said the band had produced T-shirts bearing their name in the company’s branded style and their website infringed its trademark with its similarity to EasyJet branding.<\/p>\n

EasyGroup said other companies paid to use its brand name.<\/p>\n

“We cannot allow others to simply use it free, gratis and for nothing,” a spokesperson said at the time. <\/p>\n

“That would be unfair.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Absolutely nuts’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n

In October, the band said<\/a> they were going to stop using the name Easy Life, following the legal threat.<\/p>\n

And they played their final show under their old name at KoKo, in London, on 13 October.<\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview, Matravers told BBC News the row was “the weirdest, most surreal thing” that had happened to him. <\/p>\n

“I mean, it’s absolutely nuts,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“We didn’t get into music to fight huge corporations in legal battles, obviously.”<\/p>\n

The band said they could not afford to take the matter to court – but now, he was “over it”.<\/p>\n

“The name doesn’t change anything – it doesn’t change who I am as an artist,” Matravers said. <\/p>\n

“We made our peace with it.”<\/p>\n

And when it came to deciding a new name, there had been no question what to choose.<\/p>\n

“All of us, unanimously in the group, turned around and said, ‘It’s got to be Hard Life, surely,'” Matravers said.<\/p>\n

The band did brainstorm other names but kept returning to Hard Life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Feels appropriate’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n

It was similar to when he had inspiration for a song, Matravers said. <\/p>\n

“I’ve learnt that the first idea is always the best, so I’ve kept that same philosophy with the band name,” he said.<\/p>\n

And whenever friends had asked him what the new name was going to be, it had always raised a smile or a laugh. <\/p>\n

“So it just feels appropriate,” Matravers said.<\/p>\n

“I’m a white middle-class man from England – it’s not to say I’ve had a particularly hard life either. <\/p>\n

“It was more just, in response to what had happened, Hard Life felt like the obvious thing.<\/p>\n

“It’s a great name – I’m really happy with it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Easy<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Murray Matravers formed the band in mid-2017<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

For a while after the row, Matravers found it hard to work on music – but earlier this year, he found his flow again and wrote Tears.<\/p>\n

And the band say the song, “about growing up – and lawyering up”, marks a new chapter.<\/p>\n

One lyric makes a reference to EasyGroup owner Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.<\/p>\n

EasyGroup’s lawyers have objected to that lyric, calling it “disparaging and defamatory” and claiming it is a breach of the settlement it reached with the band. <\/p>\n

They said EasyGroup and Sir Stelios were “disappointed” Hard Life have “chosen to needlessly refresh the dispute, which the band chose to settle several months ago”.<\/p>\n

But Matravers said he wanted to use the music to reflect what the band had gone through.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Big plans<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n

So what’s next for Matravers and his bandmates?<\/p>\n

“We want to tour – we want to get out there, we want to play festivals,” he said, adding their fans had been “incredible”.<\/p>\n

“Everything’s brand new – we’re hitting the ground running with this new song, who knows where we’ll go next?” Matravers said.<\/p>\n

“I’m just so excited to be out and about again.<\/p>\n

“Hopefully, we can put this chapter behind us and move on – and focus on the music again.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n