"These dark disco droogs thread every sound under the sun through their electric playground of wires ... They're the kind of band that could hoof a hangover to kingdom come, or wring the neck of a banal main stage performance."

-- from NME Magazine's review of Holy F*** at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival in England

During a lively panel discussion at the Hamilton Music Awards, a young band hopeful came up to the microphone and asked "How important is a band's name?"

It was a good question that faces all new bands with visions of rock stardom in their eyes.

"Just make sure you choose a name that can be published in a family newspaper like The Spectator," I replied. "Don't make the mistake of calling yourself Holy F***."

"But they're a really good band," someone replied from audience.

"Doesn't matter," I replied knowingly. "They won't get any ink in The Spectator."

Well, it seems I'm eating those words now, because since that panel discussion, the band whose name we cannot publish has received a Juno nomination (best alternative album), won rave reviews from some of the top rock publications in the world (see NME above) and got itself on the short list for the Polaris Music Award, which offers up $20,000 for the best Canadian album of the year (as voted on by music journalists; winner to be announced Sept. 29).

So I've got Graham Walsh on the phone. He's a Burlington native from Aldershot High School and one of the two founders of Holy F***. I'm telling him about this discussion about band names.

"I can't say I disagree with you," Walsh says. "I wouldn't advise anyone to put a swear word in their band's name."

Well, why did you do it?

The explanation is lengthy. But the nub of it is that Walsh and bandmate Brian Borcherdt scrawled the words on a poster advertising a show they put on at Sneaky Dees bar in downtown Toronto a few years back. They weren't really a band then, just a couple of guys wanting to stretch out with some improvisational noise while they waited for their solo projects to gel.

At the time, Walsh had recently left Hamilton electro-pop band Flux A.D. and Borcherdt had parted ways with By Divine Right. The Sneaky Dees' gig was barely even a side project. But word spread about the band that had dared to use the F-word on the poster. And the show was great, too. Wild drums and bass under crazed keyboards. They got booking offers. They cut a CD, and then another. Suddenly the side project was far bigger than anything else they were doing.

It was too late to think about changing the name now.

"You know," Walsh says after summing up all the great shows the band has performed since and all the rave reviews and all the award nominations, "I can't really say the name has hurt us. I think maybe things have changed. I mean, it doesn't really shock people the way it used to do."

OK, Walsh, maybe you've got a point there. But how do you conduct radio interviews? It's easy for newspapers. We just cover up three of the letters with asterisks. How do DJs get around it? Surely, it remains one of those seven words you can never say on the radio.

"They usually just call us Holy F."

HHH

Jimmy Katz is one of the top music photographers in the world. The latest coffee table book by the celebrated New York photographer is called Jazz Katz: Jazz In New York. It's an extraordinary collection of 175 photos and intimate portraits of some of the greats, including Sonny Rollins, Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman, Freddie Hubbard, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie and Wynton Marsallis.

Katz will be at Bryan Prince Bookseller in Westdale (1060 King St. W.) tomorrow from 7 to 9 p.m. for a special book signing event. It's a must for any jazz fan.

Katz is also in town to photograph some of Hamilton's top musicians for a special exhibit that will open at the Art Gallery Of Hamilton on Nov. 15.

It'll be interesting to see who he selects to photograph and the settings he chooses to shoot them in. There'll be a sneak preview of the exhibit Nov. 7 at Hamilton Place at a reception to launch The Hamilton Music Collective, a nonprofit musical mentorship and education program being formed by local sax man and Mohawk music professor Darcy Hepner.

Showtime

What: Holy F***, with Sebastian Grainger, Slow Hand Motem

When: Tomorrow. Doors open 9 p.m.

Where: Pepper Jack Cafe, 38 King William St.

Tickets: $15 at the door

grockingham@thespec.com

905-526-3331