The band’s publicist Ryan Cunningham says, “I’ve only used this for the last four years. Its manager, Oskar Ekman, advised me from day one to never write the band’s real name on “During an album campaign, I check my spam as regularly as my inbox.”
Ekman added in an e-mail with a different air of resignation: “People make weird assumptions when you have a stupid name like Viagra Boys. Over the years I’ve had to turn down hundreds of shows with different crotch rock groups. I think the intellectual side of VB is often overlooked or misunderstood. “
Maybe there’s something depressing here, self-imposed and meaningless constriction. But there is also something admirable. The everyday nature of it all. The hard graft. It sounds funny on the surface, but that’s the job of these people. They promote a great band that they love, and the name of that band is Viagra Boys.
For the band itself, the secret of success with a name like this doesn’t seem to matter too much. They all continue to work intermittently on a daily basis. (These jobs include tattooing, carpentry, concierge, and cooking.) As for their Internet presence, they are happily ignorant. Murphy says he consults the event’s Instagram but never searches the band on Google. (WIRED did and did not receive any pill ads, only links to Viagra Boys’ music and social media profiles. Its SEO is strong.) However, he admits, “I haven’t really thought about it much.” The conversation we are having, however, reminds her of Coachella as a whole earlier this year. Playing this festival can be a defining moment for the career of many bands and, indirectly, it was also for Viagra Boys. “It looked like there were 20 people who knew who we were,” Murphy says.
So, of course, “the other 1,500 teens” must have been there by name. Online, being called Viagra Boys may not make sense. But in person, there it was: human connection. Which makes Murphy quite happy. “If I were younger and walked past a sign and said ‘Viagra Boys,’ I’d definitely check it out.”
As for what other names were glimpsed that day back in Blecktornskällaren, what other paths could these eternal Viagra Boys have taken on the Murphy River. “I can’t tell you,” he says, “I’m sorry. No way.”
On one issue, however, we have some closure. The Viagra Dependent Partner? Who came up with the name? “He doesn’t use it anymore. It was just a short-term thing. Because of his amphetamine use.”
