Hi! My name is Laslo Jott. Well, kind of. My actual name is Simon-Laslo Janssen, but back when I was playing guitar and singing in a punk rock band, a catchy (and maybe pretentious) moniker was more fun to use, than my boring actual name.
It seems to be a common thing to not get along with your given name. Maybe we got it from a grandparent that we don’t know or like, maybe we got it from a fictional character or a historical figure – but no matter the heritage, sometimes you just don’t want to be a Michael, Jason or Simon.
When I was a kid, the name Simon felt weird to me. And my middle name Laslo even more so. It all felt wrong. In hindsight, this might have hinted at some other things going on with me. Nevertheless, I had to live with my name for the time being.
A remedy came in form of a video game called ‘Simon the Sorcerer’. It must be on of the first games I have ever played, and I am still a huge fan. The game’s titular character is a teenager, who is thrown into a magical fantasy world by accident and now needs to find a way back home. And Simon was a quippy, snarky, dark-humored main character. I enjoyed every minute of it!
After I showed the game to my friends from Elementary school, they would start calling me ‘Simon’. Not the German pronunciation, mind you – they called me Simon in English!
A few years later, people had stopped calling me Simon. I still needed a nickname, as suddenly there were two more Simons in my class. So naturally, my middle name was excavated: My friends began calling me Laslo. That became so natural for me, that when a classmate and me started a rock band together, I didn’t go on stage as Simon, I’d go to stage as Laslo. Inspired by other punk musicians, I would form a stage name for myself. As everyone was calling me Laslo anyway, I took the first letter of my real last name and turned it into a name: Jott. Laslo Jott was born!
But as we all know: Nothing lasts forever. As the band slowly stopped existing, I began writing and producing music on my own, publishing it as Laslo Jott. My releases from that time are wide in variety. Between prog-rock, EDM, ambient music, a classical score and much more, Laslo Jott never really released any punk rock anymore.
So after a few years, it didn’t feel right to be Laslo anymore. My music had changed and frankly – I had changed. To mark this change, I released my first punk EP in years under my given name, as Simon Janssen.
Why have a moniker at all?
But the most important question remains: Why have a different name at all? Personal reasons aside, of course. For me, it is also about disconnecting your normal self (for the lack of a better term) from your artist self. Stepping out of your identity and creating something completely new. Many comedians for example use characters for their public appearances. And they often try their hardest to keep their normal self out of the spotlight.
Maybe it’s not only about the art, but also about protecting your normal life. Take Daft Punk for example: At the height of their popularity, barely anyone knew, what they looked like under their helmets. Imagine being an artist known around the world and still being able to get to the super market to buy some toilet paper without Paparazzis swarming your shopping cart. I guess in that way, some artists are like super heroes: Protecting their secret identity to keep their personal lives out of the public eye.
Of course with most artists, it is well known what they look like and what their actual name is. A quick trip to Google will tell you everything there is to know about an artist. There is not too much to protect in that regard any more. And still, every rapper has a moniker. Are all of those stage personas as well?