How Did The Fratellis Come Up With Their Band Name?

The Fratellis started out in Glasgow, Scotland in 2005 after the members met through adverts in local music shops and decided to form a band, playing their first gig in a small bar where the crowd sold out despite them being unknown at the time. What’s interesting about their name is that none of them are actually brothers, but they all chose the surname Fratelli as a kind of shared stage name. The name was inspired by the criminal family from the 1980s movie The Goonies, and it also happens to be the real birth surname of the bassist’s mother, which made it feel right for them as a band. This gave them a playful sense of unity and identity from the start, even though they weren’t related, and helped them create a memorable band persona that matched their energetic, storytelling style of indie rock.