El' Devi: The Story

After entertaining South Australia for 8 years with covers that knocked your socks off, the Ethnic Cowboy's always had more to give! We have been working on an album of original songs for some time now, and think it's finally time to share it with your ears! So we present to you El' Devi!

Pronounced 'El' De-Vi-e' they knew for a very long time a name change was coming. Pete whacked 'Ethnic Cowboys' on a poster for their first show back in 2010, as they didn't have a name yet.... saying goodbye to being a cover band dawned a new era of original music, and with it a fresh name... but what?

They do things a little different in El' Devi... Jo was fixated on the word 'Outlaw' and came up with over 175 potential name changes on a list, but nothing seemed to fit. Names such as 'Outcast', 'Bandits', Motley Crue', 'The Animals' & 'The Misfits' were already taken... South Bound, Western Nemisis, Hollow Point, Scardust & many more suggestions were thrown back and fourth.

They wanted a name generic enough not to mean anything, yet something unique to grow into. Something metaphorical that wouldn't label them (aka. being 'Ethnic' & 'A Cowboy'), but more something they could give meaning to.

'El' was almost a given, keeping the ethnic edge they always implemented into their music. One day thinking on names Jo came across a list of Outlaws who went down in history for their righteous rebellion.

'Phoolan Devi' was a name that stood out...

Wiki says:"Phoolan Devi (10 August 1963 – 26 July 2001), popularly known as "Bandit Queen", was an Indian bandit and later a Member of Parliament.

Born into a poor family in rural Uttar Pradesh, Phoolan endured poverty, child marriage and had an abusive marriage before taking to a life of crime. Having developed major differences with her parents and her husband alike, the teenage Phoolan sought escape by running away and joining a gang of bandits. She was the only woman in that gang, and her relationship with one gang member, coupled with caste difference, caused a gunfight between gang members. Phoolan's lover was killed in that gunfight. The victorious rival faction, who were Rajputs, took Phoolan who was to their village of Behmai, confined her in a room, and took turns to rape her repeatedly over several weeks. After escaping, Phoolan rejoined the remnants of her dead lover's faction who were gangs of Mallaah, took another lover from among those men, and continued with banditry. A few months later, her new gang descended upon the village of Behmai to exact revenge for what she had suffered. As many as twenty-two Rajput men belonging to that village were shot dead by Phoolan's gang.

Her act of revenge was portrayed by the press as an act of righteous rebellion. The respectful sobriquet 'Devi' was conferred upon her by the media and public at this point.

Phoolan evaded capture for two years after the massacre before she and her few surviving gang-members surrendered to the police in 1983. She was charged with 48 crimes, including multiple murders, plunder, arson and kidnapping for ransom.Phoolan spent the next eleven years in jail, as the various charges against her were tried in court. In 1994, the state government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party summarily withdrew all charges against her, and Phoolan was released. She then stood for election to parliament as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party and was twice elected to the Lok Sabha as the member for Mirzapur. In 2001, she was shot dead at the gates of her official bungalow (allotted to her as MP) in New Delhi by former rival bandits whose kinsmen had been slaughtered at Behmai by her gang. The 1994 film Bandit Queen (made around the time of her release from jail) is loosely based on her life until that point."

Brutal... 'Queen of the Bandits'.... there it was.

El' Devi can mean whatever you want it to... but it was sourced, thought on and created for a purpose. 

As it turns out Devī (Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for "goddess"; the masculine form is Deva. Devi – the feminine form means "heavenly, divine, anything of excellence".

Just as a song can mean many things through different ears and walks of life, the same goes for our name.

So what does El' Devi mean? It's us.