When we got together to discuss a name, we, we entertained a lot of different kinds of names, but one thing that all of us agreed was we wanted something, a name, that we could build our own reputation, our own image, our own vision around, and so something that was very original. Okay? So it’s actually kind of a made up name, but also, Tracy, one of our original members, had suggested - And he kinda misremembered this story but from a Japanese Science fiction, he thought Gidra1 was a monster who saved the people of Japan. Which turned out not to be the case but...So we picked the name Gidra, it’s not spelled the same way, G-I-D-R-A in our case, and... So, there would be no preconceptions, no prior, you know, association with the name.
* 1. King Ghidorah: A fictional evil, golden, three-headed dragon that destroys Japan (Godzilla's nemesis)
Date: September 29, 2011
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Kris Kuromitsu, John Esaki
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum