The origins of the name Sloan are kept secret by the members of the Canadian band, as well as by scriptwriters who use Sloan as a common last name for a bad guy, but at least one possibility is that inspiration comes from the bathroom. Imagine a writer (or young rock musician) stumbling around at a bar, drunk, worried about what to name their star bad guy (or band). All of a sudden, an epiphany hits in the washroom. The answer is the word emblazoned upon the urinal - Sloan. Sloan brings relief, physically as well as mentally.

Sloan, officially the Sloan Valve Company, are a well known toilet, urinal and washroom accessory maker. It's hard to pee in any public restroom without noticing the word Sloan somewhere. The company, based in Franklin Park, IL is named after William Elvis Sloan (1867 - 1961), inventor of the revolutionary Flushometer - the chrome device usually found on top of the toilet that you push to make it flush. (The Flushometer also meters the amount of water used per flush. (Well, duh.) ) The first Sloan Flushometer was sold in 1906, and after a difficult beginning (architects and constructors were not eager to install the new device), Sloan became a major name in the plumbing industry.

The company now makes sinks, urinals, toilets, shower heads and more, but their chief trade is still in Flushometers based on W. E. Sloan's original designs.

http://www.sloanvalve.com/