Not a thing. When Shear changed the style of music he was writing in a more industrial direction, he felt a name change (from the previous Man on a Stage) might be appropriate. He liked the idea of a name that combined letters and numbers because it had a nice ring to it, as well as lending itself well to logo designs and graphic treatments. Therefore the name 'Assemblage 23' was born almost randomly. After he had the name for awhile, the hype around the number '23', which Shear had previously been unaware of, came to his attention and provided years of frustration as everyone who showed interest in the band invariably asked "So what's the deal with the number 23 in your name anyway?" However, at this point, A23 had received some attention and rather than undo a lot of hard self-promotion and change the name, Shear kept it and will probably forever be cursed to answer this question until he dies.