Wizard Rock

by Bekah B-P

Wizard Rock is an up and coming genre of music based off of the popular book series Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. The unofficial forefathers of Wizard Rock are Harry and the Potters, a band made up of two brothers, Paul and Joe DeGeorge, who some say have a striking resemblance to Harry Potter. Writing songs from the perspective of Harry Potter at different points in his career as a Hogwarts student, Harry and the Potters has found an extremely strong fan base and toured in 49 out of the 50 states. Other Wizard Rock bands include Draco and the Malfoys, a spinoff band of Harry and the Potters who, singing from Draco Malfoys point of view, tour regularly with HATP, the Hungarian Horntails, Buckbeak’s Revenge, Ministry of Rock, and over 200 other groups who vary in popularity and music type. Although the premise on which is was begun and it’s general silliness allows many to overlook Wizard Rock as a legitimate genre of music, articles have been written about it by MTV and The Boston Globe, and it’s concerts draw fans from a wide variety of ages and places.

However, Wizard Rock does have its critics. One blogger, Kiss Me, I’m Irate, summed up in a post what many people think immediately when confronted with Wizard Rock. “In my (carefully and intentionally) limited experience, I’ve never come across wizard rock that had any chance of standing on its merits as music…it’s terrible, terrible quality as a work of art.” Generally, Wizard Rock has quirky, somewhat witty lyrics, often drawing on obscure moments of the books, and a very unpolished sound, generally due to lack of formal musical training of the musicians and good recording equipment. I asked one friend, Lisa Luo, whom I’ve often heard angrily complaining about Wizard Rock before, why she was so opposed to it, and she replied, “Because that junk you call music is a bunch of C and G chords with the words Voldemort or Hermione awkwardly forced into 4/4 time.”

I understand this argument. I love Wizard Rock, but I can hear how absolutely unremarkable and often terrible it is on both a lyrical and musical level. However, I also think this response to/argument against Wizard Rock is a prime example of the mindset of a music snob. Incredibly close-minded about anything that isn’t what they consider good or original or musical, a music snob often shuts down so that they are not only immune to whatever charm other people find in the music they dislike, but they can’t even remove themselves enough to identify that it has charm. This idea of Wizard Rock having a special charm outside of its technical goodness interested me because although I often find myself prone to having Music Snob tendencies, when it comes to Wizard Rock I am far from immune to its charms (no pun intended). This effect Wizard Rock has on me made me curious to explore what in Wizard Rock, if not its’ musicality, appeals to people.

The answer is not hard to find, but finding a way to express everything there is to love about Wizard Rock is (where to begin?!). First of all, I love geeky obsessions, especially Harry Potter. There’s nothing more fun to me than cross dressing as Harry Potter with my friends and going to “Hogwarts” Sq for a book release (along with 12000 other people). It’s fun to feel like I’m part of something special, something that not everyone understands. Wizard Rock, with its’ small but incredibly strong fan base that I always seem to get along with, fits this role perfectly for me.

Getting deeper within the actual makeup of Wizard Rock, it comes with a set of morals that align perfectly with mine, all the while grounding these morals in Harry Potter. In Harry and the Potters description of themselves on their website, they say “Imagine if Harry Potter quit the quidditch team and started a punk rock band. Take that one step further and imagine that he stole a time-turner and decided to start that band with himself from a different point in time. Imagine that band could exist without compromising themselves. Imagine that they are able to operate completely independently, without managers, booking agents, recording budgets, publicists, record labels, or anything aside from a sense of enthusiasm and a desire to have fun.” This description is in a nutshell the reason I love Wizard Rock so completely. The bands make obscure references to the books, aren’t in it just to make money, and play because they love to. Their enthusiasm translates directly into my enthusiasm. Harry and the Potters also advocates, especially in live shows, for activism against injustice in the world. This idea manifests in the lyrics of songs like Dumbledores Army or the intro of Voldemort Can’t Stop the Rock, where they tell the audience to “stick it to the man.” Taking this idea of activism in our world connecting with activism in Harry Potter one step further, the Harry Potter Alliance, which gets most of its publicity through Wizard Rock concerts, actually takes action against these injustices. They argue that both our world and Harry Potter’s world is faced with “dark and difficult times.” One example they give is “Genocide, Poverty, AIDS, and Global Warming are ignored by our media and governments the way Voldemort's return is ignored by the Ministry and Daily Prophet.” The HP Alliance organizes events to fight against problems like these, events often attended and advertised by various Wizard Rock bands.

Finally, Wizard Rock is FUN. Head banging/screaming along to “Voldemort Can’t Stop the Rock” (and subsequently “sticking it to the man”) or doing crazy hand-motions with complete strangers (and often the bands themselves) to songs like “Hagrid” or even waving cell phones back and forth during ballads such as “Potions Yesterday” is indescribably enjoyable. And amazingly, I get to do it with all my friends or even make new friends in the process. Wizard Rock is family friendly, unadulterated, good natured fun that doesn’t hurt anyone or have negative effects. Although it might not be perfect sounding to my musical ear, that’s part of what makes it so accessible, because Wizard Rock is for anyone and everyone that loves to rock and loves Harry Potter. Joe DeGeorge says at the beginning of almost every concert, “Are you ready to rock a little bit…wait I asked the wrong question…are you ready to rock…A LOT?!?!?!” And every time I can’t help but scream “YES!”