Wizard Rock
Oct 13, 2007
Uncategorized
Wizard Rock
size=”3″>Wizard Rock sweeps the nation as Harry Potter fans fall in love with music about their favorite wizard and his friends. Below you’ll find links to some of our favorite Wizard Rock bands!
size=”-2″>Last update Dec 24 2007
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Everything you would ever need to know about Wizard Rock is on this site.
Wizard Rock Bands
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Sample Tracks:
color=”#990000″>Save Ginny by Harry and the Potters
color=”#990000″>Song for Death Eaters by Harry and the Potters
color=”#990000″>The Human Hosepipe by Harry and the Potters
color=”#990000″>This Book by Harry and the Potters
color=”#990000″>My Dad Is Rich by Draco and the Malfoys
color=”#990000″>Potions Yesterday by Draco and the Malfoys
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Full Listing of Bands:
A Better Butter Beer
A Petty Pensieve
Aberforth Dumbledore and the Nannies
Accio Brain
Accio Wizard Rock
The Acid Pops
A Couple of Harry’s
Advanced Potion-Making
Alas Earwax!
The Headliners
Harry and the Potters
• Genre: Indie/Punk/Progressive
• Established: 2002
• Location: Massachusetts
• Members: Paul and Joe DeGeorge
Harry and the Potters are the most well known of the genre of music that has come to be known as wizard rock. They are by far the most active band with three full length albums and a host of tour dates across the country. Their work has inspired many others to start their own bands.
They are typically considered responsible for the growth and spread of wizard rock. With their multiple albums, rigorous tour schedule, and incredible live performances, it is no surprise that their popularity is so great.
They are typically considered responsible for the growth and spread of wizard rock. With their multiple albums, rigorous tour schedule, and incredible live performances, it is no surprise that their popularity is so great.
Brothers Paul and Joe DeGeorge created the band in the summer of 2002. Their website tells it like this:
“Joe was planning to have a rock show in the shed in the backyard. People had been invited. But then all the bands cancelled. So that morning, the time was finally appropriate to bust out an idea that had been incubating in Paul’s head for some time: Harry and the Potters. That morning, over the course of an hour, Paul and Joe wrote 7 songs. Then, they went out to the shed and practiced them for half an hour. And then, later in the day, they performed them for about 6 people. It was awesome. The place went nuts.”
Shortly thereafter, they began performing and working on additional songs for an album. Their self-titled album debuted in the spring of 2003. Since then they have released two full-length albums, several EPs, and a holiday compilation with a number of other bands.
Draco and the Malfoys
• Genre: Rock
• Established: Early 2005
• Location: Rhode Island
• Members: Bradley Mehlenbacher and Brian Ross
Draco and the Malfoys began as most wizard rock bands did; in a lighthearted way, as a “joke’ to have fun. Matt Maggiacomo (of The Whomping Willows) had been running a house party concert series in his apartment and invited Harry and the Potters to play some time in late 2004. A couple months later, he, the Potters, and Bradley and Brian all decided to have a wizard rock themed party. That’s when Brian and Bradley decided to make their debut as Draco and the Malfoys. This was also the show where The Whomping Willows were born. Both newly created bands continued developing their acts after the event. Draco and the Malfoys˜ self-titled debut album was released in October 2005. The band also contributed music to the A Magical Christmas of Magic compilation album released around the same time.
The band really kicked off their journey into wizard rock with a performance at the Yule Ball in 2005. In the short period of time between the release of their album and their holiday performance, their music had permeated the minds of fans so well that many concert-goers had already memorized their lyrics (see video, “Snape” at the 2005 Yule Ball).
Since then, the band has performed with Harry and the Potters as well as a myriad of other bands including The Hungarian Horntails, The Whomping Willows, and The Moaning Myrtles. They have also toured with the Potters, helping to promote literacy all over the United States. Band member Bradley often performs and tours with Harry and the Potters as their drummer.
The Whomping Willows
• Genre: Rock
• Established: Spring 2005
• Location: Rhode Island
• Members: Matt Maggiacomo
The Whomping Willows is pretty much a solo project of Matt Maggiacomo. Bradley Mehlenbacher and Brian Ross (aka Draco and the Malfoys) usually play live shows with Matt if they’re available.
The band was created in late winter/early spring 2005. For the past two or three years Matt had been running a house party concert series in his apartment, and he invited Harry and the Potters to play some time in late 2004. A couple months later they all decided to have a wizard rock themed party, and that’s when Brian and Bradley decided to make their debut as Draco and the Malfoys. Matt figured he should come up with something for the event too, so The Whomping Willows was created.
The band was created in late winter/early spring 2005. For the past two or three years Matt had been running a house party concert series in his apartment, and he invited Harry and the Potters to play some time in late 2004. A couple months later they all decided to have a wizard rock themed party, and that’s when Brian and Bradley decided to make their debut as Draco and the Malfoys. Matt figured he should come up with something for the event too, so The Whomping Willows was created. The original intention was to write songs and open the show with an acoustic set, but he procrastinated until it was too late and ended up doing an interpretive dance to “Wayward Son” by Kansas instead. The joke received a tremendously positive reaction until people realized that Matt would be swaying back and forth like a tree in a light breeze throughout the entire song. Meanwhile, Draco and the Malfoys kicked major tush and eventually the Potters invited them to open a show up near Boston in the fall of 2005. The Malfoys’ initial success inspired Matt to make something more of his wizard rock concept, and he ended up submitting “Seasonal Depression” to the Potters for inclusion on the A Magical Christmas of Magic compilation in late November 2005. The DeGeorge boys gave him very positive feedback, and that was further motivation to get the act together. The Yule Ball solidified things. Matt was toying with the idea of recording a full-length album, but still wasn’t sure if he’d do it. He played the Yule Ball and it seemed like the reaction was kind of mixed, which was expected. As he was walking back to his section of the merch table, a tee-shirt landed on his shoulder. He kept walking, afraid that somebody was tossing garbage at him or something. When he got back to the table, he opened up the tee-shirt, and written on it was “I <3 Whompy! Love Arielle and Jacqui.” He was completely amazed that anyone would take the time to do that for him. And the more he started to pay attention to the fans of wizard rock, the more he realized they were completely awesome. So really, you can credit Arielle and Jacqui for convincing Matt to record a full length album. They are the same Arielle and Jacqui who are forever immortalized in “Treebeard Rocks.”
The Remus Lupins
• Genre: Acoustic/Rock
• Established: August 2005
• Location: California
• Members: Alex Carpenter (and Toby Karlin and Tyler Nicholas)
The California based wizard rock group The Remus Lupins is the creation of Alex Carpenter. According to Alex, the band was created after he read all 6 of the Harry Potter books in a month. He wrote the song “Snape” as a joke at a party. Once recorded, he sent it to friends and decided to pursue Wizard Rock after receiving a favorable response.
On October 5th, 2005, “The Ballad of Neville and Luna” appeared on MySpace. “Looking for Trouble’ “Remember Cedric’ and “Snape” shortly followed. “These were all demo versions recorded on my computer’ says Carpenter, “and originally intended just for me to remember the melodies of the songs. I lost my mind for some reason and posted them. People enjoyed them, so I left them up.”
On October 5th, 2005, “The Ballad of Neville and Luna” appeared on MySpace. “Looking for Trouble’ “Remember Cedric’ and “Snape” shortly followed. “These were all demo versions recorded on my computer’ says Carpenter, “and originally intended just for me to remember the melodies of the songs. I lost my mind for some reason and posted them. People enjoyed them, so I left them up.”
In December 2005, the band revealed their first release, I’ll Be at Hogwarts EP. The full-length album Spells From A Broken Wand was released on April 15th, 2006, preceeded by an exclusive release-party-only EP entitled Felix Felicis.
In May, Alex appeared on the supremely popular Pottercast and has done a number of interviews for other podcasts since. He performed at Lumos, the Harry Potter symposium, in July prior to the Leaky Mug podcast, and was one of several bands honored with sharing the stage at the Boston Yule Ball on December 10th, 2006.
The Remus Lupins are one of the most active in the wizard rock community. The band toured throughout the US and into Canada several times during 2006, playing with other wizard rock bands including The Moaning Myrtles, The Hungarian Horntails, The Whomping Willows, and Harry and the Potters.
Full Listing of Bands:
A Better Butter Beer
A Petty Pensieve
Aberforth Dumbledore and the Nannies
Accio Brain
Accio Wizard Rock
The Acid Pops
A Couple of Harry’s
Advanced Potion-Making
Alas Earwax!
