Wizrocklopedia

Question Tuesday

Dinahsaur

When and/or how did you learn the extent of Wizard Rock and its potential impact on the world?

I wish I could say that the first time I heard a Harry and the Potters song, I just knew. But I didn’t. In fact, I was listening to HatP for at least a year, maybe even two years, before I so much as started to realize what Wizard Rock was doing. I got a hint of it when I was just roving Myspace pages, well before I even signed up for one (with the sole purpose of following Wrockers, naturally). When I discovered the Wizrocklopedia and saw the band listing, I realized just how much more there was. That was when I signed up for Myspace and sent friend requests to every single Wrock band listed on the ‘Pedia at the time. It wasn’t until a little later, when I started to see the bands raising money for charities and the like that it all started clicking. Then the Harry Potter Alliance came to my attention and it was over. There was no way I could un-know how brilliant this musical movement I had stumbled upon was and is.

So my story is sort of a gradual realization. There was no epiphany, no moment where the world stopped and slapped me in the face with the awesome of Wizard Rock. So what’s your story?

Dinahsaur

Co-Senior Editor of the Wizrocklopedia, founder and writer of the Daily Wrocket, and dedicated Wizard Rock fan of the ages.

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12 responses to “Question Tuesday”

  1. Laura! Avatar
    Laura!

    My story is similar to yours, Dinah. I first heard Harry and the Potters my freshman year of college (in early 2004) and I latched onto them immediately. Shortly after that, I saw HatP on tour for the first time, and then later (in the same year!) I saw them with Draco and the Malfoys. I had no idea that Wizard Rock would grow to become more than these 2 bands. I attended Phoenix Rising in 2007, and that’s when it really hit me. Phoenix Rising combined with Wrock Chicago in 2008, and my mind was blown. I didn’t know where Wizard Rock was headed, but I knew I wanted to be part of wherever it was going.

    I still don’t know where Wizard Rock is headed – I’m still pleasantly surprised by every little thing – but I’m super glad to be a part of it.

    Reply
  2. Trudy Avatar
    Trudy

    I first heard Harry and the Potters in 2005, I think, but for whatever reason, I was not impressed. What was I thinking? I didn’t start getting into wrock until 2007. I also didn’t have a big moment. During the whole year of 2008 I think I realized the woah. That’s was when I was first experiencing the huge scope of wrock, but the intimacy of it too.

    Reply
  3. Jonathon Rosenthal Avatar
    Jonathon Rosenthal

    Honestly, I did get a hint from the first show I attended. When you are at a strange bar on the Lower East Side, see a young performer show up wearing a tweed jacket and an acoustic guitar and start singing catchy lyrics about a professor who is also a werewolf, at first your a bit bewildered. Then you notice the room start to fill, to capacity. Then after the show tons of people swarm the stage talking about how they recognize each other from this convention called “Prophecy”.

    Total strangers…who all recognize each other.

    That gave me a hint of what this fandom was capable of.

    The solidifying moment came at the first Sidewalk Cafe show. NYC was so desperate for Wrock it was incredible. The room was so full, so packed. That my friend Santina was rocking out ON TOP OF A TABLE.

    Reply
  4. Grace Avatar
    Grace

    Nostalgia party! As soon as I saw this question I went digging through the harrypotters.livejournal.com archive for old times sake, because a lot of us got our start there, and I am dying at some of these old posts.

    Me, circa 2005: “the thing about all these new bands is… like, the remus lupins are really quite good. and nobody can compete with hatp for dominance in the wizard rock category. but most of the others either don’t have much music or really are just kind of awkward, and probably won’t last. so hopefully this is jus a random spike and the true wizard rockers will rise from the evil poser squib musicians?”

    LOLOLOL. I started Snidget like a month later, ha. Evil poser squib musicians for the win!

    My first memory of Matt Maggiacomo, blogging in defense of wizard rock: http://community.livejournal.com/harrypotters/162148.html

    OMG. And Lauren Fairweather pitching the wizard rock awards back in 05: http://community.livejournal.com/wizard_rock/12228.html

    Okay, that’s it. I’m done now. But that’s when I realized wizard rock was amazing. Somewhere in all of that.

    Reply
  5. Forest Avatar
    Forest

    I first got into WRock when i was looking up how much the books on tape were on iTunes, and then after i bought Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys and The Whomping Willows, I looked it up online cause I would keep getting links to more. That is when I realized just how big the fandom was, I looked on myspace pages for a bunch of bands and from there, I discovered podcasts, WZRD first and then it went from there. As time went on, I just got more and more interested. =)

    Reply
  6. Avery Avatar
    Avery

    I first got into wizard rock because Joella was listening to it, but even then I thought it was just random people singing about a book series. I think it was at my first show (a Whomp the House Tour stop) in late 2007 that I realized how plain awesome the genre is. This was soon after another earthquake Haiti had then, so they had donation boxes out and donated I-don’t-remember-how-much of the entry fee towards Haiti.

    Reply
  7. Joella Avatar
    Joella

    Avery, the WtH tour stop was in Late 2008. 😛

    My story is similar to yours as well, Dinah, though different. I first heard Looking for Trouble when Alex was on PotterCast back before Lumos 2006, but I didn’t really think anything of it. I thought it was cool, but I wasn’t like “OMG I NEED TO LISTEN TO MORE OF THIS NOW.” or anything.
    THEN. Matt and Brian Malfoy were on the Phoenix Rising PotterCast the following May, and I was hooked. That episode was my only source of wizrock until Christmas 2007, which is when I got an iTunes gift card and the Original Jingle Spells. I’ve been hooked ever since 😀

    Reply
  8. Clara Avatar
    Clara

    Well, the first time I’ve heard a wrock song was on You Tube like 3 years ago but I just thought “well that’s cool !” but it didn’t occur to me that HatP had more song, and that they weren’t the only one…
    Two years ago, I was still in my “post Potter depression” and I was listening the podcast of La Gazette du Sorcier (the French Daily Prophet)and they were talking about Wrock and the Basilisk in your Pasta. So I went to their MySpace, lol’ed listening to Voldemort Peace Off and started to explore their MySpace friends… I was hooked !
    Then I gradually realized how much good the community could do though conventions, the HPA, and charity albums like Jingle Spells.

    Reply
  9. Brad Ausrotas Avatar
    Brad Ausrotas

    I can be fortunate enough that say that I did indeed have an epiphany.

    In the beginning of summer 2007, my cousin and I were talking about Prophecy, a conference we would be attending several weeks later. My cousin was telling me about all of the things going on there, including wizard rock.

    She gave me the low down, how all the bands were picking names, quoted some DatM lyrics (My Dad is Rich, technically the first wrock I ever heard), and then told me that a lot of the music was available online.

    My natural skepticism got the best of me. I didn’t find any of the MP3’s, though I thought the concept sounded cool. I honestly thought it would be too goofy, too much of a joke for me to seriously get into.

    Well, several weeks later, Prophecy gave me my epiphany. Between the sheer musicianship demonstrated by the bands there, Oliver Boyd, Alex Carpenter, Matt Maggiacomo, Brian Ross and Bradley Mehlenbacher, and of course Paul and Joe, and the wittiness of the lyrics, as well as just the general concert experience, my view was completely changed.

    I took home 2 of Alex Carpenter’s CDs, and I’ve been an addict ever since.

    Reply
  10. Helen Myrtle Dyes Her Hair (Formerly hf.gal) Avatar
    Helen Myrtle Dyes Her Hair (Formerly hf.gal)

    I wish I could say first time I heard it.
    But no.

    Well, the first Moaning Myrtles album I got (Toilet Humor, in early ’09!), they had a thanks to the pedia. So, after a few weeks of procastinating, I went on it.

    Consider me hooked.

    Reply
  11. Lana Alethea Avatar
    Lana Alethea

    The moment I heard my first ever Wrock song, “Snape Vs. Snape” by Ministry of Magic… it was love at first listen! 🙂

    Reply
  12. Patrick Avatar
    Patrick

    I went to my first show in Summer ’06, Malfoys & Potters. To be completely honest, I was going for a laugh. A friend had sent my wife and me a few youtube videos, and from there we bought a couple of couple of Potters’ CDs. The tunes were catchy, but we were enjoying them as one enjoys Weird Al. Good solid music, but it’s meant for parody. Nothing wrong with it.

    I remember first being really impressed with the Malfoys show, but the “holy crap!” moment came during the Potters’ set. I just remember watching Joe, standing on a chair that I would’ve been hesitant to sit in, wrapping mic cable around himself (ala Iggy Pop), while belting it out, and Paul just tearing into his guitar. In that moment I realized I was standing there with my mouth open, staring.. and that they were serious… and that the world wouldn’t know what hit it.

    And I’m still amazed by most of the community.

    Reply

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