Wizrocklopedia

Wizard Rock People’s Choice Awards Winners

Freya

One of the changes we made to the WRPCAs this year has actually made a big difference. Art, Dinah, and I did throw in some wild card nominees for the final voting – and you voted three of them as final winners! (And, no, we’re not telling you who it was.)

Drumroll?

Award Winner
Best Folk/Country/Blues Song ‘This Land is My Land’ by Draco and the Malfoys
Best Punk Song ‘The #1 Reason to Be Nice to House Elves’ by Gred and Forge
Best Techno/Electronica Song ‘The Lightning-Struck Tower’ by Ministry of Magic
Best Rap/Hip-Hop Song ‘My Dad is Rich (On a Boat)’ by Swish and Flick
Best Collaboration ‘Fair Fortune: A Wrock Opera’
Best Holiday Song ‘It’s Not Christmas’ by The Moaning Myrtles
Best Comedy Song ‘Merch Girls Are Easy’ by The Whomping Willows
Best Metawizardrock Song ‘A Brief Repose’ by The Whomping Willows
Best Live Act The Remus Lupins
Best Merchandise Item Golden Snitch Necklaces by Madame Pince and the Librarians
Best Music Video ‘Seven Potters’ by Brandon Nicholas
Best Album Art Onward and Upward by Frankie Franco III
Best New Artist Let’s Lumos!
Best Youth Effort The Nifflers
Best Kept Secret Let’s Lumos!
Best Ravenclaw Band Catchlove
Best Hufflepuff Band Tonks and the Aurors
Best Gryffindor Band Gred and Forge
Best Slytherin Band The Parselmouths
Best Male Vocals Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls
Best Female Vocals The Moaning Myrtles
Best Instrumental Musicianship The Remus Lupins
International Band Award peeved
International Band Award Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons
Best Full-Length Album Onward and Upward by Ministry of Magic
Best EP Songs from Beedle the Bard by The Butterbeer Experience
Best Compilation Album Jingle Spells 3
Best Song ‘Only Power Remains ‘ by Ministry of Magic with Nina Jankowicz
Band of the Year Ministry of Magic
Lifetime Achievement Award DRACO AND THE EFFING MALFOYS

Congratulations to everyone and thanks for voting!

Freya

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39 responses to “Wizard Rock People’s Choice Awards Winners”

  1. Penguin1124 Avatar
    Penguin1124

    YAY!!!
    CONGRATS TO EVERYONE!!!
    I love the WRPCAs!

    Reply
  2. Joella Avatar
    Joella

    The lack of Mudbloods on this makes me sad =( Congratulations to all the bands that won, though! 😀

    Reply
  3. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    Congratulations everyone! The field was STACKED!

    Reply
  4. BradAusrotas Avatar
    BradAusrotas

    KJDHFDFBJFDBVBN.

    I appreciate the talent of MoM as much as the next dude… But MAN, talk about scooping all the awards, much? DIVERSITY, PEOPLE.

    I really was pleased with most of the results, though. Congratulations to everyone, nominated, awarded, WHATEVAH! If you’re a wizard rock artist, someone nearby should be giving you a HUG for all that you do!

    Reply
  5. Jodi Avatar
    Jodi

    I have to agree with Joella. But in the same token, every band on here deserves it! Congrats everyone! Yay!

    Reply
  6. mandamedieval Avatar
    mandamedieval

    Brilliant.

    Reply
  7. queenalexandra Avatar
    queenalexandra

    Brilliant! Ministry of Magic has the best music around. I love Wrock in general and the other bands too. Nice choices, guys 😀

    Wrock makes my life happy. Thank you for the WRPCA’s.

    Reply
  8. Art Avatar
    Art

    What are Effing Malfoys?

    Reply
  9. Zivlok Avatar
    Zivlok

    I gotta agree with Brad. And I’m really disappointed with the snubbing of MC Kreacher and the entire genre of wrap and wiz-hop in general (outside of the obvious category, of course). I feel that wiz-hop really came into its own as a subgenre in 2009, and I hope that it continues to grow and flourish in the coming years.

    Still, my best to all the winners, and thanks for all the great music you’ve enriched our lives with!

    Reply
  10. badger666 Avatar
    badger666

    Congratulations everyone! But I still think that The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office and MC Kreacher should have won something. Their albums were brilliant!

    Reply
  11. Amy Avatar
    Amy

    I WON!! YAAAAAY!

    Reply
  12. Clare Avatar
    Clare

    *fangirls* My comment will be after Amy’s!

    Reply
  13. Maria Avatar
    Maria

    Congratulations to all the winners, esp Gred & Forge and Tonks and the Aurors! On a sadder note… Where are the Mudbloods??? =( =( And what about the Swedish bands?

    Reply
  14. Scott Humdinger Avatar
    Scott Humdinger

    Super kudos to the ‘pedia team who coordinate this and try to keep it as fair and systematic as possible. Congrats to all the winners who were recognized. Congrats to all the nominees. Congrats to everyone who was discussed in the preliminary build-up. And Congrats to every kid with a guitar who sits in her/his room playing wizard rock because she/he loves it.

    Please keep creating such wonderful music that inspires us to sing, to dance, and to create our own. Harry Potter lives because of you.

    Reply
  15. Clare Avatar
    Clare

    Hear Hear!

    Reply
  16. Marauder Avatar
    Marauder

    Congratulations, everybody! It’s about time RV&tCC got one of those International Band Awards…

    Now, who wants to put together an effort for next year so that the band that wins the Lifetime Achievement Award won’t be entirely male? Not that past winners haven’t deserved to win, but seriously, people, time for it to go to either The Parselmouths or The Moaning Myrtles.

    Reply
  17. Whompy Avatar
    Whompy

    Marauder: I was talking about this with the Malfoys and JFF last night. As much as everyone who’s won it so far deserves the recognition, I really think the Myrtles and Parselmouths have been overlooked so far. This scene is at least 80% female, bands and fans alike, and both of those bands have influenced countless other bands to get started and make music. It’s a huge accomplishment. 🙂

    Reply
  18. jack Avatar
    jack

    Well, i’ll admit some of my votes were off the mark in the end…. but i’mreally pleased and kinda humbled to have the International award, and super happy to be sharing it with amy too 🙂

    Reply
  19. Zivlok Avatar
    Zivlok

    I really think Lifetime Achievement should go to Split Seven Ways next time, because she’s left wrockdom, but left such an astounding oeuvre of wonderful music behind.

    Reply
  20. badger666 Avatar
    badger666

    Zivlok, I agree. Split Seven Ways definitely deserves the Lifetime Achievement award. She’s amazing but, sadly, underappreciated. Plus she’s probably done more songs and albums than any other wrock band ever. And made almost all of them available for free download (so generous!)I love her and really wish she had won something this year.

    Reply
  21. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    CONGRATS EVERYONE! (If you took a swig of Felix before the awards, shame on you, though) 🙂

    Reply
  22. PK9 Avatar
    PK9

    Maybe I’m jumping her up a bit soon, but if Lena pulls off the Final Battle at Infinitus, she’ll have done something pretty unique by bringing together wizard rock and musical theater the last two years with Fair Fortune and the Final Battle, in addition to the other stuff she’s done. Plus, she’s “retiring” this year so it would be a nice sendoff for her.

    Reply
  23. Jarrod Avatar
    Jarrod

    Thanks for the kindness everyone, these were my first (two!) WRPCS win(s)!!! I remember the first WEEK that I started Gred & Forge and seeing the banners on all of the 2006 winners MySpace pages and thinking how cool that was.

    So yeah, it’s pretty cool. 🙂

    Also thank you for voting for so many of my very talented friends and although I think a few more deserve to be up here (JFF, Humdingers, I Speak Tree, Hawthorn & Holly, Half-Kneasels…), I think they were well distributed.

    Reply
  24. badger666 Avatar
    badger666

    Congratulations Jarrod! Gred and Forge rocks!

    Reply
  25. Trudy Avatar
    Trudy

    haha wow only a few of these are ones i voted for.
    but this is so exciting!!!

    Reply
  26. Marauder Avatar
    Marauder

    SPLIT SEVEN WAYS LEFT WROCKDOM? *goes to band’s MySpace* Oh my God, she did. Excuse me, I have to go and mourn now…

    Reply
  27. BradAusrotas Avatar
    BradAusrotas

    Also, I’d like to add a special HELL YEAH to my friends and Canadian brethren The Nifflers for scooping an award! They’ve been killing it for a long time, and it’s great to see them getting some recognition!

    Reply
  28. Lynne Avatar
    Lynne

    Congrats to everyone who won…I think they’re all very talented.

    But I am disappointed that this list is entirely too predictable and redundant. Branch out, people. Wizard Rock consists of a ton of also-deserving bands that never get any cred…and they’re all quitting because no one gives a flip.

    Reply
  29. Madam Pince Avatar
    Madam Pince

    Wow! Thanks, you guys! I am honored to have award winning jewelry!

    Jarrod – Wow. You’re first awards!? Well, maybe it’s because they didn’t have an award for best hugs, cause you’d sweep every year.

    Reply
  30. Zoë (Split Seven Ways etc) Avatar
    Zoë (Split Seven Ways etc)

    Zivlok & badger666 – I actually just welled up with tears right there. Wow. I’m really honoured that you both feel that way 🙂 makes it all worth it.

    Reply
  31. Jacquelyn Avatar
    Jacquelyn

    Congrats everyone who won!

    Marauder: I agree with Whompy, everyone who’s one it so far has deserved it immensely, and I also agree with the Parselmouths and tMM being overlooked to an extent. I think the bands who’ve won it so far have been consistantly prevolent in the community, while (and this is just my opinion) the girls haven’t. Not that they aren’t awesome and helped found the genre, I just think that since they were in college they weren’t as much front runners as the others were, which is completely understandable, and I think now that they’re graduating that it’s going to change, and hopefully next year, they’ll win!

    Reply
  32. Max C Avatar
    Max C

    I’m kind of new to the whole Wizard Rock phenomenon (yes, I know I’m about 5 years late), but I have to say this is an excellent list! I just discovered Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls and I love them 😉

    Reply
  33. hpboy13 Avatar
    hpboy13

    Congrats to everyone!! Especially to the Malfoys, who finally got their due! Wizrock would be a fraction of what it is without them. For next year’s lifetime achievement, I think it’s finally the Moaning Myrtles’ turn (since they’re my fave band and got me into wizrock), though the Parselmouths are contenders. And I would place Ministry’s name in as well – if you’ve ever been to an HP party, when hasn’t there been Ministry music played?

    Reply
  34. BradAusrotas Avatar
    BradAusrotas

    When I don’t want to listen to a boyband, which is always?

    As for everyone complaining about how it’s the ‘same old’ up here? That’s total crap. For ONE THING, a bunch of newer bands finally got the recognition they deserve, and the older bands the same.

    Why is that? Well GENERALLY, the people that are up here, are up here for a reason. It’s because they make REALLY GOOD music. All of these lesser known bands? They might make halfway decent music, certainly, but by and large, if they’re not big, it’s because they’re not that good, rather than because they go underappreciated.

    Also, I don’t think you should try to guilt anyone about this, because apparently if all these bands are quitting cause no one cares about them, they have themselves to blame. Music is an extremely hard scene to get recognition in, and wizard rock is absolutely no exception. You have to be the best to be able to do the best- which is tour, release new CD’s every year, play cons, etc.

    I’m NOT saying that there aren’t some really good bands that didn’t make this list. Not at all. There are TONS. But not EVERY obscure wrock band deserves recognition. Honestly, the vast majority of wizard rock bands suck. Two years ago, I was on here, and I went through the ‘Pedia’s band listing alphabetically one by one, so that I could do just that: discover obscure bands. Know what I found out?

    The vast majority of wizard rock was just a couple of people (or one person) with a macbook, garage band, and (if you’re lucky) a guitar. These bands all contributed something to the movement, no doubt, and they should absolutely be recognized for that, regardless of how small their contribution is. But does that mean they deserve to be anywhere near the WRPCA’s? Not at all.

    Just my two cents.

    Reply
  35. Whompy Avatar
    Whompy

    Lynne: I hope with all of my heart that bands aren’t really quitting wizard rock because they don’t win WRPCAs. Seriously, they can have mine if it’ll keep them in the scene. These awards are nice for remembering the highlights of a given year, but I don’t think I’m a failure if I’m beaten out in a specific category. These awards really don’t mean anything at the end of the day.

    When I see new wizard rock bands form and they clearly have goals to become one of the most popular bands in the scene, it makes me scratch my head; especially when all they do is post music online. It takes years of effort to establish the kind of “cred” that keeps people buying your new CDs and attending your shows. Most of the popular bands in this scene are popular because they worked hard, they’ve been accessible to the community for years, and they put out music that appeals to large numbers of people. And I think something binds the popular bands together: Most of us started our bands with the intention of having fun and being part of an awesome fan community, and not so much with a goal for world domination. Sometimes having no expectations is the best way to be successful. 🙂

    Reply
  36. LunasCeiling Avatar
    LunasCeiling

    Hey, Zoe: just in case your tear ducts aren’t empty, just want you to know that you’re one of THE reasons I do wrock, and being asked to remix one of your tracks (okay, okay, for your muggle music project, but who’s counting?) was a pure joy. As I said in a response to your last MySpace blog, when you pick up music again (and you will…), it’s going to be superb, regardless of genre. You have real talent.

    And to Whompy: No worries from this end about being pretty much ignored by the WRPCA (and by the wrock fandom in general, truth be told). I never figured Luna’s Ceiling would be all that popular with much of this audience. Our stuff will always have one foot in the Wizarding World and as such we will always be a wrock band…but our much deeper roots in the goth/industrial/synthpop world meant I always expected to do better there than in wrock. That’s how it’s turned out, too: we headline goth/industrial shows…and have never played a wrock show (largely because there’s simply no wrock scene in Portland, much to our and Dawlish and the Archies’ chagrin). That a few wrock fans have heard of us, and maybe even like us is, a pure delight. And like you say: the point isn’t to be big stars, it’s to make some fun music.

    DK Anderson, Luna’s Ceiling

    Reply
  37. Jarrod Avatar
    Jarrod

    For all of the newer or “smaller” (for lack of a better word) bands out there:

    Just remember, that all bands (with the exception of HatP, DatM, WW, TRL, Parselfaces, tMM…) started small in a scene that had quite a few bands already. MoM and I started at the same time and they are easily one of the top bands in wizrock, sales and fan-wise. I just keep chugging along, doing my thing, and luckily, a few people like my music. We did it in very different ways. MoM put out an untapped style of music (aka, the first wizrock “boy band”) and released high quality albums, while hardly playing any shows. On the other hand, I did play a few shows, worked the MySpace networking, did some collaborating with more established artists, and made the best music I could on the cheap equipment I had.

    However, we both (IMO) put alot of thought into the songs, both lyrically and musically, made sure the sound quality was up to par, and maintained an image.

    I think if we’d posted low quality, rough demos of songs as our first releases, people may not have come back to give us a second listen. We also worked an image. MoM with their awesome MySpace page in fancy suits, and I had people thinking there were at least two people in the band for ages. 🙂

    So I rambled on to say: MAKE IT GOOD. Talent be damned. Don’t settle for one take. Rewrite those weak lyrics. Make the most of the gear you have. Read up on recording techniques. Ask friends/other wizrockers to listen and critique your songs before releasing them. Create an image and stick to it. Play shows. And be proud of what you’ve done.

    🙂

    Jarrod

    Reply
  38. wrocknquidditch Avatar
    wrocknquidditch

    Dear ‘Pedia, I promise I’ll stop writing you mini-novels soon. 😉

    @Brad – Your last comment made it sound a little like a band had to be a little more than a single person and a guitar to be good…I’m pretty sure that’s not what you meant (because there is some great wizrock out there that is just one person and their guitar), but it could be construed as such.

    Also, I would like to respectfully disagree with some of your commentary about obscure bands. The musical priorities that the Wizard Rock community embraces (or claims to embrace) don’t put emphasis on technical perfection. That’s always a plus, but we can’t expect to hold wrock bands to that standard if the foundations of the community in general weren’t centered around that. We all appreciate quality music, but I’d argue that “quality” itself is very subjective and if we are going to judge whether bands are “good” or “suck” based on production expertise and musical experience, then that needs to be something written into the non-existing community bylaws. I’ve always been under the impression that Wizard Rock was supposed to be about participation, community, and having fun. Not about trying to impress eachother with our mad skillz.

    Also @Whompy and @Jarrod – Well said.

    I have a small band and put a lot of effort into it…it’s a process, and I can already see a big difference from when I started (with my laptop and some software and no guitar skills and no hope of playing shows) to where I am now (laptop, some better recording equipment and software, some guitar skills, and have played/am scheduled to play shows). It’s been very eye opening, because in my muggle life, I’ve studied with world-class performers, played/sung for sold out standing-room-only crowds with some of my other groups…and wizard rock is an uphill struggle if you’re looking for that kind of recognition…and I think that even the established folks struggle with that. I mean, didn’t Whompy and JFF have a show last summer or fall or something in the SFBay area that absolutely no one went to? Wasn’t there a video or something about that? Everyone struggles sometimes.

    It takes a lot of work and a lot of time and a lot of sacrifice to get where the “top tier” guys are…and I think (most) of us “little guys” understand that. 🙂 With every new thing I do and every new song I write I try to make it better than the last one. That’s musical growth, and that’s how it’s done in many kinds of music. I also think there are a lot of us who don’t really care if we “get famous.” We do what we do because we like it. 🙂

    @Lynne – While I think we can appreciate that you want people to “branch out” and listen to some of the more obscure bands, that doesn’t mean that the people who won a WRPCA are any less deserving. We’re all a little disappointed when the people we vote for don’t win something. My wizard BFF (The Buttermellows) was nominated like 5 times or something and didn’t win a single thing, but I still love her and her music, and in my mind, the nomination is already a win. 🙂 Even being considered should be an honor. And not being considered isn’t the end of the world. I wasn’t one of the nominees and I don’t want to jump off a bridge or anything.

    I do, though, think that the bands who DID win a WRPCA really worked hard and earned it. They got their votes for a reason…because people like what they did.

    I especially appreciated that we got to rank the votes with numbers. It was still tough, but at least I could vote for everyone I love. <3

    I think what people fail to realize (and I saw this float around on Twitter at one point this weekend) is that a LOT of really casual fans vote in the WRPCA's. The people who are hardcore in the scene really DO listen to the obscure folks, but the causal fans tend to do that less – for their own reasons.

    I know there are bands out there who are leaving the Wrock world, and some of them are friends of mine and some are not, and some of the politics can be hard to navigate for some people and it can be really discouraging to try really hard and it doesn't seem like people care (trust me, I know, lol)…and those are all valid reasons…and if a musician isn't comfortable operating in those conditions, then it is their choice to leave or stop performing. Of the bands I know of, though, I haven't heard anyone who is leaving wrock entirely – most seem to be saying that they're going to stick around as fans and friends and such. You shouldn't come into wrock (or music in general) expecting to get famous, or rich, or popular….you should go into it because you like doing it and because it satisfies you in some way.

    If your basis for satisfaction is getting a WRPCA, you might want to reconsider. If your ability to feel that your favorite bands are recognized is based on a WRPCA, you should probably reconsider.

    Not to cheapen anybody's award. I'm incredibly happy for everyone who won. Big congrats! 🙂 <3 <3 <3

    Reply
  39. wrocknquidditch Avatar
    wrocknquidditch

    Ok, so I just wrote a really lengthy reply, but the ‘Pedia ate it…or so I think…unless it suddenly appears…and then I’ll have double posted, which, apologies in advance. This one will be shorter because I’m too lazy to re-write.

    @Brad – I’d like to respectfully disagree with you about the obscure band thing. The Wizard Rock community is one that claims to embrace all participation regardless of technical ability or production quality. If we were going to base “good vs. suck” on musical ability and such, many of our most established bands wouldn’t be our most established bands. We are a genre built with musical flaws…so to say that the obscure bands who “suck” don’t deserve an award because of their technical product is really contradictory to what some bands win awards with. Are we to be more forgiving of the established bands? I don’t think Harry and the Potters are the most musically gifted or brilliantly lyric-ed bands out there, but they’re obviously well-respected and loved, and have won awards…. Granted, there are some other factors that set them apart, but…based on what you said…

    Also @Whompy and @Jarrod – Well said.

    Having a small band myself, I would agree that a tremendous amount of hard work, effort, and sacrifice went in to getting many of the “top tier” guys and gals to where they are. Wizard Rock has been very eye opening to me personally – where I have played sold out standing-room-only shows with my other groups but can barely scratch an audience in wizrock…it’s a lesson in marketing yourself, and in personal and musical growth. (Though for many of us “little guys” we like what we do just fine and don’t depend on mass-popularity to be happy. 🙂 Though that would be nice.)

    I also agree that all of the bands that won a WRPCA worked hard for it and earned it and deserve it.

    That’s not to say that OTHER bands don’t also deserve recognition, but that’s how the voting process works. There’s success enough for everyone who wants it, but that doesn’t mean everyone can win everything every time. 🙂

    @Lynne – See above, and also…

    We’re all disappointed when the people we vote for don’t win. My wizard BFF (The Buttermellows) was nominated like 5 times or something, and didn’t “win” anything… but really it’s an honor just to be nominated and appreciated enough to be considered. Success is not defined by this ONE award process.

    I saw this floating around on Twitter this week, and I think @Wrockstock said it, but a TON of casual wrock fans vote in the WRPCA’s. And yeah, it’d be ideal if a lot of those people “branched out” and listened to some of the less-known stuff, but that’s not reality. People have their reasons for what they listen to. And it’s always good to expand…but you can’t expect everyone to listen to every band…or LIKE every band. The people who are hardcore involved in the community DO try to listen to more bands. I know a bunch of people who have been working (or have worked) their way down the list here on the Wizrocklopedia…just to hear everyone that they can. People aren’t apathetic, they just have different levels of engagement with the community. That’s something that us “little bands” need to remember and why we are constantly trying to reach out to new people. It’s a process.

    And I think you might be a little confused. I don’t think any of the wrock bands leaving the scene this year are leaving it because of the WRPCAs. I know/have met/spoken with a bunch of these folks, and some of them are very dear friends, and there are other factors that have gone into their decision to leave their wrock bands behind. Not JUST lack of recognition. And everyone I’ve spoken with about it still plans to hang around as fans and friends. However, if they choose to leave, that is their decision. While wrock is a community that is uncommonly supportive of amateur music, it’s still pretty competitive…and it’s hard to get a “break” into that top tier. And some people just can’t or don’t wish to operate under those conditions. And some people will try their butts off for years and they’ll never get there no matter how much effort they put in. That’s the nature of music performance. And I can respect anyone’s decision if they choose not to take part in it anymore, and you should do the same.

    And lastly,

    Congrats to everyone who won! I’m really excited for everyone! <3 <3 <3

    Guess this ended up longer than I thought it would be. xD

    Reply

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