Filk, the music that is looked down on. But what is it deep down, what is its relation to wizard rock, and why do I think filkers and wizard rockers have a lot in common?

Because both filk and wizard rock have a do-it-yourself and anyone can play attitude, both in theory and in practice. Both are shaped by a dual love of music and of literature. Both value emotional earnestness. Both at times struggle with how to reconcile their values as a community with what is presented on the page or is done by celebrated creators. Both value humour as an artistic expression. Both try to express the experience of being a fan in a muggle world—or Mundania, as old-school sf fans call it—in various situations. Both are simultaneously genres and communities. And both are unapologetically fannish.

Filk, to me, is the music tradition and musical community that started to develop in the 50’s from the overlap between science fiction fandom and American folk music—think Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, or Peter, Paul & Mary. This is a similar definition to describing wizard rock as the garage rock of Harry Potter fandom. Filk isn’t limited to an American folkie style, just as wizard rock isn’t limited to garage rock, but their respective origins shape how the musical communities are structured. They are both examples of fannish music, a very nebolous grouping which also includes LARP and reenactment music, nerdcore, chiptunes, geek rock, and so on.

There are some who use filk as a shorthand for all—or most—fannish music, and I believe the idea that wizard rock is filk comes from that perspective. There is some validity to that shorthand, in that filk was the first fannish music, and that it is impossible to make a definition of filk based on musical content that manages to both encompass most filk while excluding most wizard rock, but I think it obscures more than it illuminates. It stirs up fan drama as soon as “filk” is meant or read pejoratively. Most importantly, I think it fails to recognise the community aspect of both filk and wizard rock.

The understanding of the meaning of the word “filk” isn’t helped by that filkers tend to use the word like the smurfs use the word “smurf”.

So what can you expect if you are a wizard rock act that has been invited to a filk con, or you want to go see The Blibbering Humdingers—who happen to be both filkers, wizard rockers, and SCA bards—at a nearby filk con? Read on in part 2!