Harry Potter-inspired rock is onstage magic

Wizard Rock: The Whomping Willows, Justin Finch-Fletchley ‘amp; The Sugar Quills and Tonks ‘amp;… Wizard Rock: The Whomping Willows, Justin Finch-Fletchley ‘amp; The Sugar Quills and Tonks ‘amp; the Aurors Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. Your Inner Vagabond Coffeehouse 4130 Butler St., Lawrenceville 412-683-1623 Harry Potter doesn’t exactly scream rock ‘n’ roll attitude. But to many of his musically talented fans, he’s the perfect inspiration. ‘After being really bummed out about the fact that Millicent Bulstrode wouldn’t dance with me at the Yule Ball, I sat down with a bottle of butterbeer and started paying attention to the band that evening, the Weird Sisters,’ recalled Justin Edward Michaelman in an e-mail to The Pitt News. Well, no, he didn’t really interact with classmates and characters from Harry Potter’s magical world. However, Harry Potter’s world certainly inspired Michaelman, along with multitudes of other fans. Wizard rock, the genre that began with Harry and the Potters in Massachusetts and is composed simply of music about or inspired by Harry Potter, has since spread throughout America and internationally. An entire site known as the Wizrocklopedia has developed as a base, reporting on and promoting the world’s wizard rock bands. Of course, only three of the 500 and growing bands can reasonably fit within a coffeehouse. The featured groups will be The Whomping Willows, Justin Finch-Fletchley ‘amp; The Sugar Quills, and Tonks ‘amp; The Aurors. The bands each differ in their specific song styles, with instruments varying from guitars to keyboards and tambourines. The focus switches between bands, too. The Whomping Willows likes to focus on the abusive tree from the novels. Justin Finch-Fletchley ‘amp; The Sugar Quills has a song about the sweet shop where wizard snacks are sold, and Tonks ‘amp; The Aurors has many about, well, Tonks the Auror. Still, the roots that the bands share remain the same as that of all Harry Potter readers and fans. ‘The values and ideals are a big draw,’ said Michaelman. ‘Also, in one way or another, as a reader, it is easy for someone to find an indirect personal relation to a certain theme or event that happens to Harry or another more prominently featured character.’ Michaelman is the head of the group known as Justin Finch-Fletchley ‘amp; The Sugar Quills. The group’s goal has been to encourage artists of all varieties to continue to fight for their dreams. His advice? ‘Don’t stop believing in yourself, and eat more pizza.’ Finding other Harry Potter fans to support the bands was a key factor in wizard rock success, and thanks to the technology available now, it wasn’t hard to promote music. Stephanie Anderson of the band known as Tonks ‘amp; The Aurors used the Internet to her full advantage after the conclusion of the series inspired her to write out her song ideas. ‘I recorded two demos first and put them on the band’s Myspace. Thanks to the Wizrocklopedia, I gained a good number of fans quickly, and people responded really well to the songs,’ said Anderson. In theme with Harry Potter, the assistance from comrades and friends was an important factor in Anderson’s promotion. ‘I’ll also say that Matt Maggiaccomo … has also been a big help. Since after the first show I played with him, he’s encouraged people to listen to my music and book me for shows,’ reflected Anderson. ‘He helped me gain some respect from wizard rock veterans.’ Matt Maggiaccomo of The Whomping Willows has done more than promote his fellow wizard rock members. He has involved himself in The HP Alliance as a board member for the group. Maggiaccomo was not available for comment because of his touring schedule. But according to the HP Alliance’s Web site, ‘The Harry Potter Alliance is dedicated to using the examples of Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore to spread love and fight the Dark Arts in the real world. Please join us in creating the real Dumbledore’s Army.’ Harry Potter’s storyline has been compared to worldwide issues in multiple ways ‘mdash; from genocide to government ignorance. Even wizard rock music, which is often fun, chipper and meant to bring smiles to the fan base’s faces, has its moments of darkness. Of course, not all dark moments have to involve politics ‘mdash; heartbreak is as common in wizard rock as in the mainstream. ‘Some of my songs are ’bout pretty heavy subjects,’ said Anderson. In line with the namesake of her group, she discussed how her songs deal with the relationship between Harry Potter characters Tanks and Lupin ‘mdash; two characters who fall in love but have some serious differences and issues to work through. ‘It’s these universal themes that lend themselves to music, but there’s just Harry Potter references thrown in here and there,’ added Anderson. ‘There’s definitely nothing funny about these songs, but they’re still wizard rock. And I love them a lot.’