Slytherin Soundtrack has just released their latest full length wizard rock release “Unplottable” which can be downloaded free of charge (like nearly all of their releases) from their Bandcamp page. Over the past few years, Slytherin Soundtrack has been one of the most prolific wizard rock bands, constantly releasing new EPs and full lengths while contributing to compilation albums in between their own albums.

On the heels of their latest release, we spoke with Brett Holden, the primary member of the Slytherin Soundtrack, to learn more about the band’s history, his approach to writing and releasing wizard rock, and the freedom to create whatever comes to mind within the realm of wizard rock.

Wizrocklopedia: First and foremost – can you give us a little background on Slytherin Soundtrack, and what got you started as a wizard rock band?

Brett: Slytherin Soundtrack came about not long after I stopped making wrock under the name Prophets of Godric’s Hollow. When I started PoGH back in 2007, I didn’t know how to play any instruments or how to make electronic music. I was just an awkward sixteen year old kid obsessed with Harry Potter and had only just discovered wizard rock (although I had remembered reading about Harry and the Potters around 2004 in a neurologist’s office). As I was dissatisfied with my singing, I decided I wanted to only make instrumental music. This is when I came up for the idea of Slytherin Soundtrack (a play off of Motion City Soundtrack). I quickly realized that wasn’t very fun particularly as the songs might as well have not been wizard rock for anyone knew. So, I decided to suck it up and sing and play my guitar. There was an in between period when I thought I could make the music and have others sing on it (that EP was called “Even if It Splinches Me” and had The First Task is Dragons, Miss Parkinson and Leth I. Fold doing vocal work).

What gave you the final push to do everything yourself with Slytherin Soundtrack?

I think foremost because I wanted the music to be a representation of me. So, that’s going to be all the flaws that come with that whether it be out of tune singing, discordant music and so on. With “Even If It Splinches Me”, it felt almost like other people had made those songs especially since I even had the other wrock artists write the lyrics. So I literally only had a hand in the instrumentals. I wanted to make wrock that was me from top to bottom.

Who would you say your biggest musical influences are, both muggle and wrock?

In terms of wrock, Harry and the Potters is the biggest one. Swish and Flick is another for sure. As for muggle music, Coheed and Cambria and Modest Mouse.

That’s a pretty diverse group! I suppose it’s appropriate though, given the different styles you cover from song to song.

Yes, I definitely don’t stick to a particular style. Like on the most recent album, there’s pop rock, metal, hip hop, punk and an acoustic ballad, It’s just more fun to have a variety particularly as I’m doing this simply for fun in my spare time.

That’s certainly noticeable across your releases – you can go from an acoustic, quiet almost whispercore song right into a fuzzed out hip hop track! How are you creating your tracks, as far as instruments and recording goes?

When I first started out, I was using Audacity (which I still use) and a Guitar Hero microphone. I was initially playing with a Maestro by Gibson which is beginner guitar and I would sing and record at the same time. I would also find Creative Commons and public domain loops and sound effects. I’m now using an Alvarez acoustic and a music program called MAGIX Music Maker. Any electric guitar is usually me writing parts in MIDI format and then using the music program to synthesize the electric guitar sound as I don’t actually own my own electric yet. I’m also using a Samson Go-Mic instead of a toy microphone so that’s a step.

Hey, go with whatever works, right?

Right. I’m glad for those who have been able to do their wrock music in a studio or simply with better equipment overall but I can still turn out some decent quality things from time to time with my meager set up. I think there are several other wrock artists who are using similar set ups and are making music just as good as Ministry of Magic.

Speaking of turning things out… you’ve become quite prolific over the past few years. EPs and albums seem to come only a few months apart, especially for something you consider a hobby! You seem to really enjoy creating new music.

I do. I’m currently in college with a part time job so I have quite a bit of free time. I think it’s also easier to put out new music faster than if this was more of a traditional band format. My fiancee has helped out on a couple songs but I’m really just free to plug in my mic, pick up my guitar and record whatever.

Given that you just released another full length, do you have any plans for future releases yet?

No current plans. Things are going to get pretty hectic for me soon with school and other things in my life. So it’s likely that I won’t have anything new for awhile except for maybe one off songs. I’m planning on doing a b-side/demo release at some point.

Understood! Let me just toss this one out there, to wrap things up – if you could collaborate with any one wrock band or musician, who would it be and why?

Probably Alex Boyd. I feel we have quite a bit of similarities and I’ve met him and talked to him a couple times. I think it would be pretty easy and seamless.

I certainly hope you get the opportunity, and I agree that would definitely prove to be an interesting collaboration. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, Brett!

Thank You!