When wizard rock started way, way back in the day (100 years ago, it seems that way) it was 2 brothers playing in their backyard, who quickly started dragging their guitars and keyboard to other backyards and basements. When some other bands joined in, they usually grabbed their acoustic guitar and set up in a bookstore or library to sing their songs about Harry, Ron, Hermione, and all their friends (and enemies too).
Then, somewhere along the line, wrock became polished. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just that singing your songs on an acoustic guitar started to take second place to music that had more of a layered sound and recorded in some semblance of a studio instead of your living room. GarageBand loops became very familiar as music began to sound more “pro”. Wrock fans got a different experience hearing this music instead of what they were used to hearing at a library show featuring tired but happy touring performers who all shared one guitar.
Wizard rock’s boundaries expanded as more bands began releasing music – nearly every style was present, from rock to punk to folk to celtic to orchestral to metal to rap to you-name-it. And that was a good thing. A VERY good thing, because it exposed listeners to new styles they may not have gravitated towards if the lyrics weren’t about the Potter Universe.
Shows began becoming huge. Instead of singing to 10 kids sitting on the floor, it was hundreds (if not thousands, in a few instances) of fans staring up at the performers on a stage, hearing their music blasting out of huge soundsystems. Shortly after that, Team Starkid took the world by storm with their elaborate musicals, introducing a new generation of Potter fans to wizard rock.
Or did they?
What this long winded and drawn out (but relevant) introduction leads to is actually a simple question:
What IS wizard rock in 2013?
You may have noticed that recently we’ve featured songs and performances by musicians that wouldn’t traditionally be called wizard rock. We’ve shared songs by individuals that happened to write a song about something Harry Potter related, we’ve posted videos from geek rock bands that wrote a song that they tagged as wizard rock, and we featured a lengthy review about a fantastic wizard rap mixtape released by some musicians that really don’t identify themselves as wizard rockers because they do so much more with their work. One of our very first posts after the ‘pedia reboot featured someone asking what it meant to call themselves a “wizard rocker”.
So we want to know – what does “wizard rock” mean to you in 2013? Can it be just a few songs released by someone who writes about many other nerdy topics? Would you happily buy and play just those songs, or more of their work? Is wizard rock something that needs to be performed on a stage with lighting and a soundsystem, or is it at it’s heart something that can be shared with a handful of other people in your friend’s living room?
Let us know your thoughts below! We’re all very curious to hear what fans and performers think as we continue to feature various bands and news/releases here at the Wizrocklopedia.
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