Welcome back to Wrock Talk! I hope that you all had a relaxing winter holiday and a nice new year! Today, we have the pleasure of learning more about Losing Lara, a Colorado-based musician, nerd enthusiast, and wrocker extraordinaire whom I first ‘met’ via the Wizard Rock Revival group back in 2017 on a post discussing wrock parody songs. Compared to some of the bands in the wizard rock scene, Lara is fairly new, but in the few years that she has been active, she has nonetheless managed to assemble quite the discography! (For what it’s worth, my favorite song of hers is “Cursed Child Isn’t Canon,” which sums ups my exact feelings about a certain sequel-that-shall-not-be-named.)

Paul: Long ago, in the primordial mists of history (aka, any time before today) you started your career as a wrock musician. Would you mind regaling us with this mystical of tales?

Lara: I have always been a singer, but really struggled learning how to play instruments.  I bought a ukulele around 2013 when it got really popular on YouTube and taught myself to play.  From there, all I really wanted to write was songs about tv shows, movies, and all the nerdy stuff I liked.  The first wrock song I wrote was about Ron and Hermione not even knowing that the wizard rock community was a thing.  I had listened to a few songs in high school, but completely forgot about it!  It wasn’t until I got the chance to perform at VidCon in 2014 and saw other wizard rockers that I realized there was a whole genre and I’ve been writing wizard rock ever since.

Paul: Music doesn’t exist in a vacuum (unless it was made in space, but I digress). Who would you say are your biggest inspirations, both in terms of lyrics and music?

Lara: I think I’m very bad at emulating other artists and maybe that’s a good thing?  I will hear a style of a song I really love and want to make something similar and then it comes out completely different.  I have no idea if I sound like any artist in particular.  I really love dodie; whenever she puts out new music I get really inspired to write.  Also Noah Kahan, Joseph, or Oh Wonder  I don’t have a lot of artists whose music as a whole particularly resonates with me, but more just a style of music.  I just like really simple, but well done instrumentals with interesting and honest lyrics.  As long as an artist has at least one song like that then I’ll usually like it.

Paul: An aspect of wizard rock that I have long loved is that everyone is writing and recording music in their bedroom, or their basement, or a spare bathroom, etc. What is your writing and recording process like?

Lyrics always come first.  Once I know what I want to say I can find a chord progression that fits the feel I’m going for.  I also use what I call my “Nerd Filter” where I want to write about a feeling or event that I am experiencing, but I have a hard time putting my own thoughts into words.  So I’ll think of something in a story I love that could be similar.  Whether that is from Harry Potter, Buffy, or D&D, I can usually find a situation those characters went through that’s similar and I have a much easier time expressing that feeling through them.  Sometimes this process will takes several months either writing a piece of a song down quickly and then forgetting about it for awhile or I will write and record the entire thing in the span of two hours.  There’s no in between.

Recording music is a whole different ball game that I struggle with.  I will usually try and get a scratch track down and then build on it, but it usually takes me several tries to get through a full recording that I am comfortable with.  After that I really like to build on it vocally.  This is where dodie’s influence comes in a little bit because I really love all the different harmonies she does so I like playing around with my recording and seeing how many different layers of vocals I can put in.

Paul: I love the bit about the “nerd filter”! Bradley Mehlenbacher of Draco and the Malfoys noted something similar in the documentary film We Are Wizards (great minds think alike it seems)! Another aspect of wizard rock is the spontaneity of the fandom. you never know what is going to happen. Has there been anything unexpectedly awesome that happened to you while wrocking out?

Lara: Definitely getting to go on tour with Steph and Tianna for Yes All Witches.  I was not expecting that whatsoever and it’s not something I ever imagined I would have the opportunity to do.  I had a lot of fun getting to travel around and just play music for two weeks; it was fantastic and I’m forever grateful for that experience.  I am continually surprised when people invite me to play for anything and I’m just happy that I have been able to keep being a part of shows and events, even in quarantine.  I miss getting to play in person so I’m glad we’ve been able to keep that going with all the fantastic people who work to organize the events.

Paul: What are you hoping to accomplish here in the future, and where do you think wizard rock is headed? After all, it’s been a rough couple years being a fan of the HP series, what with JK Rowling’s anti-trans rhetoric and everything…

Lara: I really debated with myself earlier last year if I wanted to keep writing wizard rock because I was so angry at JK Rowling.  I just couldn’t think of anything I wanted to write about because it was too hard.  Luckily I’ve been able to find my way back a little and that is in large part due to the Wizard Rock community.  I keep telling myself I’ll make a new EP someday so we’ll see when or if that happens, but it will probably be under a different band name.  For now, I am just enjoying getting to write an occasional song for fun, or for the Wizard Rock Compilation that Grace Kendall does or the doing the Wizard Rock Cover Swaps that TK of Totally Knuts puts together.  I also hope to keep playing shows whether they are local cons in Colorado or other events.

Wizard rock is something that I think is going to keep getting new listeners and new performers.  No matter how big or small the community, it’s going to continue for a very long time.  Good music can sometimes just be good music, but when you combine it with a story that even now, new generations are growing up with, wizard rock has an extra sense of connection and even a sense of being a part of the music that is really different and special.

Paul: OK, the final—and most important—question. Newt Scamander just showed up on your doorstep with a suspicious package. Inside the box is an animal, and Newt asks you to babysit the critter for just “a few hours.” What is it you are looking after? Are you up to the task?

Lara: I immediately just switched to D&D brain.  I’m not sure what it should be, but something big and weird like a Hippocampus or Swooping Evil would be fun because man, I have no idea if I’m up for the task, but I got my call to action, so let’s see what happens, right? (Unless it’s some sort of snake and then Newt is on his own.)

If you want to know more about Lara, check out her Twitter and her YouTube accounts. You can also download her music from Bandcamp, and you should definitely check out her Etsy shop for all your crafting needs!