The Whomping Willows (Blog)

Hey fellow wizard rockers! Remember that time in 2007 when interviewers constantly asked us this annoying question: “Now that the books are ending, do you think wizard rock will fade away?”

And remember a few weeks later at Prophecy when wizard rockers and their amazing fans turned the HP fan community upside down with a rock n’ roll show attended by 1,000 screaming fans?

Haven’t you noticed how the whole 1,000-screaming-fans-at-a-wizard-rock show has been repeated at conventions every summer since then?

Okay. Here’s another question: Remember when only four or five wizard rock bands toured full time? Those were the days. Harry and the Potters and Draco and the Malfoys dominated the summer, while The Remus Lupins and The Whomping Willows… also dominated the summer. Occasionally local wizard rock bands would join for shows here and there, but really… touring was something that only happened if you were 1) extremely popular and 2) not tied down to a normal day job or school.

Then 2010 happened. How many bands toured in 2010? Off the top of my head: Harry and the Potters, The Remus Lupins, The Whomping Willows, Tonks and the Aurors, Justin Finch-Fletchley, The Moaning Myrtles, The Parselmouths, Draco and the Malfoys, Snidget, Fred and George, Gred and Forge, Nagini, Muggle Mike, The Butterbeer Experience, I Speak Tree, The Nifflers, Fred Lives, Witherwings, The Blibbering Humdingers, The Sweetwater All-Stars…

There must be more. Like I said, this is just off the top of my head, and I don’t keep track of everything that happens in wizard rock. Seriously though. AT LEAST TWENTY BANDS TOURED IN 2010. Just days into 2011, wizard rock is already seeing its first tour, courtesy of Snidget, Nagini, Muggle Mike, Fred and George, and Apparation Nation. That’s FIVE bands that have already taken to the road, and we’re sitting at January 7. Within the next two weeks, the number of touring wizard rock bands in 2011 will be nine (The Whomping Willows, JFF, Lauren Fairweather, and The Remus Lupins — and the number might reach ten if Tonks and the Aurors joins us for a few shows in February).

So. Keep a straight face and tell me that wizard rock is dead. Really, go for it!

I’m not sure when bands and fans started transitioning from laughing at that notion to believing it. I would guess that some bigger bands are planning to exit the scene and want to be able to justify it by saying it’s over. Maybe. 

The thing is that wizard rock’s bigger bands haven’t owned this scene since the end of 2005. Once the explosion of bands happened, wizard rock’s ownership transitioned to the fans, many of whom began making their own music. 750 bands later, dozens of touring bands later, wizard rock is still a vibrant scene and there are scenes within the scene that thrive on a local level. Look at what The Blibbering Humdingers have created in North Carolina, and how their scene has expanded to include bands that live in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Look at the scenes in St. Louis, Orlando, Chicago. Do those scenes look at all dead? Look at how Tonks and the Aurors has almost single-handedly revived wizard rock in Ohio. The list goes on and on.

I’m not oblivious to reality. I live in a city that is home to both members of Draco and the Malfoys, half of The Moaning Myrtles, and (of course) The Whomping Willows. We are all considered to be among the seven most influential and successful wizard rock bands of all time. And yet, there is no wizard rock scene in our city. There never has been.

But if we book a show just a few hours away in NYC, and bring our pal JFF who lives a few towns away, we’ll pack the house with no trouble.

You can say it’s about our bands being successful bands, regardless of our genre or scene, but the reality is that we are successful BECAUSE of our scene. Harry Potter fans who love music — these are the people who’ve made us successful, and these are the people who can continue to make us successful, if they want to.

They can also choose to make other bands successful, and there are many to choose from. Wizard rock might be more concentrated than it was a few years ago, but I would say with confidence that the quality of the music has improved significantly since the days when relentless demos were being released by literally hundreds of bands. There are fewer bands making music overall, but the number of touring bands and quasi-professional sounding bands has increased A LOT — if you know where to look, that is.

Sure, some wizard rockers have found more success in other places, and they’ve naturally gravitated toward those more successful pursuits. You can’t fault them for that. You can (and should) continue to support these people in their new endeavors, because they are the same people you’ve loved for three or four or five years. At the same time, you can also look beyond werewolves and magical trees and evil blonde-haired brats and boys with lightning-bolt scars. Explore the scene further and you’ll find a hammered dulcimer, a very evil snake with an appetite for Weasleys, a girl who can communicate with vegetation, and another incarnation of Harry Potter — who raps.

As always, and as with anything else, the future is up to you.