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Harry and the Potters
w/Math, The Band/Uncle Monsterface, 7 p.m. Friday, July 4, Crowbar, Ybor City, $10 (advance) $12 (door); all ages.
When you see a band dubbed Harry and the Potters scheduled to play an indie-rock/death-metal venue like Crowbar in Ybor City, it's natural to assume there's a whiff of irony in the name. At least that's what a few colleagues and I surmised. Head Potter Paul DeGeorge, though, sounds genuinely taken aback by the notion. "No, not at all," he says. "It's just a stupid band name. In fact, I had the band name first. I thought, 'What if Harry Potter had a band?'"
So the name is in no way a reference to anyone in Harry and the Potters being, y'know, pot smokers?
"No. Only a select few go down that route," Paul says with a giggle, "like you and your co-workers, apparently."
Fair enough.
Paul, 29, has parlayed serious Harry Potter fandom -- he writes the songs from the perspective of the fictional protagonist -- into a successful DIY music career. Accomplishments include three full-lengths issued on Paul's own Eskimo Laboratories imprint, praise from the likes of Pitchfork and, well, pioneering a new genre called "wizard rock." Believe it or not, since Harry and the Potters formed in 2002, hundreds of other bands from across the globe have devoted their musical output to Potterdom. Wikipedia says: "Wizard rock (sometimes shorthanded as 'WRock') is a musical movement dating from 2002 that consists of at least 450 bands (including Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, The Remus Lupins, Kingsley and the Shacklebolts, and the Whomping Willows), made up of young musicians playing songs about Harry Potter."
Paul explains that he invented the term "wizard rock" out of necessity when the band first started touring and talking to reporters. "They would ask, 'What style of music do you play?'" Paul recalls. "And I'd say, 'Well, we play wizard rock.' Genre terms are meaningless, anyway. Like 'post punk.' What does that really say? I guess 'wizard rock' just sort of caught on when other bands started doing what we were doing."
So what does wizard rock sound like? A lot of things, but in this case it's a mix of embryonic They Might Be Giants and sloppy Ramones, with Paul at times struggling to sing on key. That said, the band compensates for what it lacks in chops with endearing lyrics (especially if you're a J.K. Rowling junkie) delivered with blissed-out enthusiasm.
Harry and the Potters' current national headlining tour, called Unlimited Enthusiasm, kicked off last week in Cambridge, Mass., near the band's hometown. The all-ages-friendly show arrives at Crowbar on Independence Day. In addition to Paul, (lead vocals/guitar, chief songwriter), the band includes Paul's younger brother Joe DeGeorge (synthesizer/vocals) and new member John Clardy (drums). All three men are in their 20s -- incidentally, Joe turns 21 July 4 -- and will be dressed in the same garb worn by the fictional teenage (and younger) male students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
They'll perform titles like "New Wizard Anthem," "Save Ginny Weasley" and "Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock!" "Our shows are like really awesome rock shows; we try and make it a real spectacle," Paul says. "People are usually really sweaty at the end and tell us, 'That was awesome.'
"It's going to be a nonstop three-hour assault; we want to have people constantly smiling for three hours. We'll be slamming tons of Mountain Dew before the show."
Paul's zeal for delivering a killer time for his mostly young fanbase -- tweens, teens, 20somethings, 30- and 40something parents with their grade-schoolers -- is matched only by his passion for the Potter books. He started reading them nine years ago while working as a chemical engineer in Cambridge. He has since pored over the lengthy fantasy tomes much the same way monks do the Bible. "I guess I've read them all twice completely, front to back," Paul says. "But then there's this or that favorite chapter that I really like and have read so many times. And I jump around if I'm doing research for a song. All told, I've read each book twice and listened to all of them on cassette in the van one tour -- that was cool."
Paul DeGeorge is probably twice the age of the average Harry and the Potters fan. I have to ask the dude if the thought of turning 30 has prompted him to consider hanging up his wand. "That's funny you should ask that," Paul say good-naturedly. "It's something that's been on my mind. I used to say by the time you're 30 years old you should pack it in if you're in a band. I've had that thought eating away at me. I used to tell friends who were in bands that when you turn 30 it's time to retire unless you're Robert Pollard [Guided by Voices] or Bruce Springsteen."
Paul laughs nervously and then continues: "But, now, I don't know if that's true. You get older and all of a sudden you say, 'I'm not that old, look at these other guys older than me out there doing it.' Plus, I still feel like a kid. Maybe it's because I have this job that's so playful and fun."
COMMENTS
RE: Potter for punks
Posted by naturalbornfoodie on 07.08.08 @ 01:26 AM
awesome!!!