In this interview spotlight, I chat with Harry and the Potters about their music, challenges, technology and more.
You can catch the band live in Nashville on August 17th at The Basement East. Tickets here.
You can pre-order their upcoming Lumos. The release is scheduled for June 21st (2019).
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
Hi. My brother Joe and I grew up in the Boston suburbs. We started a band 17 years ago called Harry and the Potters. We play songs about the Harry Potter books and have toured libraries all over the country. This has become know as a genre of music called “wizard rock.”
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
We thought it would be cool if Harry Potter had his own punk rock band. So we made the band, put out a CD, made a website, and then learned that there was a whole huge fandom for Harry Potter. Once that fandom learned about us, we pretty quickly had a fairly large audience who was interested in our music. That enabled us to start touring and eventually we found we had become professional wizards.
What keeps us going is that we are artists who like making things and enjoy performing. We’re so fortunate to have found an audience who is interested in our goofy ideas and that audience has become a big source or encouragement. This is our first full-length album in 13 years and it would have never happened if folks we’re still coming out to our shows and singing along with us.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
This is the most political album we’ve made. We wanted to create a rally call for the generation of Harry Potter fans that has come of age in a world where cartoonish villains occupy the halls of power. We wanted to remind folks that this is a pathway forward. Now is the time for Dumbledore’s Army, for the Order of the Phoenix. We are being called upon to become the heroes that this moment necessitates.
For the parents raising a younger generation who are reading these books for the first time, we wanted to offer an opportunity to connect the dots: the systems facilitating oppression in the wizard world – state-run media, children being separated from their mixed-blood parents, surveillance systems, and pureblood supremacy – strongly echo the daily reality of creeping neo-fascism.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
I’m just so grateful for MySpace. It was a music-centered social network that facilitated an organic and very pure way to engage with music. It leveled the playing field and opened up so many doors for us by enabling us to communicate directly with fans and book tours. Now the gatekeepers are back. Almost everything that makes its way to our eyes and ears is governed by algorithms and I find it so exhausting to consider the consequence to every click. There’s a silicon valley agenda behind the creation of those algorithms and, as a society, we’re only starting to wrestle with how that affects the way we communicate.
What was the last song you listened to?
“Matthews Comes Alive” by Don Lennon. Our friend Zach Burba (from the band iji) turned us onto this album “Downtown” by Don Lennon. It’s a wonderful, criminally obscure concept album about musicians and I could not recommend it more highly.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl. I’m very process-oriented and love the intentionality that comes with listening to music on vinyl.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Bandcamp because it’s the best way to directly support an artist you love.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
harryandthepotters.com will point you right
Anything else before we sign off?
Hermione is awesome. Elect more women. Impeach Trump. Check out the Harry Potter Alliance. Also, we are playing an early show (3:30pm) in Nashville at The Basement East on August 17.
