Wizard Rock!

by Jordan Yerman | July 19, 2007 at 11:18 am

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What'a fascinating about this story isn't that the bandmembers are kids. Nor that the songs are based on Harry Potter. Nor that they grasp the inherent humor in homonyms. The real juice here is that these lads (all under ten years of age) have produced, publicized and released their own music via free online tools.
This sort of DIY action should make the recording industry sweat: a generation of rockers growing up without the hard-wired need for label support.

"We're the Hungarian Horntails! Are you ready to burn this place down into a fiery wreck?" yells 8-year-old Darius Wilkins, onstage with bandmates Rayn Feeney, 9, and his younger brother, Holden, 5. They're in the middle of sound check on a muggy Saturday afternoon in June at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn. Seconds later, there's another high-pitched yelp from Darius: "We're the Hungarian Horntails, and we're going to blow this place up with fire and rock!"
[...]
The Horntails are named after characters from "The Goblet of Fire," and their songs have titles like "Kill the Basilisk" and "Which Witch Is Which?" Their first album is called "Burn Voldemort's Butt."
[...]
Wizard rock has spread with the speed of an Internet meme, with bands
forming as far away as Russia, Norway and Australia, and with a range
of funny names like Tom Riddle and Friends, expecto patrAWESOME! (a pun
on the "Expecto Patronum" incantation), and the Hermione Crookshanks
Experience. The bands are 50 percent female and tend to feature teens
and kids.