Potter craze summons up wizard rock

NORWALK, Conn., June 29 (UPI) -- The Harry Potter phenomenon has cast its spell into the musical realm, conjuring up a new genre of music in the United States called wizard rock.

"There's never been anything like this before. There's never been a series of books that has inspired a genre," said Norwalk, Conn., Public Library librarian Vicki Oatis, who organized a show featuring Whomping Willows and Draco and the Malfoys.

Wizard rock bands play all types of music from folk to metal. The common thread is each group chooses a character from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter stories and writes songs from that character's perspective, The Stamford (Conn.) Advocate reported Friday.

Draco and the Malfoys, named after Harry's academic nemesis, started two years ago after brothers Brad Mehlenbacher and Brian Ross of Woonsocket, R.I., attended a party thrown by members of Harry and the Potters, the newspaper said.

The brothers saw wizard rock had legs.

The pair said they had fun trying to figure out why Draco's so mean, Mehlenbacher said. Their lyrics are written tongue-in-cheek, and all but the very youngest Harry Potter fans seem to understand that.

"Little kids really take it personally," Ross, 32, told the Advocate. "They yell at us."