Hello magical friends, especially James, the newest member of the WZRD Radio Patreon! Hi James!
I’m your hostwitch Bess and I’ve got a very special guest today. Your own—and my own—Slytherspouse! Not just the technical know-how behind the WZRD Radio radio station, he’s also a wizard rocker in his own right.
We’ll dig into what makes him tick in a minute, but first, let’s hear some music.
This is The Whomping Willows with “Sometimes I Feel Ugly.”
~*~
That was The Whomping Willows singing “Sometimes I Feel Ugly,” “On the Importance of Media Literacy Under Authoritarian Rule” by Harry and the Potters [lyrics], The Weasel King singing “The Flying Motorbike” [lyrics], and “Up to Something” by The Bandon Banshees.
“Sometimes I Feel Ugly” was a special request from WZRD’s precious patron James.
And now, here’s Kevin from Slytherspouse!
Welcome to the show, Kevin of Slytherspouse.
Kevin: Thank you so much. Happy to be here.
I think this is gonna be really fun because while I know a lot about your wizard rock journey, because you are in fact, my Slytherspouse, you’re pretty new and little reticent on the scene. So it’ll be fun to, to dig into you as a band.
Kevin: I’ll be honest, I’m kind of surprised that I was asked on, but I’m happy to, to be here to share my very short journey so far.
You were reviewed glowing terms on the ‘Pedia, of course I had to have you on.
Kevin: <laugh>
So I like to start with how you got into wizard rock, what’s your history?
Kevin: Uh, that’s a good question. So… I think I’ve been sort of on the outskirts of wizard rock for close to 15 years, primarily because my wife—you—I’m not really sure how to refer to you here, but primarily because you have been into wizard rock about that, that time. Now, I… it was a long time before I went into a show. Um, and it was honestly a long time before I really, like, listened to and liked any wizard rock. I think the first thing that I really liked was “The Peverell Story” by the Butterbeer Experience. That… it, it gave me chills whenever I would listen to it. And so we’d listen to it on long car rides, um, when we were driving places and I really, really loved it and that sort of eased me in. And then, you know, from there just as I listened to more of it—mostly around the house playing all the time—came across more of it that I liked. Of course I like making my wife happy and her smile and laugh. And so whenever I can pick up something from her habits, from your habits that I can, I can add to my, you know, to jokes that I make around the house, or just comments that I make, references, I like to do that. Cause it makes you smile.
Wizard rock names are so varied. I like to know where each band’s name came from. I feel like we can guess, but why did you decide on Slytherspouse instead of something else?
Kevin: Yeah. Uh, obviously the origin of the name Slytherspouse comes from, uh, you, I think trying to protect my identity whenever you talk about me online or in the wizard rock circles, which I really appreciate. And I kind of figured when I had, you know, my idea for my “Eponymous” EP that, you know, I was already sort of known a little bit by Slytherspouse. And also actually I think before I made any music tracks, I made a drawing for one of the Butter Bean… Butter, uh, nope!
Bertie Botts.
Kevin: Thank you. One of the Bertie Botts Every Flavor, uh, challenges on the ‘Pedia and I registered as Slytherspouse there just cause it was the only thing I can think of at the time. And so I, it kind of, I guess, grew from that specifically.
Did you consider any other names?
Kevin: No, I feel like by the time I got to the, the music part, uh, I had already registered, so that was… that was it. And leading up to that, I didn’t really feel the need to have anything else. So kind of, I kind of fell into it, I guess.
Now you mentioned that I tricked you into enjoying the genre with the Butterbeer Experience.
Kevin: Yes, definitely.
Are there other wizard rockers that you admire?
Kevin: Yeah, there, there are just so many wizard rockers that I admire and it’s, it’s really amazing to see the community. I mean, you’ve got like really well polished, uh, music, like of course, you know, Swish and Flick, which I really appreciate as a Slytherin to have some representation that’s not just “oh, they’re evil.” And one of my other early favorites was, uh, Diagon Alley’s “Leaky Cauldron.” That is just, you know, phenomenal. So, I mean, there’s just, there’s a lot of really good… really, really good music out there that is honestly impressive to me, cuz these are, you know, they’re bands in wizard rock that legit, I think could, you know, tour and like be mainstream, you know. I, I would legit think that they, they could make it and, and they’re putting all of their effort into this passion of theirs that, and I think that that’s really cool. Oh, I had someone else that I wanted to mention here, but I I’ve immediately blanked being on the spot. Um, but yeah, there’re, there’re just, there’s so many, I, I couldn’t possibly begin to name them all.
You do often talk about Dots and Lines and—
Kevin: Yeah. Dots and— that, um, actually listening to the Dots and Lines interview on this podcast is one of my favorites. And actually that, that reminds me if you are really interested in a lot of my favorites, go back to check out—I don’t remember what episode it is—but there’s a there’s WZRD radio episode that is some of my very favorite songs in wizard rock.
I just double checked. That is Episode 36: Slytherin Weekend.
Kevin: Definitely check that out.
If you were gonna make music about any other subject or fandom besides the Harry Potter community, what would you pick?
Kevin: So it’s kind of an interesting question because I am honestly… I, I don’t know that I have the talent to like make legit music. You know, I’m, I’m here cutting together things that I think are funny mostly from the movie movie, uh, the movie dialogue and things like that. And, and the wizard rock community is so welcoming. That’s actually what allowed me to, to do any of this at all is the fact that I’ve seen for years, the wizard rock community, be welcoming to all, all comers. You know, it doesn’t really matter if, if you know what you’re doing, if you’re new, whatever it is, uh, that you wanna put out there, people are just so happy to see it, you know, and, and see people engaging with the community that I felt comfortable to, to put something out, to put something together and put out my first EP I think was, took me like two or three days.
I’m just sitting there on the couch just putting it together. I, I think wizard rock is sort of unique in that way. But if we’re assuming that I had, you know, the singing ability and musical talent, whatever it would take to, to put together, you know, like some, some decent songs, full length songs. I think another thing that’s been really cool. So I have been a fan of the Wheel of Time since high school. My, uh, my cousin had me start reading in middle school, but I didn’t really get into it uh, and then we had like a, uh, a blizzard in high school that kept me out of school for like two weeks. So I started really getting to Wheel of Time then, and it’s been one of my favorite series since. So since it’s come to Prime has a TV show and it’s become sort of more popular there have been people coming out with some incredible music based on the Wheel of Time. So I think that would be a really cool space to be in, uh, just cuz I, I love the Wheel of Time. There’s just, it’s so funny and there’s so many amazing stories in it, much like, uh, Harry Potter that I really think it would lend itself to, uh, a really strong community.
What would be the subject of the first song you would write in your Wheel of Time ouvre?
Kevin: I think so the first thing that comes to mind, because again, my, my drive, when I do anything—almost anything—is just to make people laugh. Well, it’s mostly to make me laugh and hope that people laugh with me. So there’s sort of an ongoing mental note from the three boys, Mat, Rand, and uh, Perrin in the Wheel of Time where whenever they’re dealing with any woman, they’re always like… if it’s, like, Rand, he’s like “Ah, I wish Mat were here. He’s good with women. Or even Perrin.” And Mat says the exact same thing about Rand and Perrin and Perrin says the exact same thing about Mat and Rand. So it’s just, I, I think working that into, you know, a quick song I think would be pretty funny, just… just, you know, have, uh… maybe get some of the clips from the, um, the show where the women are, are talking and then just like insert Mat or Rand or Perrin just being “Oh, I wish Mat were here.” “Oh, I wish Perrin were here. I don’t know what I’m doing.” I think that’d be kinda funny.
It’s time for some music.
Here’s The Butterbeer Experience with “Accio Hot Guy.”
~*~
That was “Accio Hot Guy” by The Butterbeer Experience [lyrics], “My Dad is Rich” by Draco and the Malfoys, and The Vanishing Cabinet with “Valentine for Bella.”
Let’s get back to the interview with Slytherspouse.
My patrons want to know—and this is another cross genre one: which members of Dumbledore’s Army would be most likely to win the Halloween Heist and what would they be heisting?
Kevin: Okay. So I guess this needs a little bit of background because the Halloween Heist is from Brooklyn 99 and every year basically, uh, Jake and—it started out with Jake and Holt, but grew to sort of the whole cast or the whole crew…But essentially they try to steal something, could be a crown, could be a plaque, whatever it is that year. They try to steal something and be in possession of it at midnight to be crowned like the ‘smartest detective’ or, you know king or queen of the 99, whatever. So, so, so basically the question here is, you know “in a competition to steal things who in Dumbledore’s Army would be the best at it?” And I think… so I think basically any of the Silver Trio would be really good because, you know, while, while the Golden Trio are out trying to find horcruxes, spoiler alert, they are there running everything sort of under the nose of some pretty mean people.
So I think that they would be very good at finding and keeping things secret, you know? And they, they found the, the tunnel through the, the paintings out to Aberforth’s and all of that. So it’s just… I think that they would do really well. But also sort of, I’m gonna take this a question a little bit of a different direction because outside of Dumbledore’s Army, but in the wizard rock community… in 2019 at MISTICon I ran a game called The Owlery Game, which was essentially the Halloween Heist because… So what we did was people signed up on Friday and they got a letter that was marked with their house and a little pin that had an owl in their house color. And they had two days, or like a day and a half, to steal other people’s letters or have them stolen from them.
And then whichever house at the end of the game had the most letters would win. And so we kind of got to see this play out because there were some really amazing thefts done, especially at the ball Saturday night where Muggle Mike came up and just out of nowhere, like stole, I think, were they on you? Yeah. So, and just like stole 10 letters in one swell foop. And then while he was—while we were all just like laughing and he was celebrating, I don’t remember his name, but your teammate just came up like right behind him and grabbed it out of his pocket. And just, it was, it was the most amazing thing. So it was kind of cool cause I think we actually got to see the Halloween Heist in real time in real life. Uh, and I really think that some of the, um, the Harry Potter community in real life would be very, very good at that.
So what would the D.A be heisting?
Kevin: Ooh, good question. Right. This is a bit ephemeral, but freedom? Is that— <laugh> You—
No.
Kevin: Your listeners can’t see it, but that, that look that you gave me. Um, okay. What would they be heisting? Uh, the, the funny thing is when I was preparing for this interview, I saw “who would win the Halloween Heist” and completely ignored the rest of the question and I was sitting here like thinking through wizard rockers that would do it, and it didn’t even occur to me what to, to stop and think what they would steal, uh, despite the fact that it’s in the, the prep that you sent me. So, um…
While he’s thinking, let the record show, I am very good at pre-interview prep.
Kevin: It’s true. I got incredible pre-interview prep and apparently have flubbed it completely. Um,
Uh, you, you think a little and I’m going to share… I was thinking about this question myself and I decided that Ginny would win the Halloween Heist. For, uh, a reason similar to the story that you told. Where we were playing a game with Muggle Mike and Snidget…
Kevin: Oh my god. Yep.
That involved lying. And because we have a, a very truth based relationship, we knew that you would not lie to me. So if I was like “how many fish do you have?” You would tell me. I assumed that you would tell me.
Kevin: <laugh>
And for the win—
Kevin: I assumed that you assumed that I would tell you.
You threw me right under the Knight Bus and no one saw it coming. And I think Ginny would have that very same energy of being, you know, underestimated and assumed to be, you know, just doing whatever was on the surface. And then the last minute she would just like, accio the thing out from wherever she had it.
Kevin: And that’s why everyone wants a piece of Ginny. Okay. I think the Sword of Gryffindor is something that would a) make a fantastic target for the Halloween Heist, not least of which because it’s kind of got a mind of its own and b) I mean, we know that Neville pulls some magic out of a hat there at the end. So I think them heisting, if that’s verb-able, the Sword of Gryffindor would be what they would play for. High stakes, but still fun.
So as a new wizard rocker with a fairly unique style, if someone heard “Butterbeer” or “Growth” and thought “you know, this is pretty cool. I wanna bring my unique interest into wizard rock.” What advice would you give them? What would you say to them?
Kevin: I would say that the wizard rock community is the most open and welcoming community that I’ve ever known, and that everyone would be so happy to hear anything that you have to offer. Anything that you want to put out there, join the wizard rock—if you’re not already join the wizard rock discord, and just even go to the like, it’s like “wrock in progress,” I think is the channel, just go and drop any little image that is at all related to your, to what you’re thinking of doing and just watch like people come out of the woodwork and be like “yes? Tell us more.” And you’ll know that everyone is there to support you. And if you have any questions, you know, everyone—probably, if you are listening to this episode, you’ve probably heard of some of my music already—you know, that I don’t do all of my own singing.
I try to get, I try to get talented wizard rockers to, to jump in and, and provide their voices because there are so many amazing people in this community that are so happy to, to work with you and to help you in any, any way that you could need. Dream Quaffle, uh, obviously has been, uh, a large part of, of my work and you’ll, you’ll see that soon as well, but really just anyone is, is so happy to, to help and to support. So I, I would say just, you know, put together what you want and just, don’t worry too much, put it out there. People are gonna love it. Whatever it is, people are gonna love it. I guarantee it.
In the process of making your music, have you found any useful, like, tip or trick or, like, technical thing that you find really handy in your editing software or your process?
Kevin: No, it’s kind of painful every time, honestly. Um, <laugh> I think because of sort of the way that I put together, my tracks, mostly what I’m looking for is, is clips from the movies that I can mash together into something funny. So there’s a site and I have to find it anew every time. So I couldn’t tell you what it is. Um, but it’s like movie sound clips dot com or something, and finding the specific clip that I want takes ages, because it’s always this little… they have like so many different clips and you can’t really search very well on there, especially since they’re not like labeled with the entire text. So this is basically the opposite of the question that you asked me, but, uh, it’s very difficult to find the info. So I’ll, I’ll throw out there. If anyone wants to like, send me just the sound files for all of the movies I would love that. And love you forever.
What are you working on now? Is there anything new coming up for Slytherspouse?
Kevin: Well, there are… So I, I have sort of like a bag of things that I’ve thought about and, you know, kind of wanna do, but it’s always finding the, the perfect clips or finding the, the time and motivation to sit down and actually make the thing, right? Plus some of the things are, uh, ones where I need a voice and I’m, I don’t want… when, when I want it to be my voice, I’m always nervous. And that, that makes it take a lot longer for me to, uh, to actually record and make the thing. But I will say that you, this year will hear two new things from me. One of which I cannot talk about right now, but keep on the lookout and the other, you will hear at the end of this episode,
That’s so exciting.
It’s time for our final music break. Here’s Room of Whateva with “The Best Few Minutes in Draco’s Life.”
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That was Room of Whateva with “The Best Few Minutes in Draco’s Life” [lyrics], “Hunt You Down” by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls [lyrics], “Horcruxes” from the YouTube film “I Ship It,” and “Growth” by Slytherspouse [lyrics].
“Hunt You Down” is a special request from WZRD’s perfect patron Geoff who says “To all my queer-coded lovelies in the LGBTQIA+ family: I love you all! Happy Pride Month! The death eaters won’t win because we will always have each other.”
Here’s the last part of my conversation with Slytherspouse.
Where can WZRD listeners find you online? You know, if they want to buy your music or send you the complete soundtrack of the Harry Potter movies?
Kevin: Uh, yeah. So you can find me on none of the social media, but you can find my music up for free, always free on BandCamp at Slytherspouse.bandcamp.com. And you can find everything non wizard rock related that I’m doing at KGA.earth, that’s my personal site. And I’m also in the wizard rock Discord as Slytherspouse. So feel free to, to ping me, or IM me from there, especially if you have the, the soundtrack, not the, the talking tracks. I don’t know. I don’t know anything. Uh, if you have the talking tracks of the movies hit me up there and yeah, I think that’s basically it.
Thank you so much for talking with me today.
Kevin: It was a pleasure. And thank you so much for being so inviting.
Congratulations to Nancy and Lan, the first ones to guess Episode 51’s theme of “potions!” They’re receiving the last Swish & Flick albums, so keep your ears open for the next set of rewards for guesses.
If you heard a song today and you thought “I could listen to that again” then go to the transcript at WZRDRadioPod.com, follow the link and buy a copy of your very own. It’s the best way to support your favorite musician, and without our wizard rockers, we wouldn’t be here.
If you want discounts on WZRD merch, the inside scoop on everything that’s coming up, and bonus gifts and episodes, then you want WZRD Radio’s Patreon at Patreon.com/WZRDRadioPod. It’s just two muggle dollars a month and also supports the Yes All Witches grant as they give money and mentorship to queer and BIPoC wizard rockers.
If you want to keep up with WZRD between episodes, you can find me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at WZRDRadioPod. If you don’t believe in social media, you can also comment on the transcript or email me at WZRDRadioPod@gmail.com.
Slytherspouse wants you to know that this is an exclusive WZRD release that won’t be available anywhere else for a while yet.
And now, here’s Slytherspouse!
Kevin: This song is called “The Hogwarts Hanukah Song.” It is voiced by the amazing Dream Quaffle, and I hope you like it.
WZRD Radio Podcast 