Hello magical friends, and welcome to episode 117 of WZRD Radio! I’m your hostwitch Bess and this is a fun one—today’s interviewee actually found me through promotions for WZRDFest last year. I can’t wait to dive into it with you, but first, let’s do some music.
First up is 32nd Street Jazz and “My Patronus.”
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That was “My Patronus” by 32nd Street Jazz, Celestial Warmbottom and “Hey Dark Wizard,” and “Enmity” from Are You Sirius? [lyrics].
And now here’s my chat with Kyle of Wingardium Leviosa!
Welcome to the show, Kyle of Wingardium Leviosa! I am so excited to talk with you today. This one’s kind of uncharted territory for me.
Kyle: This is awesome. I think we first formed in about 2007, and during the height of the Wizard Craze with all the books coming out, the midnight parties, the midnight releases for the movies, it was a very exciting time. So, once the last movie came out, everybody was excited, but I kind of saw the writing on the wall. I’m like, yeah, the, the fandoms gonna kind of start to diminish, diminish, diminish, diminish, diminish a little bit. And, um, as far as the wrock community has, has gone, I think one time there was about 500 wizard rock bands in the world. Active.
Mhm <affirmative>
Kyle: I’m not sure about now, but I haven’t seen events local for a while. But whenever we see one, we, we kind of try to, you know, horn in and get us involved with that, because the opportunity is just too delicious not to be included.
This is a perfect place to start because I know almost nothing about Wingardium Leviosa besides some of the songs that I own. So you started in 2007. Uh, how did you begin?
Kyle: This is awesome. So, it all started with MySpace. So, I’ve never heard of wizard rock. I started playing guitar when I was 17. I, I was never very good, I just played by myself and never was never really in a band or anything, but I’ve always wanted to be in a band. I’ve always wanted to write songs, but how can you ever write songs that people want to hear? So, there’s so many people who, who try to have a band, who go play, and all the only people who show up are their family and friends. And people who get bigger gigs are ones who are good. And I was kind of like, “well, am I really good enough?” So, you know, it’s kind of, tried to hone my craft for a while, but never really had the opportunity. So this, I kind of found an opportunity with MySpace.
One day, I was looking around and I came upon this one band. I’m like, Draco and the Malfoys? Okay, well click on that, I’ll see what they are. And then they sang about, “my dad is rich, your dad is dead.” I’m like, “damn, that is, that is cold. That is a straight up Slytherin.” And I’m like, “damn, okay.” So I’m like, I can do that. And this is probably around, maybe book four, book five, or even the movie, I don’t know which one. And so I just started writing songs. I used to travel for work a lot, and I was probably in Ohio somewhere. Uh, and this was pre common phone internet. So, everybody now has smartphones, but I didn’t have a smartphone back then, I think maybe had a flip phone or something. So, I was in hotel rooms a lot and had a lot of free time and a lot of silence.
So I just remember one day just sitting there in the room and I started writing. And, uh, the first song I wrote was called, “This Is How It Is.” It’s about Harry Potter being under the stairs, just wondering to himself, “is this all I’m ever gonna be? I’m 11 years old, parents died, and I’m not a lot. I’m just Harry Potter and this is how it is.” And then things just happened from there. And, uh, songs started coming, and it was very, very exciting. So I said, “okay, well now I need to find people to play with.” So at my, at my old work, um, I had a friend who was a bit older, but he played bass and he didn’t have anything going on either. So I said, “hey, do you want to be involved in this project?” He said, “absolutely.”
So I, I knew another guy in the drafting department, “hey, Tom, uh, I need, I need a guy to be a session drummer. Do you wanna be a session drummer?” He says, “well, I’m kind of shy, but yeah, I can do that.” So he, he was a session drummer. Now I’m like, “okay, now I need a singer.” So I was talking to somebody I used to tutor math, and she told me that her sister was a big Harry Potter fan, and she used to work at the movie theater. So I talked to her and she can sing. And surprisingly, she was down. And before you know it, I had four people who wanted to play music, and it was awesome.
So, from the realization that wizard rock was a thing to the full formation of Wingardium Leviosa, how long was that? Like a week? A year?
Kyle: Oh, no, it was probably six months. Yeah. ‘Cause I was traveling a lot. I had to get people. And so I, I want to, um, say this with, with the most respect to the bandmates. The band is 90-95% me. I did almost everything. I wrote the songs, I arranged the music, I produced it, I designed the merch. I told them how to sing. The, the, uh, bass player, he pretty much took care of himself. He was awesome. He did everything perfect, uh, his, his own way. But everybody else, I kind of had to say, “oh, this is, this is kind of how I think it’s gonna go.” And then they just did whatever I kind of instructed. And while it was still a democracy, I was still kind of the, the conductor. And, um, nothing really got done unless either I did it or I pushed. And, uh, this was such an important project to me that I really wanted it to come to fruition, to do something. And I just kind of pushed it, forced it, willed it into existence. And before you know it, we had an album.
There are sort of two types of wizard rock bands: one where everyone in it is is a huge Harry Potter fan and wanted to create this thing, and one where there’s one guy and his friends are all like, “I mean, sure, I guess, okay. Whatever you say.”
Kyle: Yeah. Yeah. I was also a little bit older at the time. I was probably in my early thirties, so now it’s almost 20 years later and I’m pushing 50. But, uh, I’m sure a lot of people would agree with this, but I don’t feel this old. I never have. I’ve always felt young, 16, 17, 18. And that’s just kind of how I am. My humor, my naive outlook to think things are gonna be okay, my trust in people.
Now, my favorite question, my listeners will know, is I love to hear how the band names happened.
Kyle: Okay. I was up late last night looking through old paperwork and old, old totes, old bags full of notebooks and papers, trying to figure out what sort of good stuff can I find ’em. I know I have a paper somewhere that has all the names of the band that were proposed. Sadly, I couldn’t find it. But, um, I know that a lot of the bands out there have the, kind of the formula, somebody and the somethings. And so that was always a possibility. Who, who can we be? I think, uh, Flitwick came up at some point, but either every, every good idea was already taken, or I didn’t really like anything. So I’m like, “well, let’s think outside the box here. So what else do we got?” And I guess the name of the band just came about because we had nothing better. I think I proposed the name of the band. Um, at one time I wanted to shorten it, just to Wingardium. But, uh, like, nope, keep the whole spell. I’m like, all right. So again, democratic band. So we just kind of kept it. Now in, in hindsight, I kind of wish we had a more unique name, because if you try to search us on YouTube or the internet, you’re not gonna find us because we’re, we’re a common spell referenced everywhere, and we’re buried under mountains of data.
So if you were gonna rename the band, what would you pick today?
Kyle: Oh, that’s good question. I’m sure, having a bit more experience under my belt now, I’d probably come up with something more clever if I had maybe a couple hours to think about it. But I have, I have nothing right now. We’ve always been Wingardium since we formed, and that’s just who we are.
Uh, what was it that drew you to winguardium leviosa as opposed to, you know, accio or… I panicked and forgot all the other spells. Expecto patronum. <laugh>
Kyle: Yeah. We referenced those terms in other songs, but, um, wingardium leviosa is kind of where it all started. That was the first spell that they learned, and that was their jumping off point, from going from child to wizard. And I think that’s kind of where we were, too. We were just starting out, and this is where we were kind of launching off from.
I like that.
Kyle: <laugh> Sounds a bit more profound if you say it out loud, but yeah.
Now, as I said, I know basically nothing about Wingardium Leviosa. Did you all do tours? Did– you performed some.
Kyle: Oh, yeah, we performed a fair bit. Our first real big gig was, uh, um, Azkatraz. That’s, um, a big convention that happened in San Francisco, I think in 2009. So, we played smaller shows down in, in Los Angeles and San Diego, but Azkatraz was the big one. We all got in three different cars, loaded up the gear, and we drove eight and a half, nine hours north to be a part of this. And it was, it was really cool. It was a really cool first experience. We learned some stuff and we had a great time with all that. We’re fortunate enough, because- There was a store in Los Angeles that sold, uh, wizard stuff, that was the pre-Universal Studios, uh, Wizarding World. And it was called, uh, Whimsic Alley. And Whimsic Alley did a lot of events.
For copyright reasons, they couldn’t call it Harry Potter. It couldn’t be the yule ball. It, it couldn’t be Hogwarts, but they, they could make it in the same theme vein. And so they had a whole bunch of events for parties and for, uh, summer camps for kids, a whole bunch of events. And we were invited to a lot of those to play with, uh, just ourselves and with other bands. And it was a great opportunity. It was a great time. And, um, that kind of peaked in, I think it was 2012 with, uh, the last movie came out, where they had a big, a big concert across the street from their venue. Um, so across the street on Wilshire Boulevard is an old historic concert venue called the El Ray Theater. Many, many historic bands have played there. Prince. I think, uh, Rolling Stones played there. Everybody who passes through LA eventually plays the El Ray.
It’s, it’s a small theater, but it is historic. And we can say we got to play there. It was very, very awesome. And, uh, this I think was a 500 person venue. I think we sold it out. We played, Remus and the Lupins, Ministry of Magic, and Tonks and the Aurors. Um, so we all played in that. I, I think Wingardium closed it out.
Some other notable things is that, in the audience, which we didn’t know about until after the show was over, was Grant from MythBusters. He was in the audience, you know, rest in peace. He’s since, um, passed along. Yeah, so Evanna Lynch was there as well, and, but we didn’t know until after, and I would’ve loved to have met both of them. Actually, I actually did meet Grant years later at Comic Con and I said, “Hey, do you remember this show?” He said, “yeah, I did see that show.”
And that was really cool to touch base with that. But, um, have not had the pleasure of meeting, uh, Ms. Lynch. But, uh, we have played some shows. The most recent show was a wizard festival. It was like a, uh, beer festival at the Delmar Racetrack in San Diego. There was a bunch of wizarding events, food, beer tastings, and a couple of bands were there as well. And we got to play that. And so I got to recruit one of my new friends who, who plays drums, an absolute monster on the drums. And we just had a full live quartet, and we just blew it off. It was amazing. It was just a great show.
When was that?
Kyle: I think it was pre COVID, maybe like 2019. So it wasn’t recent, but, uh, it was right just before COVID, and it was awesome. And I, I just, I’m always on the lookout, trying to, you know, get my foot into something. On the, uh, San Diego Padres, the baseball team here had a wizard night last year, and I kind of talked to management to kind of, “hey, you guys could use like a, a, a wizard rock band playing by the entrance or something just to, you know, give the place a little ambience.” And, but, uh, sadly that never, that never came. But I’m hoping with the the new TV show, we’re gonna get a little bit of a resurgence, not only in wizard rock, but of Harry Potter in general. I don’t know about you, but the three movies that came afterward didn’t quite hit the same for me. They were fine, but they were just different in a way that didn’t quite capture that same magic. So I kind of really hope that’s, um- Or was it four movies? It was four movies. No?
<laugh> I didn’t see them.
Kyle: Oh, no, <laugh>. Yeah, so I, I think it was a whole part one, part two of the last one. So, um, anyways, this new TV show that’s gonna be coming out with, um, well, I know the guy who’s playing Dumbledore, he’s a famous actor. But anyways, with all those actors, seven seasons with one season for each book, that’s gonna be incredible to watch. As well as it might spark a bit of resurgence, maybe we’ll get some events going and, um, we might play a show or two, which would be, it’s incredible ’cause I really miss it. It’s fun.
You’ve had some really spectacular experiences, wizard rocking.
Kyle: And even better, some of this was, we got paid, which doesn’t happen a lot. <laugh>
You are not kidding. There’s no money in wizard rock.
Kyle: No. <laugh>
Uh, do you have any other, like, interesting shows that you did or interactions with other wizard rockers?
Kyle: Uh, um, yeah, I got a, I got a couple things written down here. So, um, so we had, I would dare to say a, a unique stage gimmick. So, um, one of the things is that I always like to do it up kind of to, to set us apart from just like a normal person, just up on stage with a, an acoustic guitar, just singing. A little bit more panache, a little bit more flash. So I had a couple cauldrons on each side of the stage with, uh, dry ice bellowing out. That was, that was pretty cool. We had Wingardium Leviosa banners on both sides of the stage with our band logo. We’re all in costume, of course, everybody is just, so happens to be a different house. So I’m a Gryffindor; the lead singer, uh, Carlin, she’s a Slytherin to the core.
Colin is the bass player. He is, uh, Ravenclaw, very technical. And, um, Tom was a total, total Hufflepuff. Total. But, uh, now we have a new guy who’s, I probably say he’s, he might be a closet Hufflepuff, but anyways, he, he wears the costume anyways. So anyways, so each one of us portrays a different house, so we’re all represented there. And, um, the last song that we play to close is a song called “Patronus.” And at the very end of the show, somebody from our group comes out dressed as a dementor. We have a fan behind me. The fan’s blowing hard, all their stuff is waving behind them. It looks pretty cool. And, um, back in 2004, I used to work in low temperature physics. I have a degree in physics, I’m an engineer, so I created a liquid carbon dioxide wand which shoots out big plumes of, of uh, uh, white gas. So as the dementor was coming to us and, and, and the song was ending, the music was building, I fall to the ground, I whip out my, my wand, uh, Harry over the intercom would scream “expecto patronum,” I’d cast a patronus, and then the dementor would be cast off. And then I’d stand triumphantly blasting my, my big cloud of smoke into the air. And everybody always loved that.
That sounds spectacular.
Kyle: Yeah. Um, at the El Ray theater, I also incorporated confetti canons too. So at the very end, Colin and Carlin on both sides of the stage had one. So as the patronus was going off, as the final crash symbol hits, they popped the confetti canons. This, it was raining confetti. It was awesome. It was spectacular.
That sounds spectacular. That sounds like a, a amazing experience.
Kyle: Yeah, it really was. But, uh, we got to create an album, which is awesome for me. I’m, I’m very proud of it. And whenever I approach the, um, friend of mine to play drums- He’s an established drummer. He can play Tool songs, which are very difficult for drummers. And, um, he’s been in dozens of tribute bands. This guy does not play around. If you don’t have the chops, he doesn’t wanna even waste his time with you because he’s just that good. The guy could go pro if, if he had the right opportunity. So for him to be open to playing with me, I was very appreciative. So I approached him like, “hey, uh, we have a gig coming up, we don’t have a drummer, would you mind entertaining the idea of playing with us?” He said, “well, I don’t know. Let me, let me hear your stuff.”
Gave him a CD. Next time I saw him, he says, “you know, you gave me this CD for this weird Harry Potter project. Honestly, I didn’t have the highest confidence in this.” And so he says, “but I listened to it, and I’m like, these are good songs.” I’m like, “really?” He’s like, “yeah, I really liked them.” I’m like, “okay, this is cool.” “So yeah, I’m in.” So that was high praise to have somebody of that sort of experience and stature be like, “yeah, your music for this album is good enough to not only have me play with you,” but like enthusiastically play with you. So that was very good, very proud.
That’s also a perfect segue into the next, uh, topic, which is your songwriting.
Kyle: Yes.
You said you started off with a flip phone in hotels in Ohio. What does that look like for you? How did this album happen?
Kyle: Yeah, so, um, I’ve, I’ve always been kind of sensitive, so I’ve always wrote a lot and, um, had a lot of feelings I had to get out. So I always used to keep a, a folded up paper in my, in my back pocket. So I would always be thinking of song lyrics or whatever, just write ’em down. So I always had paper and pen on me, and, back before I had podcasts in my ears all the time, I would be able to think about these things and, “okay, gotta find a good angle to write a song. How am I gonna write, how am I gonna write on this?” You can’t just start writing a song. You have to find kind of a hook, kind of, kind of an angle to, to look at a certain situation, paint the picture. And so this allowed me to do that.
I, I guess it was just trial and error. So lots of writing and these songs I liked, these ideas I liked. I got a bunch of B sides, haven’t touched those because they’re, they’re not that good, or I haven’t quite, you know, um, molded them into the proper shape. But, uh, I think for what the project that was required of the band, as far as making an album and then playing some live shows, we just needed to get to a certain number of songs and we got there. So, um, I don’t wanna put you on a spot, but did you listen to a couple songs?
Yeah.
Kyle: Okay.
Yeah, I think I’ve even had you in rotation on the show.
Kyle: Oh really? Oh, that’s awesome. Okay. So, uh, let’s see. For, for those out there who, like, the whole process of like, um, recording and stuff. So who might find this at, at all interesting. So for recording, I play a solid body carbon guitar. It’s got a double humbucker on the end. I have a lot of guitars and- I probably have 16 guitars. And out of all the guitars, I have one pickup in one setting that I use to record, ’cause it just sounds so good. And, and that’s the guitar. And I also use that for playing live as well. It has a great tone on it. I didn’t wanna get overly complicated with the effects on this, on, on these songs. So I use what, um, is called a Korg Pandora’s Box. It’s what I call the soul of the band. So, it’s maybe about the size of a deck of cards.
It’s got a bunch of preset effects in it. And, uh, this thing you can toggle through all sorts of different sounds that are already there. So there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. So that’s what, um, we used to, there’s, there’s no pedal boards, there’s nothing that’s, um, elaborate. It, it just always did the job. So, um, I found that for the songwriting, when it came time to write a song, I found the easiest way for me was to write it about a specific character. So I have “Gryffindork” and, and, uh, “Locked Out” are both about Neville, about his, the antics. “Lupin Gave Me a Chocolate Frog,” that was an instance where Lupin gave a frog to Harry, and then it’s just about Harry holding the frog and comparing this to his life. And that’s an acoustic song, which is pretty cool. “Crucio” is about Bellatrix torturing somebody.
And I originally wanted to cut this song, but, uh, I’m gonna give you one guess who in the band wanted to keep it? That was of course, the vocalist, the Slytherin Carlin. She says, “yeah, this is a good song, we need to keep this song.” And she was right ’cause it, it was actually a crowd favorite. People love this song. And I’m like, “really? You like that song?” I’m like, it’s really easy. It’s like, there’s no bridge. It’s this verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus. That’s it. It’s, it’s a very simple song, but she liked it, so it stayed. “Untitled” was kind of a filler song. I sang that song. I’m not a singer, but Carlin could not sing in the sort of key that it, it required. So the way I wrote it was kind of out of her range. So I kind of just sucked it up, got in our vocal booth and recorded it myself.
So, so every time I hear it, which isn’t very often, I have vivid imagery in my head of the scene that I described in the song, the marching Death Eaters and somebody watching helplessly from afar, and the way that the individual notes in the song kind of fill the empty space. I don’t really play it a lot, so I- I really don’t like the sound of my voice- but whenever I hear it, I just really remember how much I liked that song. “Pretty British Boy” was written for Carlin. ‘Cause at the time, she was talking to a guy who was living in London. And, um, I just kind of compared their relationship, what if they were at Hogwarts, and how would that go? And so, um, that relationship didn’t last, but the song did. And I think it’s okay. It’s, it’s different, but it’s okay, I like it.
The last song I wanna talk about was “Battle of Hogwarts.” This one was the last song I wrote because we needed one more. I think we were just one short. So this one came by sheer force of will. I just sat in a chair, I had the last book, and I did not move from that chair for six hours. I’m like, “I have to pound this song out, I have to find an angle, I have to find a way to make it work.” And I sat in that chair six hours. I made a decision to not move until it was written. So, it’s about different parts of the final battle, what’s important, what’s at stake, and ultimately what’s been lost and then rebuilt. The whole thing was great. I think the song came out very well. So we have a bit of a, a advantage with, say, other bands, because we kind of have an ace in the hole helping us out.
So my first girlfriend, uh, I used to live in Hawaii. In, in high school, my first girlfriend, um, she had a brother, and the brother was younger by probably three or four years. And, um, I would play my guitar and I didn’t know, but he was watching me. And so, you know, I grew up, he grew up, the relationship ended, I went to college and this little boy grew up to get a degree in sound engineering and opened up his own studio. So he now has his own studio and has for the last 20 years, uh, in Springfield, Missouri. And a lot of emo bands go there. Some of them we’ve heard, some of them haven’t. And I asked him, I’m like, “hey, I have, I, I recorded it, this entire album, in my home studio, on my mixer, with the sound booth, all the individual tracks. Would you mind mixing my album?” And this would normally cost a lot of money, but he says, “yeah, no problem, I’ll handle it.” So he did. I owe him a lot because he made the album sound professional, at least in my opinion. it’s a really great experience. So now, if I were to record again, I, I think I know a little bit more. I, I wouldn’t have to really bother him with that, but, uh, I think we could still do a good job.
It’s time for a stretch break! Touch your toes, stretch your arms, and listen to “Harry Potter” by The Cruciatus Curse.
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That music break started with The Cruciatus Curse and “Harry Potter,” followed up with “Replacement” from The Bezoar Project, and finished off with The Veelas and “Free” [lyrics].
Time for more of my chat with Kyle from Wingardium Leviosa.
So you mentioned after recording this album that you also designed merch for the band?
Kyle: Yes. Let’s see. So, merch is an important part of every touring band. So, not just because it’s a money maker, which it can be if you sell enough of it, but I wanted to give the bandmates a real rock-and-roll sort of band experience. So I’m like, “yeah, we’re getting shirts, we’re getting buttons.” I’m even making backstage passes. For every single show that we played I designed, laminated, everybody got a pass before we actually got to the venue, even if it didn’t mean anything. But it was just something to just have as like a souvenir from this time in our lives where we got to play rockstar for, for a little while. And, uh, at our big show in the Los Angeles, at the El Ray Theater, it was, it was funny because we had on the passes and we were coming in and out of the venue with security at the doors just waving us through because they just looked official.
They meant nothing. I made them at my house. But it was just funny to kind of just play rockstar. It was, every guitar player’s dream is to be able to, to do something like that at least once. Yeah, so we made shirts. It is the picture of a wizard holding a wand under a tree, but it’s like a silhouette. So people always ask me, “who is that? Is that, is, is, is that Harry? Which actor is that?” I’m like, well, actually, whenever I, I design that logo, that is the Ron action figure from the toy line. And, uh, just a silhouette just looked appropriate. So I just used that. And, uh, that’s what’s become the logo of the band.
I love that.
Kyle: Um, also at the shows, again, I have these big, big visions, big ideas. We made- we, I- made bottled and sold our own custom pumpkin juice. So I got a recipe, I tweaked the recipe, and it was really good. We also made, I think it was a Wizard Rockstar energy drink that we sold in bottles and the, the alcohol version called the Crunkin’ Pumpkin. So those were always very popular. Took a long time to make ’em, but I didn’t care about the cost benefit. I didn’t care. It was just about doing the best job for the experience and, and, uh, the events.
This sounds very wizard rock. I love all of it. Really considering every aspect of the show.
Kyle: So looking at my notes here really quick, I see that, um, I forgot about this. We were approached probably 10 years ago, 12 years ago, for a little girl that had cancer. They said, “would you guys mind playing her birthday party?” I’m like, “absolutely.” And I think like, the mother tried to pay us. I’m like, “no, we’re not taking a dime. No, we’re not doing that.” So yeah, we went there, we played, we hung out, we took pictures, we did the whole wizard thing. It was, it was really cool. That was really nice to be invited to, to do something like that.
That’s amazing. Do you know how she found you?
Kyle: This was so long ago. I don’t remember. Maybe from word of mouth. And I think it got to maybe the, um, the, the singer may have been told by somebody and then they reached out and got us in contact that way. But there were, I think only two wizard rock bands in this area. It was us and a solo guy named Marked as His Equal. I saw him play a couple of times. Nice guy. I think he got sick and he kind of dropped out for a little while. I think he got better. But he was fun to watch.
So it’s been a little bit since Wingardium Leviosa was active. You said 2019 maybe was the last performance.
Kyle: Yeah.
And I think you only have the one album.
Kyle: Yes.
If you start coming back, where do you think you’ll start with new music?
Kyle: That’s a good question.
Are there any subjects calling?
Kyle: So I guess the first thing, is there a need? Or not even a need, is there a desire? So, if there’s an audience, I’m all about it. But, uh, the last thing that I, I like to do is to put forth efforts and kind of just yell into the wind. So, if nobody ever hears it, then it’s like, do you really wanna spend three weeks recording a couple of songs and a lot of efforts? But, assuming that there is, I think that the angle here is, the resurgence might be in the popularity of the new TV show. So that might kind of bring forth a whole new generation of people who are interested in the books, in the movies, and now the TV. So, as far as themes, love is evergreen. So, um, inspiration can come with new perspective, but love is always there. And I would, I think I might wanna talk a bit about maybe Snape. Explore that character a a little bit more, because we spent the first six books learning how devious this guy is, how he’s always the one behind everything, which he’s not. And, um, having such negative impression in your mind, just in like the last hundred pages to find out no, what you’ve been told all along is, is not right. There’s a, this character’s a lot deeper than what you thought, and it comes from a place much more pure than what you thought. So I think that if I were to write another song, I’d wanna explore that a little bit more.
Snape is a very popular and very controversial character. There’s a lot there for sure.
Kyle: <laugh> Yeah.
What about, having done this for like a decade and a half? We have new wizard rockers appearing all the time. Uh, you’ve, you know, traveled, you’ve toured, you’ve gigged, you’ve created amazing merch. Uh, what kind of advice would you have for new folks?
Kyle: I’ve seen all sorts of, uh, levels of musical ability with wizard rock. There were kids who were, I think seven, were they the, the Dragons?
Uh. Yeah. Were they the Hungarian Horntails?
Kyle: Yeah, those ones. Yeah. The Hungarian Horntails. Yes. Yeah. So they were, they were young kids who, they had a project. There’s older people I’ve seen, they’ve had projects. So again, I was in my early mid thirties whenever I was doing this. So, there’s really not a, a age limit. But, um, as far as musical ability, now with AI and, um, Apple has GarageBand, even if you can’t play an instrument, you can still be a part of the community, which I think is awesome. There’s no sort of, um, boundary of, uh, entry. So everything’s changing, which is great for people who need that bit of extra assistance. A band that sticks out to me, that I remember, I was talking to somebody on a podcast years and years ago, and we kind of shared this podcast with another band.
We didn’t talk at the same time, we were just kind of on there as well. But this was a band, I think from Ireland, Scotland, or England, somewhere over there. They were called The Death Sticks. This was, I think, a girl and her sister, or a girl and her friend. And, it is so weird that I, I was so captivated by them because I was in my early thirties, and I think they were like 13, but their musical ability and their songwriting was just on another level. They were so good. So if there’s any sort of stuff on the internet still that you, you can find about these two, I would listen to it because those songs hold up. They’re really, really, really good. And, um, every once in a while, I kind of wonder, now that this is 15 years later, I wonder if they still play music or if they’re ever recording, or if they ever play live. But, uh, they had something special. They were really, really good. And so even somebody that young can, can get the attention of somebody like me who’s a bit older and jaded.
I also really like to get technical advice. So someone who’s, you know, entirely new, doesn’t even know where to start, uh, as a musician, as someone who’s done the recording, has a home studio, what’s, you know, one or two things that you think would be really helpful to an absolute beginner?
Kyle: Absolute beginner? Um, assuming that they don’t know how to play any instruments. So, you can do everything actually, if you are bold enough, you could do everything from your phone. You can record your lyrics, your vocals. Again, I mentioned the, uh, two letters that all artists kind of dread right now is AI. I don’t want people to get discouraged because ‘AI can possibly do it better.’ It’s a very frustrating time, but it’s also a very inspiring time. I guess it depends what, which way you wanna look at it. But if you are a, a beginner who wanna get involved, have an idea. Songwriting is not easy for the majority of us, but there is a formula. So there’s, there’s plenty of resources online. You can figure it out, how words go together, how syllables go together, how themes go together. If you ever wanted to write an essay for school, there is a formula for that.
There’s a certain format, a recognized format for how to do that. And that can apply to songs as well. Now, there’s an old saying in jazz, if you learn the guitar, and you learn all the rules of jazz, you can be a great jazz player. But once you start breaking those rules, you are a fantastic jazz player. So it’s sort of the same thing. It’s like, once you understand, you can then step outside of that box and create your own sort of spin on it. And, uh, for those who have that passion to make music, to write songs, to write lyrics, to write hooks and melodies, the opportunity is there. But it takes focus and you just have to say, “I want to do this.” Keep, keep banging on it. Because I will tell you, I sat in that chair for six hours, and I banged it out. I would not move on on that Sunday. I had to will it out of existence. And, uh, what came was, I think it was pretty cool.
I will say on the AI subject, uh, my problem with AI is twofold. One, it’s created entirely on stolen art. Uh, and two, uh, a person did not make it, and therefore it doesn’t have much interest. But for people who don’t have any particular musical talent, there are programs like GarageBand or like Band in a Box–
Kyle: Mhm <affirmative>.
–that can help you with that.
Kyle: Yes.
You don’t have to turn to, you know, a program that is stolen music from other creators. There are better ways.
Kyle: Oh, absolutely. Because it is very tempting for, for myself included, to go to AI and say, “okay, this is my idea for a song. I want to have it sound like this in this style and this key. Crank out a demo for me.” But thankfully I’ve not done that. I’ve resisted the urge to do that because I don’t, one, I don’t wanna rely on that. And two, it, it wouldn’t really be mine. Yeah. I, I just don’t lean on that. But it is there and it’s, and it’s not gonna go anywhere. So that’s, that’s the reality and that’s the world that we live in now, for better or for worse.
Was there anything else you wanted to, to cover, or a story you wanted to share that we didn’t make it to?
Kyle: One of my favorite songs that we have is called “Slytherin Girl.” I love that song. It paints such a great picture because I, I was never raised a girl, I don’t have any sisters, but I can imagine being in school, having a little bit of, um, adolescent attitude. I actually have a daughter who’s 14, so I kind of know a little bit about this now. But, uh, this is kind of how I imagined a young lady who’s figuring herself out in the wizarding world, who just was always kind of bad. Are you familiar with the, uh, movie The Bad Seed? So this is an old 1950s movie, I think. It was, of a little girl who was just bad. Like she was a, she was a sociopath and possibly a psychopath. And, um, she was raised by I think a single mother. And they lived in an apartment complex, and she would pretty much do anything to get her way.
She killed somebody, set ’em on fire, just to like get something. And so, she didn’t care. And the, the original title of this song was just so terrible. And I was, I was shamed out of it. And rightfully so, so <laugh> damn. I played the demo for her. It was me singing it. That’s thankfully been lost at time. The original title of the song was called “Bad Slytherseed,” which is awful. But, uh, I think “Slytherin Girl” is a much, much better title. And for those who are musically inclined, you’ll notice there’s only two chords in the song. There’s two chords, that’s it. It’s an A and a D. That’s it.
So very open for cover swaps perhaps.
Kyle: Absolutely. Speaking of covers, we also did a, a handful of covers as well. We started out doing “Draco and Harry” from the Whomping Willows. That’s always a good song. That’s a crowd pleaser. That’s a, that’s a really, really smartly written song. One of those that I kind of wish that I would’ve came up with that first. We’d sang, “My Dad Is Rich.” That’s a good one. Never met any of the Draco in the Maysfor, but I would’ve loved to have the opportunity. We also covered, what’s that other one, um, by the Weird Sisters, uh, “Do the Hippogriff.” So, I provided a, a tinyurl to the notes that I gave to you, which is a link to our YouTube playlist for all the songs. So all, all the songs from our albums are there, all the lyrics are on the screen in case anybody got bold enough and, uh, tired enough maybe at 2:00 AM that they wanted to sing along.
They’re all right there. And we also have a couple of live tracks down at the bottom. I think one of the bottom ones has me singing “Do the Hippogriff” at the El Ray. And I thought, I thought that, that that song was done very well in that venue at that time. If it was ever an opportunity for me to nail that song, it was, it was that event. And I, I think I did, did a good job with that. There’s so many other great wizard rock songs out there, songs that I just love. There’s one called “Hallelujah,” uh, it’s been years since I’ve heard it. But, uh, yeah, they talk about how, there he is, Hallelujah, Harry Potter, the boy that lived.
There’s certainly a wide breadth of music in the genre.
Kyle: Oh yeah, absolutely. And so many bands. I have a very, very large collection of, of bands from CDs I’ve purchased and been given and, and all that good stuff.
With Wingardium Leviosa a little bit on hiatus, uh, what are you working on these days?
Kyle: These days? Um, so I recently did the impossible, you know, almost, almost 50 years old now, but I, I bought a house in San Diego. So, it’s scary, it was an awesome opportunity. So, kind of right now we’re kind of still settling in here, but we have a spot to play music. We have a very large front room, high ceilings, and, um, I’m a very big Smashing Pumpkins fan. So I don’t know if you’ve recognized this girl in the back, that’s the girl from–
I was wondering what that was.
Kyle: That’s the Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness cover from their third or fourth album. Fourth album. The drummer that I was playing with who’s like the professional caliber, he’s also a big Pumpkins fan. So him and I have been working on this Smashing Pumpkins tribute project. So, we have another guy that we play with, and we haven’t played in a little while ’cause he’s been, he’s been busy with his Creed cover band, which is totally a thing. But once they’re done with that, hopefully we can get back to the Pumpkins and we can start playing some shows, which would be awesome.
Here’s another good place to put some music. How about The Mudbloods’ “Freedom is Only a Hippogriff Away?”
~*~
You just heard “Freedom is only a Hippogriff Away” by the Mudbloods, 142 Staircases with “Free the Prophet,” and “Defiant” by Harry Slaughter.
And here’s the last bit of my conversation with Kyle!
Thank you so much for talking with me today. This has been amazing. I’ve loved hearing all about Wingardium Leviosa and your experiences with wizard rock.
Kyle: Thank you so much.
Where can WZRD listeners find you and your music online?
Kyle: So, trying to find us directly on the internet or on YouTube is very difficult because of our very, very common name, Wingardium Leviosa, you, you, you’re not gonna find it. So, uh, if you go to tinyurl.com/WLAlbum, that will bring you to our YouTube playlist, and you can find us there.
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 Community Wrock Fund, where we’re raising funds to help wizard rockers achieve their musical dreams.
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.
And now, here’s Wingardium Leviosa!
Kyle: So, let’s end the show with the song called “Locked Out”. This is probably the third song I wrote. It’s arguably our most rocking song. It’s the most upbeat. The song is about Neville being Neville, forgetting the password to the common room, sitting outside and being locked outta the hallway, trying to, reflecting on how he got there and what is he gonna do to fix it. So, I think this is recorded in the key of C. It’s a great song. And, I guess a a little fact about this song is that the drum part in the middle is inspired from the Green Day Dookie album, the first track called “Burnout.” So this is always a very fun song for me to play. It always rocks and, um, I kind of wish I had more of these bangers, but I think it’s a solid song.
WZRD Radio Podcast 