Hello magical friends, especially my wonderful patrons who make these interview episodes possible. I’m your hostwitch Bess and I’m excited to share the final interview of 2025 with you! We’re getting another peek into the Australian wizard rock scene and it’s very cool.
First, of course, comes the music. Here is “Wizard Solidarity Forever” by Hope and the Howlers.
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That was “Wizard Solidarity Forever” from Hope and the Howlers, “A Rat in the Day” by Striking Down Diggory, and MC Gryf with “Chocolate Cauldrons of Love.”
Let’s begin that chat with Lani of Anvil and the Hints.
Welcome to the show, Lani of Anvil and the Hints! I’m so stoked that we made this conversation happen.
Lani: Oh, I’m glad to be here. I was so surprised to get, uh, an email from you <laugh>.
I was surprised to get an email back!
Lani: <laugh>
And I just want, uh, magical listeners to know that we are 14 hours apart right now.
Lani: Yep.
And still made it happen, so you are all welcome. So I always start with, uh, your history. How did you get into wizard rock?
Lani: Um, I got into Harry Potter quite late. My brother was a big fan ’cause he is quite a bit younger than I am. So, um, got totally hooked on the books and the movies and just wanted to see, you know, what fan-based things were out there. Um, so I was reading, um, fan fiction, writing fan fiction, and discovered Harry and the Potters of course. And that led on to Draco and the Malfoys and all the other, um, guys who were fairly early on in the wizard rock scene. And, um, I played a little bit of guitar. Like I taught myself a few chords here and there and I was like, “oh, I wonder if I could play some of their songs?” And, um, found some tabs and thought, “oh, how cool would it be if, you know, I could write something.” Um, and that’s sort of, uh, where that started.
That’s amazing. Uh, you started with fan fiction?
Lani: Uh, yeah, I did. Uh, I wrote a couple of short, um, stories way back when.
Did you have like a particular focus? Like, I exclusively write Hermione/Victor, everyone knows that.
Lani: <laugh>.
Did you have like a time period or character?
Lani: Yeah, um, mostly Ron/Hermione for me. Yeah. I think a couple of my short fiction looked at very canon stuff. So Harry uh, Ginny kind of thing. So yeah.
You know, I should have guessed that I think your music is very Ron/Hermione heavy as well.
Lani: Yes, it is actually.
I always like to know where band names come from and especially in the time period that you’re talking about–
Lani: Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
–they were very obviously wizard rock.
Lani: Yeah.
Harry and the Potters. Draco and the Malfoys… Anvil and the Hints follows the format, but I don’t immediately clock it as, as Harry Potter themed.
Lani: Right. Yeah. Um, yeah, so I chose the format of the Harry and the Potters, um, band naming, but I think that I, the idea came from like a fan interview with, um, Jo Rowling. They were talking about the relationships between characters and, you know, some people are for the Harry/Hermione, some people are in the Ron/Hermione, um, camps. And, um, during that interview she said that she thought that she was dropping, um, hints that it was always Ron and Hermione and the fan interviewer who was also Ron and Hermione sort of, um, in that camp said that, added that he thought they were anvil’sized hints. So that’s where that came from. So it was a very much our Ron/Hermione reference.
That’s delightful. You’d have to have been very deep in the lore to catch that.
Lani: Yeah. Yeah. Uh, yeah, I didn’t, I’d had no idea what I would call myself, but I thought, you know, that’s, that’s something kind of obscure. But I guess if people were really into the Ron/Hermione thing that um, they might pick that up.
So I was going through your discography earlier.
Lani: mm-hmm <affirmative>.
And I think you had two albums that you put out.
Lani: Yeah.
But you contributed to a number of compilations and I think you organized one.
Lani: Yeah. Yeah. So, um, the one I organized was called um, Wrock Hard Ditties. Um, and I put it together because my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a little while ago. Um, she’s all good. She’s, she’s, um, all over that now. Um, thank goodness. And I thought, well if I can um, sell [a] wrock compilation album, then I could donate some of those proceeds to, um, the Breast Cancer Foundation in Australia. So that’s where that came from. Um, so I just, you know, reached out, did some, uh, cold calling or emailing to see who would, um, wanna contribute to that. And that’s where that came from.
That’s amazing. And that one’s available on your BandCamp
Lani: That’s correct.
–still, but I think Wrock Down Under is a lot harder to get ahold of these days.
Lani: Is it? Okay.
Bess: I think so.
Lani: Yeah. Um, who’s, who did that? Um, was it…
I don’t know.
Lani: Oh, I can’t remember. Um, who, yeah. There are not many Australian fans out there.
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. “By Alex of The Wizarding World”
Lani: Alex. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember him. Yeah. We, um, emailed each other, um, back then. Um, he was looking for collaborations and things like that. Yeah. So there was a lot of that kind of stuff going on. There was a great, great community back then. Dunno what it is like now. Do you, have you heard anything about the network these days?
It’s a lot harder in Australia. I assume ’cause you’re roughly the size of the moon.
Lani: <laugh>. Yeah.
Uh, I know you’ve got… Well there’s one man who I interviewed earlier this year.
Lani: Oh yeah?
And of course Your Wizard Rock Resource is based in Australia and she’s a absolute tent pole of the community. But other than that, it’s been hard to get a hold of y’all.
Lani: Yeah, yeah. Uh, it’s been a, a long time since wizard rock started, which I, I’m guessing was the peak of it back then. Um, but yes, it, as I said before, it’s great to hear that it’s still kicking along.
Yeah. I’m sure that Susannah would appreciate if more of the concerts happened in Australia rather than at horrible times for her–
Lani: Yeah.
–over here.
Lani: Yeah. You know, I got some invites, um, but I just couldn’t make them unfortunately. And, um, I think there was one that I got which was quite a few years after I’d sort of stopped, um, recording. So I was like, “oh, this’s not really my thing right now.” And I’ve pretty much forgotten how to do all the songs <laugh>.
So that actually, uh, ties in really nicely because I was wondering, I know that there was just tons of wizard rock coming out of Australia. I think I saw that there were five Wrocking Down Unders.
Lani: Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
–with so many bands. What was it like being part of the Australia wrock scene?
Lani: Oh, I don’t know, to be honest. ’cause I didn’t feel like I was part of it. You know, you just sort of feel like you’re just this little, little person behind a screen or behind a microphone doing your thing, and you just put some stuff out there and it gets taken up and you don’t really feel, oh, well I didn’t feel like I was part of a scene. It was just exciting to, to see your name there and to, you know, have a few, a few ties. But, um, yeah, I, I don’t know if <laugh> I would call it, uh, being part of the scene <laugh> personally.
So there weren’t a ton of in-person concerts or get-togethers?
Lani: No, no. They, like I said that some of them, um, you know, that there were invitations out there and I’m sure there were a couple of, um, things that happened, but I wasn’t able to attend those. So I, I think, um, you know, if I had attended them, perhaps I would’ve felt like I was more part of the scene. But <laugh> not, not me, unfortunately.
Now you said that, uh, you’ve been out of it for a while.
Lani: mm-hmm.
You don’t even remember how to do it anymore.
Lani: Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
But do you remember what your music creation process was like? Because you did a lot of original music?
Lani: Yeah. Um, yeah, I think, um, because I had sort of been trying to play other people’s music, um, on the guitar and, you know, just, um, as, as any sort of hobbyist would do, you sort of get to know what works and what sounds good and chord progressions and things like that. And then you’ve got some ideas in your head about, you know, what you’d, you’d like to, um, express. Um, and then you just find what sort of fits in and then that’s that. I guess that’s how it happened for me. Yeah.
So you were more music first? Like tooling around or more lyrics first?
Lani: Yeah, that’s a good question. Maybe lyrics more than anything. ’cause I remember, you know, just doodling some, some lines and things like that. Um, yeah, I would say lyrics, lyrics would’ve come first. Yeah.
So when you were doing more wizard rock, were there any, like, particular bands or songs that you really loved that were some of your favorites or you played on repeat?
Lani: Initially? Um, I really liked RiddleTM and, um, How Airplanes Fly, I think that’s what she was called. Just such good songwriting and beautiful voices. But I also liked the really kind of coarser sounds as well. You know, the, the, there’s closer to the Harry and the Potters, you know, that pop punk, um, kind of sound. Um, I can’t remember the bands, but there were so many and they were so all, all really good. <laugh>
No, you immediately named two of my favorites, for sure.
Lani: Yeah. Yeah.
Let’s pause here for some more music. First up we have “Love at First Sight” from The Wizarding World.
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That was “Love at First Sight” from The Wizarding World, followed by Chaos of the Phoenix and “Realms Hitherto Unknown,” and Alex Boyd’s “I Could Use a House Elf.”
And now let’s get back to Lani!
I don’t think you had any, uh, collaboration songs.
Lani: Um, no, I don’t think…
Oh, no. Wait, there was, there was one with Slytherin Soundtrack?
Lani: Yes, I think so. Yeah. Um, I, I can’t even remember how that happened. I think, um, he contacted me and I can’t remember if I just did something from my on my own or if he sent me like a prompt or a track to sing along to. Yeah. I haven’t heard that track for a while. But yeah, that, I think that was the only one I did, um, was Slytherin Soundtrack, yeah.
It’s amazing how that was possible.
Lani: Yeah, right?
Putting together music as bands from across the world.
Lani: Yeah, yeah. It was pretty cool to do.
Were there any bands that you, you know, might have like dreamed about collaborating with?
Lani: Um, not really. Um, because I, I, I guess I feel like I, I dunno what I really would contribute because I, you know, I’m not great at anything in particular. So it’s like, “oh, you want, you wanna collaborate with me? Sure, I’ll participate.” But for me to, to look, um, for someone to collaborate with, I think I, I I would feel very, very intimidated by anyone else. <laugh>, to be honest. <laugh>
There’s a project currently, um, called the House Elf Choir.
Lani: Okay.
Where someone will decide they wanna do a song that needs a bunch of voices and they’ll just put out a call with like, “here’s the part that you sing.”
Lani: Yeah, right.
And it’s a lot of like, sea shanty covers and I find that to be the perfect way to collaborate with people.
Lani: Yeah.
Because I don’t have to be a brilliant vocalist or anything.
Lani: Yeah. No, that sounds great. I think there was something that I, um, that went out. I forget who tried to, um, who, who put it out, um, back then, but they were putting a call out for everyone to sing their version of the Hogwarts um, school song. So you know how in the book everyone just sings it however they like. So I, I had never heard what happened with that one. Um, but that would’ve been really good just to hear a bunch of voices just singing a whole different, um, style of music, um, to the same lyrics or whatever. Yeah. <laugh>
How did you sing it?
Lani: Um, how did I say it? I was like, it was, uh, it was sort of just kind of poppy laid back, similar to a song that, um, I wrote, kind of like “Lavender’s Lament” kind of vibes. Yeah. Yeah. It’s kind of like that.
Do you have any other awesome stories from wizard rocking?
Lani: Awesome stories? Uh, I think some of the biggest thrills I ever got from that time was, um, when the radio, I think it was, there was a radio Wrock Box I think it was called. Yeah. And just to have that streaming, you know, in the background. And then, you know, your song comes up and it’s just a thrill, you know, those sort of things. Or you get people reviewing your song in a blog or those sort of things. Nice little thrills and you just think, “well, you know, I’ve put something out there that has affected someone enough to say something about it and, you know, that, that’s kind of nice.”
Yeah, I bet those were such a perfect spark of joy.
Lani: Yeah.
So you have a pretty impressive backlist, but was there anything that you never got around to covering with your music that you wish you did?
Lani: Oh, yeah. Yeah. There’s a bunch of songs that I never recorded. I had planned to put together half a dozen songs. Um, there were a few that were about, you know, the whole, you know, kind of romantic, uh, Gryffindor thing. Um, but then the other side was gonna be a little bit, um, darker, which about the war. So I had one song that, um, was about Teddy Lupin and the loss of his parents. And there was one about Draco struggling with his part. And, um, of course, um, George, um, having lost his twin. So, um, there were some of the, those songs that were kind of a little bit darker um, I had sort of half written. Um, but yeah, I never got around to to recording. Yeah. I, I, I think I would’ve done it. Um, but I had moved and I lost sort of the space I had to record. Um, and then I started studying while I was working and there was just so much happening, and that’s sort of where everything sort of died off.
So I, I can tell you for a fact that now that you’ve said that,
Lani: yeah.
I’m gonna get messages from listeners going “do, do you think, we’ll, we’ll get that album?”
Lani: <laugh>
“Think maybe Lani will record it?”
Lani: Well, guess what, I’ve, um, reduced my hours at work now. So I, I’m a lady of leisure these days. I, I am studying a little bit in my, um, in my days off, but, um, that’s only finish up in, uh, a few months. And who knows? I’ve got my own space now as well. So I might, um, we, we may, we may revisit those songs and, uh, see if I can pull up those drafts because I’m also, um, learning, uh, guitar properly for, um, using an online, um, school. So, uh, learning skills and like proper skills and proper, um, techniques that I, I never taught myself. So, you know, it’s, it could be, things might be lining up towards that.
All right magical friends, keep an eye on this space. Uh, since you’re getting back into music and not exactly starting over, but starting again.
Lani: Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
What kind of advice might you have for other people who are looking to get into wizard rock?
Lani: Who are looking to get into it? Just do it. Yeah, hundred percent. Just do it. You know, I came from, you know, n no skill, no talent or, you know, musical background, no writing skills at all, but you’ll learn so much and you’ll make connections and you’ll learn how to not just write songs, but record how to mix, um, how to market yourself, <laugh>, things like that. They’re really great skills. Um, and you know, it’s fun. It’s fun. It’s great to be part of a community like that. And I think the community is so, so welcoming as well. Yeah, just, just do it. You don’t, you don’t need, you don’t need anything.
Uh, you’ve triggered my secret second question because “just do it” in those exact words is the most common advice I get.
Lani: Oh.
So I also like to follow up with “what kind of concrete advice do you have?” Um, maybe something about how to organize a comp or your favorite finger stretches or your best marketing tips.
Lani: Well, um, there, there are a lot of like free tools out there. You know, um, you, you’ve got, if you’re an Apple user, GarageBand and things like that is quite, quite usable. Um, I do recommend, um, getting a decent microphone is really good. Not like the one I’m using today because <laugh> um, my microphone’s a little bit old now, but I use a, a Blue Yeti, which was, I thought was a, you know, affordable, but yeah, <laugh> affordable, but a good microphone and, um, be beyond that, you don’t need a lot of other equipment other than some maybe an instrument. In terms of, I guess, marketing yourself? I think you just, you, you reach out to people like you Bess, I think, and, you know, look for those active people who are promoting and encouraging, um, wizard rock and keeping it alive and getting the news out there about new acts. Um, because, you know, as you, you guys that, that keep everyone connected, I think. Um, but um, I think, you know, it is a friendly community if you just drop an email to anyone. Find, um, uh, a, a band from BandCamp that’s listed under wizard rock, and I think, I think you’ll find people will, will be friendly and, you know, give you advice and things like that. Show you where to go.
Yeah. About once or twice a year I get an email that’s misdirected for a radio station that shares my call sign. I would love it if y’all just started jumping into my inbox with “Here’s my new wizard rock. Please play it on your show.”
Lani: Yeah
Absolutely reach out magical friends. Now Lani, in addition to preparing this amazing new album for us.
Lani: Oh yeah.
What have you got going on these days? What should people check out?
Lani: These days? Oh my gosh. Um, there’s not a lot happening from my end in terms of wizard rock or anything like that. These days I’m really interested in sustainability. Um, so I’m very concerned about the human, um, impact on the earth. Um, so that’s actually one of the things that I’m studying at the moment, um, just for my interests, not related to my career, but about how we can live in a more sustainable way. So, um, today on my day off from work, I’m gonna do some gardening, um, you know, to just like really just enjoying, um, nature, living simply, and just, uh, making the smallest footprint I can.
Do you have any calls to action for folks? Come plant native plants with you…
Lani: <laugh> Um, I think the biggest impact that anyone can do, um, is to reduce the amount of, um, meat they eat. And there’s this great, uh, I guess it’s a movement or, uh, some sort of organization I guess, and it’s called Eight Meals. I think if you #EightMeals on Instagram, I think. And basically they’re saying that if you replace eight meals a week, that usually would eat, um, meat in with a vegetable based or plant-based things, if the whole world did that, we could offset, um, just about all of the carbon emissions. That’s how big an impact, um, meat has. And it’s not going vegan or vegetarian, it’s just reducing how much meat and that, that makes a, a huge difference if everyone just does a little bit.
Here’s our final music break. First up is Slytherin with “Phoenix Tears.”
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During that block you heard “Phoenix Tears” from Slytherin, our beloved Aguamenti with “Unspeakable” [lyrics], and Jonathan Mann’s “Muggles.”
And now for the last bit of my conversation with Lani!
Thank you so much for talking with me today. I’m delighted that we made this connection. Where can WZRD listeners find you online?
Lani: My music will be on BandCamp. So if you look at, um, AnvilandtheHints.BandCamp.com, that’s, um, no spaces, um, you’ll find all of the, my tracks there.
And maybe we’ll see a new one coming up soon!
Lani: Maybe. I’ll let you know. You’ll be the first to know, Bess.
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.
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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, magical friends, here’s Anvil & the Hints!
Lani: Um, so now here’s, um, track I’m pretty proud of. Uh, it was heaps of fun to make. It’s called “Prowling.”
WZRD Radio Podcast 