Harry and the Potters
| Harry and the Potters | |
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Harry and the Potters performing in June 2010. From left to right: Joe, and Paul DeGeorge
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Norwood, Massachusetts |
| Genres | Wizard rock |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Charming Records |
| Associated acts | Draco and the Malfoys |
| Website | harryandthepotters.com |
| Members | Joe DeGeorge Paul DeGeorge |
Harry and the Potters are an American rock band known for spawning the genre of wizard rock. Founded in Norwood, Massachusetts in 2002, the group is primarily composed of brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge, who both perform under the persona of the title character from the Harry Potter book series. Harry and the Potters are known for their elaborate live performances, and have developed a cult following within the Harry Potter fandom.
The band is often backed up by musicians like Ernie Kim, Andrew MacLeay, Brad Mehlenbacher, John Clardy, Mike Gintz, Jacob Nathan, Ben Macri, Phillip Dickey, Jason Anderson and Zach Burba. Most of them played drums. The band's most recent songs feature drummer Mike Harpring and bassist Paul Baribeau.
Since 2002, Harry and the Potters have released three studio albums, five extended plays, and a single. The duo founded the independent record label Eskimo Laboratories, and appeared in the documentary films We Are Wizards and Wizard Rockumentary. They also co-founded charity organisation The Harry Potter Alliance, and formed the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club, an extended play syndicate.
The origins were quite accidental. In Cambridge, MA, Paul DeGeorge (born June 10, 1979 ) was developing vaccines for a biotech firm as a chemical engineer. Paul had recently graduated from Tufts University. Outside the lab, Paul was a musician whose indie band—The Secrets—had toured in the northeast from 2001 to 2002. To promote his band, Paul co-founded a small indie label called Eskimo Laboratories. One of the other bands in Eskimo’s stable of talent included a juvenile act called Ed in the Refridgerators [sic], which was fronted by Paul's 14-year-old brother Joe. Joe DeGeorge (born July 4, 1987 ) was a student at Norwood High School. He and his school friend Andrew MacLeay (A.K.A. Shaggy) had been playing in rock bands together since they were 11 and 12 years old. A couple of years earlier after reading the Harry Potter books, Paul formulated the premise for Harry and the Potters where the principle Harry Potter characters would be the musicians: Harry as the front man, Ron on guitar, Hermione on bass and Hagrid on drums. Then a crisis of sorts struck the brothers on June 22, 2002. During a barbecue at the DeGeorge family’s Norwood Massachusetts home, Joe had advertised a concert with Ed and the Refridgerators and several other indie bands. The venue was the back yard shed. Perhaps the venue was too modest but while an audience had arrived, the bands did not. To rescue a nearly lost opportunity, while waiting hopefully for a band to show, Harry and the Potters came into existence over the next hour when the two brothers wrote seven Potter-themed songs. They performed that first concert as Harry and the Potters for six people who remained of their audience. Of those seven backyard songs, six were to make it onto the band's first album in 2003.
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