Sherlocked

Now, this isn’t strictly Siriusly Hazza P news, but it’s something I reckon a few of you would like to hear about!

With the exciting return of Sherlock to our screens, we decided to pick up an old project along with our friends Amy and Ellie (of Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons and The Lost Diadems fame, respectively). The concept is a familiar one, we write songs about something we love – this time, the world’s only consulting detective!

The band is called Sherlocked and as the series progresses we’ll be putting new songs up online for your listening pleasure.

But for now, we’ve remixed the first song, IOU, originally released a year ago. The song now has a much more epic feel, with a ‘choir’ and some other new touches. Take a listen on YouTube:

What did you think of the first episode of series three of  Sherlock? Are you looking forward to episode two?

‘Siriusly Hazza P’ – Out Now!

On Saturday, we released our new self-titled album at Have Yourself A Very Geeky Christmas. We were working to get it finished right up until the last day and luckily we made it!

We’ve made it available to buy over on BandCamp for just £5 – that’s twelve tracks for five english pounds, a bargain, some may say.

You can have a little listen here!

 

We will be blogging about the bundle of fun that Have Yourself A Very Geeky Christmas was soon, don’t you worry.

Something New Is Coming Your Way…

We blog bearing news, dear friends.

As if we didn’t have enough on our collective plate in the midst of organising Have Yourself A Very Geeky Christmas, we thought it was high time we recorded and released another album!

This new album will be a collection of the songs that we love to play live that you can’t find on our other albums, and old songs that have been revamped beyond recognition – a bit of a best of; an ultimate collection, if you will. I imagine it will be a satisfying listen for those folk who’ve been following us since 2007!

We will be releasing it at the aforementioned exciting Yuletide event, and it shall be available online after that date.

Must dash, we’ve got some music to be making!

LeakyCon London Diary – Day 3!

The Saturday of LeakyCon was the last day of programming  and was so much fun!

After our late night the night before, the first event we made it to was the Improv workshop our friend Amy was running. Everything in the workshop, cleverly named Improv-imentia, was given a wizarding twist – Amy ‘casting the spells’ meaning  the room at one point was packed with angry Whomping Willows, at another point full of wizards under the jelly legs curse and so much more madness.  The last part of the session we sat down to watch some improvised scenes by brave volunteers – many laughs were had.

Watch this video for a taste of  Improv-imentia.

Wizard Rockers Converge and Converse was next up on our schedule. It was another panel run by our friend Ellie, this time discussing the differences between the UK and the US wizard rock scenes. It was really interesting to get to hear the other wizard rockers’ views on things from over the pond and compare and contrast them with our own experiences.

The Pop Up Wrock Show that happened in the afternoon was really something special.  The spontaneity of it made it lots of fun.  After a bit of a wander, we set up at the top of a staircase, above the HPA’s booth, forming a makeshift stage for the show.  The Deathsticks played first – and Margo really owned it! If you haven’t checked out her music, it’s a must. She really has some of the best wizard rock to offer. People wandering through were enchanted by her beautiful voice and quite rightfully stopped to listen. Earlier in the day, Margo had taught us part of her new song about Gilderoy Lockhart and asked us to sing it with her.  It had a great 50’s feel and was really up our street. We can’t wait for her to release her music!

Next,  off the cuff, we decided to play our song John Simons – the alternative ending of the Harry Potter series, where Harry wakes up to find he’s a 30 something named John who’s been in a coma and dreamt up the whole magical world. Laura reacquainted herself with the guitar for this rendition – it’s been a while since we’ve played without the trusty keyboard.

We had to hurry off shortly afterwards as we’d arranged to meet friends for lunch/dinner (linner?), but after Hank Green stepped up to play Accio Deathly Hallows our friend Ellie – half of The Lost Diadems, was set to play. Such a shame to miss her play – I hope she cracked out Accio Magic for the gathered wizards, a classic tune.

After eating, we headed back to the apartment to get ready for the ball. We’d accidentally kind of co-ordinated our dresses,  going for a bit of a lacy theme. We took a cab to the Grand Connaught Rooms and soon found our friends amongst the crowd. Everyone was dressed to the nines and looked fantastic. We had a boogie and slinked off for a cheeky ice lolly from Tesco at one point, but returned in time for a mass Gangnam Style. Our feet were sore at the end of the night, but we’d had a lot of fun so it didn’t matter.

The following morning, we got a chance to say goodbye to all of our friends at the leaving feast (is that what it was called? It’s what I’m calling it anyway). Just before we left we joined in with a ‘House Of Awesome’ sing-along led by Margo of The Deathsticks on a borrowed acoustic guitar. Singing wizard rock with friends is what it’s all about for us!

Well, now we’ve relived the whole of our LeakyCon London experience it’s time to start getting excited for the next event. Have Yourself A Very Geeky Christmas is approaching!

Buy your  tickets here!

Have Yourself A Very Geeky Christmas!

So, we all know that wizards like to party. Give us any excuse and we like to get together and have a dance. And what better excuse than Christmas?

On 7th December, you are all invited to Have Yourself A Very Geeky Christmas! Hosted at Macclesfield Senior Citizen’s Hall, it will be a celebration of all things fandom. Between 12.30 and 4.30 there will be a craft fair packed full of goodies inspired by some of your favourite TV shows, books and films. This part of the event will be free entry to all and the perfect opportunity to pick up some Christmas presents or maybe a treat or two for yourself.

From 7pm, there will be a wizard rock show. Ticket information will be released very soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Throughout the day and in the evening, you’ll hear music from Jadene Doak, The Lost Diadems – and now announcing Siriusly Hazza P and Hayley Carr!

We can’t wait – let us know if you’re planning on coming by attending on the Facebook page!

LeakyCon London Diary – Day 2!

And so for the second instalment of our LeakyCon London diary! A rundown of Friday’s events…

We woke up bright and early for the first of our programming – the WZRD resurrection podcast at 10am! It was a lot of fun, sitting at a big long table of wizard rockers, listening to some acoustic songs played by some (there was a particularly delightful early morning version of Phoenix Tears by Harry and the Potters), and some ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’ panel show style games – such as the Intros round and Next Lines. We tried to recreate the intro to Stick It To Dolores using only our voices/some banging on the table, it was interesting. It was a light hearted and lovely start to the day!

After this, we found ourselves sat at a different long table, this time for the autographs session. We’d debated bringing books to read just in case nobody showed up, but as it turned out there was a healthy queue of people that we got a chance to have a little chat with! It went past in a blur, but it was so nice to meet everyone. Hi if you came along!

Amy tried to sneak into SHP. We caught her.

The afternoon brought with it plenty more fun. First up was Wrock: A Wretrospective (clever use of the ‘w’ there), a panel hosted by our good friend Ellie. She and the panel talked through the story of wizard rock, from its humble beginnings in Harry and the Potters’ backyard, to the build of the UK scene and what lies ahead. We offered up some anecdotes that we’ve been keeping under our hats for quite some time – like the time we played to a baffled audience at a bar mitzvah and when we thought that playing a tiny guitar with a small electric whisk would be a good musical choice (it wasn’t).  Ellie, ever the professional, had made us name cards, which Amy of Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons decorated with personalised doodles to suit each of the panel members – Cathrin got a cat, and Laura got a crow (her surname is Crow, excellent work).

Ellie was hosting The Ultimate Shipping Debate next, and we decided to pop along! We definitely made the right decision with that one. People defended their ships very passionately and there were a lot of laughs. Discussed were Ron/Hermione vs Harry/Hermione and Snape/Lily vs James/Lily – I know that Ellie had planned a lot more pairings to discuss but people had a lot to say about these ones!  The debate was such a popular choice that it had to be moved to a bigger room than the one that was scheduled. I have no doubt that the discussion could have gone on all day.

Hermione has her say on the matter.

LeakyStars, on the mainstage, had only just begun by the time the shipping debate was over so we headed down for a listen.  Hayley Carr was one of the three finalists, and we felt the need to show her some support as she’s been involved in the UK Wizard Rock scene for quite some time now. She played her song ‘So What If I’m A Geek?’ and it went down excellently, she got great feedback from the judges.  The act after her was a group of French girls in fantastic fandom costume who had rewritten ‘One Day More’ from Les Miserables. Their performance was brilliantly dynamic. We’d been too late to see the first act, Jadene Doak, who went on to win, but we did have a listen to her song on YouTube afterwards and it was beautiful – well done Jadene!

The craft fair was next up on the agenda, and I’ve never attended one quite like it! When Laura is not being a wizard, she makes and sells her own jewellery and accessories through her shop Goodnight Boutique. She had made some Harry Potter, Doctor Who and Sherlock bits and bobs for the occasion and they went down a storm.

The room was so packed, there wasn’t space to move an inch – and I could see why, the items that the sellers had brought were all so lovely! Our friend Kylie had made some knitted wristbands in Hogwarts colours, here we are sporting them. We made up a dance which was essentially one jazz hand flaunting your wristband. At the end of the weekend we all complained of a slightly stiff wrist from excessive goes of said dance. We are silly.

We rushed downstairs after the fair, determined not to miss any of the second night of wizard rock – as the line-up was so fantastic! We bounced around to the The Blibbering Humdingers, who kicked proceedings off in spectacular style. We’d never heard these guys play before, but they’ve got two new fans in the form of us – we loved their witty lyrics and musical stylings so much.

The second band of the night were RiddleTM. It’s such a joy to hear them play every time, they’re always on top form! We sang along to Beans with much vigour – though we’ve not quite nailed the words to the verses yet, which are a list of all of the potential nasties (or nice things!) you could come across when sampling Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans.

Next up was Lauren Fairweather. Lauren captivated everyone in the room with her songs, she really knows how to sum up how we all feel about these stories – as demonstrated by the amount of love she received following ‘Home’. It was such a lovely moment. She also played a version of And Then I Died – originally by her band The Moaning Myrtles. We raced through the audience to get as close to the front as possible, singing our hearts out. The Moaning Myrtles have always been one of our favourite wizard rock acts, and this song one of our favourite wizard rock songs!

Lauren’s husband Matt played next, as The Whomping Willows. It was so great to see Matt play his marvellously catchy songs to such a good audience! A highlight for us was House Of Awesome, lots of singing and clapping along. Though When The Lights Go Out was magical, with the whole room carrying on the song after Matt had left the stage.

Harry and the Potters ended the evening – and as predicted – they really brought the house down (quite literally at one point, as everyone sunk to the floor). Harry and the Potters shows are always super super fun, this one especially so, as there were so many people so into it! A particularly special moment was during Dumbledore, in which the traditional (can we call it traditional? Probably) circle was formed by everyone in the room. Lots of love felt there!

Friday was so much fun!

Harry and the Potters in Leeds!

Harry and the Potters are currently on their UK and Sweden tour, so how could we possibly pass up the opportunity to go see our favourite wizard rock band play again? The closest venue to us was Leeds, so on Thursday we hopped on the train (sadly not the Hogwarts Express, though a rickety old trolley of treats was dragged down the aisle) and made our way to Wharf Chambers to see them play!

At LeakyCon, they were discussing how they would love to get their hands on a saxophone for this tour but didn’t know where to find one, at which point Laura piped up that she owns one – a shiny blue one at that – and would be delighted to bring it along to their Leeds gig. Thanks to this, we got to hear Save Ginny Weasley From Dean Thomas and a version of My Teacher is a Werewolf with a mean sax solo.

Other pretty cool parts of the show included Joe letting off confetti over our heads at the beginning,  getting Hermione Screws Up The Polyjuice Potion dedicated to us; we may or may not be crazy cat ladies, and (Not Gonna Put On) The Monkey Suit being played off the cuff for Laura and her fiancé James by way of an early wedding gift! On top of that, a guy requested Fluffy – a forgotten classic. Loved hearing that.

They had support from a UK band named Martha, who were excellent – we love finding out about new music, and we’ll definitely be giving them a listen!

Have to say, this was probably our favourite ever Harry and the Potters show because it was so intimate and a whole lot of fun.  They’re on their way to Sweden next, so to any Swedish readers: make sure you don’t miss this opportunity!

‘Do something dynamic!’ demanded Ellie of The Lost Diadems (centre), and so we did…

LeakyCon London Diary – Day 1!

We’re just attempting to settle back into normal life after living in the crazy, fun and exciting LeakyCon bubble for half of last week – which mostly means remember what sleeping is and adjusting to not being surrounded by happy singing Potter fans wherever we turn. What better way is there to keep the magic alive for a little longer than to share with you a diary of our experiences and memories from LeakyCon London through a series of blogs!

We arrived into London on Wednesday evening, and made our way to the apartment we’d be sharing with all of the wizard rockers for the weekend, nestled away in the heart of London – right near Leicester Square! We explored our quarters and within five minutes Cathrin had got herself locked in the miniscule bathroom – having to be freed with a spoon taken to the other side of the lock. After this, we headed down – one of us slightly red-faced – to a communal area to greet the American contingent. We had what would be classed in Leaky terms as an early night, nestling down for the night before 1am, after an exhilarating trip to M&S Simply Food at half past eleven AT NIGHT. It’s the little things…

Thursday morning arrived and we breakfasted like kings on our M&S purchases from the night before. We then ambled over to the Grand Connaught Rooms where the con was being held to collect our passes, stash our instruments, greet our friends and generally bubble over with anticipation for the show we would be playing in the ballroom later on. Seriously, the first time we walked in we were speechless; it was beautiful and gigantic. I think it well and truly sunk in then that this would be by far the biggest audience we’d ever played to!

Fast forward a few hours, and it was time for the opening ceremony. We heard some fabulous speeches and saw some great performances – it really gave everyone a taste of what was in store for the next few days, and I think it’s safe to say everyone was ready for it all to kick off. Also a magician came over to us and did some magic before our very eyes, that was cool. Once the majority of the crowd had filtered out (spare a few eager beavers at the front, saving themselves a good spot – we like your thinking!) we soundchecked with the lovely sound crew and then headed off to grab a bite to eat before the show. This meant traipsing through the epic maze that was the Grand Connaught Rooms, led by Matt of The Whomping Willows, who managed to take us to a derelict meeting room, with an official looking flip chart and sweeties in jars (?). We did eventually find our way to the penthouse, where the wizard rockers converged and enjoyed some delightful conversation before heading off back downstairs to get changed and wait in the wings…

Then it was show time. We were opening the wizard rock at LeakyCon London! As mentioned in a previous blog, we kicked off with a collaboration with Amy of Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons as Sgt Potter’s Lonely Horcrux Band. We sang a medley of songs by UK and European wizard rockers to celebrate the wonderful scene we’ve been so involved in over the past six years. We really liked hearing the occasional whoop as somebody recognised a song!

Photo credit to Anna M@sunlitlake.deviantart.com

Our Siriusly Hazza P set followed this, opening up with Hedwig and Madam Pudifoot’s, which got a lot of love because who doesn’t like owls and tea? We then performed Turn Around – a song with a dark tango feel, which called for a lot of dramatic head turns and stamping, and then to contrast, our song Arnold – about how lovable pygmy puffs are! We blew bubbles into the audience as that’s what Arnold would have wanted if he’d been in attendance. This was followed up with a bit of audience participation, as we taught everyone how to dance like a giant in Grawp.

Photo credit to Anna M@sunlitlake.deviantart.com

Photo credit to Anna M@sunlitlake.deviantart.com

They really threw some mean shapes out there! Next song up was I Won’t Feed The Peacocks Anymore, which we wrote for charity compilation Wizards and Muggles Rock For Social Justice: Volume 3 earlier this year. It’s all about Dobby’s plight at Malfoy Manor and is a cheery, upbeat number! We’d originally planned to don pillowcases for this song but we were so busy in the run up that we forgot to make head and arm holes in them. Never mind, eh? We closed with Witchface – after an onstage witchfight broken up by Matt Maggiacomo. Ironic that it should happen just before a song about a secret rivalry between the two of us…

Sgt Potter’s Lonely Horcrux Band reunited on stage for a rendition of Marching On – inspired by this much loved YouTube video and then we left the stage as it was time for Amy to play as Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons!

Amy performed some of her most upbeat songs, whilst still showcasing her impressive vocals! We especially enjoyed hearing The Raid live again. We joined Amy up on stage as her Chocolate Cauldrons for Summer With The Weasleys, with accompaniment from Scott of The Blibbering Humdingers. It ended in a big group hug as we all were feeling that Weasley family vibe!

After Amy’s set, it was time for one last song from Sgt Potter’s Lonely Horcrux Band! Of course, we couldn’t do a show without playing The Ballad Of John Simons – the TRUE story of Harry Potter, in which Harry awoke from a coma to discover he was actually a thirty something named John and it had all been a dream. We mashed this up with Sonorus by Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons and Hey Jude (Hey John!). The working title was Hey Johnorus, quite proud of that one. All of the audience joined in super loud with the ‘naa’s in Hey Jude – it was really awesome! Throughout the whole set, we were blown away by how fun and supportive the audience were, especially seeing as it was quite a few people’s first wizard rock show – guys, you’re invited back any time!

Next up were another European act – Solitary Snape. We’d been really looking forward to their set as we knew they would really get the crowd going and they certainly didn’t disappoint! I seem to remember busting some moves at our merch table – especially to The Battle. Lead singer Oscar was wearing a pretty impressive jacket, with ‘BORN TO RUNE’ emblazoned on the back in sequins. Witty. Good.

Alex Carpenter played next, which is always a delight! We heard a mixture of material from The Remus Lupins days as well as some of his more recent stuff. Admittedly, we had to abandon our merch table for a while so we could have a proper dance. I think Meet Me At King’s Cross went down particularly well with the crowd!

Photo credit to La Gazette Du Sorcier

Finally it was Hank Green’s turn to perform. The audience was super pumped and sang every word along with him!

Photo credit to La Gazette Du Sorcier

After a super fun night, it was time to catch a black cab back to the apartment so we could catch a few hours’ sleep before Friday kicked off! But more about Friday in the next blog…

You can watch some of our set in this YouTube video!

Where To Visit Whilst You’re In London For LeakyCon!

So, you’re going to LeakyCon London? Hooray! With the big event fast approaching, I’m sure you’ve checked out the programming schedule and cherry-picked the bits that you’d most like to do. However, whilst there’s lots of fun things happening as part of the con, it’s easy to forget that London is a big and bustling place, jam packed with fun things to do, see and experience. So if you’ve got a gap in your schedule, or you’re hanging around a few days before or after, we’ve got a few suggestions of where you might like to visit! Of course, all within a short tube ride from The Grand Connaught Rooms, where LeakyLondon is being held!

For starters, you’ll be needing this:

Or something along those lines… Anyway, on with the list!

1. Platform 9 3/4, King’s Cross Train Station
How to get there on the underground from Covent Garden: Take the Piccadilly Line. King’s Cross is the third stop.

So this is probably already on your list if you’re a Potter fan heading to London this summer, but it couldn’t go unmentioned! It’s such a great photo opportunity and since our last visit they’ve even added a wizarding shop, just in case you can’t make it to Diagon Alley before term starts in a month’s time. What’s more, it’s only six minutes away from LeakyCon when you hop on the underground!

2. The Sherlock Holmes Museum, Baker Street
How to get there on the underground from Covent Garden: Take the Piccadilly Line, change at Piccadilly Circus to the Bakerloo line. Baker Street is the third stop.

Located (of course) at 221B Baker Street, the Sherlock Holmes Museum is housed in a charming town house. The door is guarded by a victorian policeman who will hand you a hat and a pipe to enhance your sleuthing powers. Within, you’ll find lots of recognisable scenes and trinkets from Arthur Conan Doyle’s writings.

Also on our visit to Baker Street, we found a Beatles shop, jam packed with all the Fab Four merchandise and memorabilia you could possibly imagine. Very apt, as we’ll be peforming as Sgt. Potter’s Lonely Horcrux Band on the Thursday night of LeakyCon!

If you want to pay a visit to Speedy’s Cafe, which you’ll definitely recognise if you’re a Sherlock fan, you’ll want to hop off at Euston Square!

A bemused policeman took this jubilant photo of us and our friends…

3. Abbey Road, St John’s Wood
How to get there on the underground from Covent Garden: Take the Piccadilly Line, change at Green Park to the Jubilee Line. St John’s Wood is the 3rd stop. 5 minute walk to Abbey Road Studios from there!

If you were intrigued by the Beatles shop, you’re definitely going to fancy a trip to Abbey Road – where The Beatles recorded their music. This has been on our To Do list for so long and we haven’t got round to making the pilgrimage yet – but maybe this trip could be the time we make it to that famous crossing and recreate that album cover. I suggest you do the same, it would be especially  fun if you were to take your picture in costume, think about it…

4. Science Museum, South Kensington
How to get there on the underground from Covent Garden: Take the Piccadilly Line. South Kensington is the 6th stop.

Situated on a road full of museums, the Science Museum has lots to offer to fuel your mind! Especially awesome is the space exhibition, with real rockets overhead. There’s lots of interactive exhibits about the museum, making it lots of fun. The last time we visited was when on our museums week, where we visited a different museum around the country each day for a week. That was a nice time.

Also, they make a mean cupcake in the cafe. Important.

5. Camden Market, Camden Town
How to get there on the underground from Covent Garden: Take the Piccadilly Line, change at
Leicester Square to the Northern Line. Camden Town is the 5th stop.

Camden is a must every time we visit London! There’s so much to explore there; stalls full of vintage clothes and hats, quirky jewellery, tasty food and t-shirts you won’t find on the high street – and that’s just a small selection of what’s on offer. Who knows what you might find in this vibrant part of London.

I hope we’ve given you a few nice ideas if you’re not too familiar with our capital city. If you’ve got any suggestions yourself, do feel free to leave them in the comments!

Wizard Rock means lots of travelling! Watch our Edinburgh adventures from when we visited in December for the Snow Ball.

Introducing… Sgt Potter’s Lonely Horcrux Band!

In our last post we enthused about the prospect of hearing Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons play at LeakyCon in just over two weeks’ time. What we didn’t mention is the fact that we have been collaborating on something very special with her – and I reckon it’s about time we let the cat out of the bag and tell you what’s in store!

For quite some time we’ve been intending to team up and make some sweet Siriusly Romilda Vane sounds, and what better time than now! There’s a big hint in the title of this post and the posters above. It’s safe to say we’ll be keeping things very British as LeakyCon comes to London. Expect harmonies, Harry and a hint of the Fab Four…

Have you watched us sing about Hedwig and discuss our favourite Doctor Who episodes?