• On MySpace

In the evolution of Wizard Rock, bands have taken a variety of stands with their songs, whether they stay in character (Harry and the Potters) or play as an onlooker of the events in the books (Bella’s Love). Despite how songs are presented, all of it can be considered Harry Potter fanfiction–fans writing about their favorite characters and events in the series. The band Shorthand Phonetics, while not entirely wizard rock, took the idea of fanfiction a little further in 2006, with their first full-length album, “Fanfiction: From the Seriously Absurd to the Absurdly Serious.”

Shorhand Phonetics began as a school project to write a song, which became “Wildest Day”–the first song the band would record, with Alfon on bass, Alvin on drums, Daniel on guitar, and Ababil writing and recording. Taking their name from two random words found in the Encarta encyclopedia, the fledgling band would take off, recording their first EP, “The Healthy Paranoid.”

The concept album, Fanfiction, came about from several of Ababil’s own fanfictions, after realizing that the stories worked better as songs than in prose. With these tales, the album grew into the concept of a frustrated teenager expressing his thoughts through fanfiction. The album also included two Harry Potter fanfiction songs, “Everybody Knows Every Romance Needs an Astronomy Tower”, exploring the relationship of two students from opposite houses, and “Lady Hermione’s Library Is On Fire because of the Burning Minds Sparking Each Other to Ignite and It’s Consuming My Flammable Ashen Heart,” looking at the relationships of Harry and Ginny and Ron and Hermione.

Although most of the band have split apart to pursue their own academic plans, the band continues to live as Ababil’s project, and plans to release their second album, Apparently… I’m in Medicine in 2007.