Viking rockers to aid literacy effort

by Patrick Thomas

It was only a few minutes after 3 p.m., and the hallways at St. Laurence High School were filled with the sound of AC/DC and Green Day. It wasn’t a recording, but live renditions coming from the classrooms where members of St. Laurence’s Rock & Roll Club were jamming out.

The 35 members of the unique club, comprising six different bands, were preparing for their annual School of Rock & Roll Band Showcase on March 27. As part of the concert, they are collecting books and money to support Rock for Reading, which provides books to libraries, schools and organizations to fight a rising trend of illiteracy and renew interest in reading.

And on Jan. 26 when they received a special guest visit from Paul Natkin, executive director of Rock for Reading and a veteran of the music industry, the students learned about the importance of the collection and about life as a rock star.

“You guys all have short hair. How can you be in a heavy metal band?” Natkin joked with a group of students.

“That’s because they are not allowed to have long hair in school,” responded Frank Loulousis, art teacher and moderator of the club.

Natkin has seen lots of hair flying from heavy metal musicians in his work as a celebrated music photographer, as well as other music greats. Natkin has photographed such icons as the Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra in addition to rising stars like John Mayer and Neko Case. His 1985 picture of Bruce Springsteen was published on the cover of Newsweek, helping launch his career as well as Springsteen’s.

Natkin regaled the student musicians with stories about hanging out with Ted Nugent and his family. He also had some fun teasing the drummers in the audience.

“How many of you are drummers?” asked a grinning Natkin, sitting atop two speakers at the front of class. “Drummers are cool people. They are just like musicians.”

Wearing a plain gray sweatshirt and black frame glasses contrasting his white unruly hair, Natkin encouraged the students to practice, and equally important, learn the business of the music industry before they get serious about entering it.

He said when he began taking photos and touring with bands more than 35 years ago, playing music was about 80 percent of the job, and handling business was 20 percent. Nowadays, he said they are equally critical.

“There was a long period of time when everybody thought, ‘If I write a great song, I’m going to become a millionaire,” he said. “My favorite all-time story is Hall and Oates, who are in the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ as the biggest selling rock duo in the history of recorded music, and to this day, they have never made a penny of royalties.”

Natkin said 97 percent of bands on major record labels never see a penny from royalties. In the case of Hall and Oates, Natkin said, their manager stole money from them, and their record company continued giving them advances, which they spent and could never repay. Natkin suggested that “recoupable expenses” are plaguing the industry for young talents, who get caught up in the initial loans and can never pay the money back in time to earn royalties.

“The music business is set up so that they’ll never see it. The record companies just give them money. Here are these four starving kids playing in a garage, and somebody hands them $100,000. What are they going to do? They are going to spend, and they don’t have the right people around them to tell them that they shouldn’t spend, or they should do it without taking that money. That’s the problem with music, and that’s about education,” Natkin said. “That’s what these kids have to know.”

Natkin recalled how Springsteen couldn’t release his acclaimed “Born to Run” album for three years because he was fighting in court with his manager over who owned the music.

“I always tell these kids you don’t need a manager. You need to learn how to do all this stuff yourself because 50 percent of [managers] are going to screw the band over and never let the band know where the money is going,” he said.

Known for his photography, Natkin has also developed a calling in guiding young musicians. He supplemented his career and learned to pay his bills by working at Gamma Photolab in the West Loop. He learned to become a skilled photographer from his father Robert, a talented team photographer for the Chicago Bulls. He also discovered some nice side benefits from taking pictures.

“The whole reason I got into photography was to get into stuff for free,” said Natkin.

His father brought him to a Bulls game and introduced him to the camera and the perks of sitting courtside. The next thing Natkin knew, he was in the middle of the action.

“I had never held a camera in my hand in my life. I’m 20 years old, and I’m sitting on the sidelines with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar standing next to me,’” he recalled.

In 1975, he started taking pictures at concerts. He established some valuable contacts, and through hard work and talent, he launched an exciting career. According to Rock for Reading, in 35 years he has photographed about 3,500 musicians. More than 100 album covers and more than 100 magazine covers feature his photos. Among his personal favorites are Springsteen, local blues legend Buddy Guy and the Rolling Stones, who he toured with three times. But Natkin has tales about practically every artist.

“I photographed Barry Manilow like 20 times, and as a person, he’s kind of a jerk. But he writes great songs, and he puts on a great show. I photographed Liberace a bunch of times. He’s one of the best subjects I ever photographed,” he said.

Stage presence is what makes a great subject, Natkin said.

“People who actually do something on stage, as opposed to standing there, staring at their feet, singing songs. There is a word that the English press uses. They call them ‘shoe gazers,’” he said.

In 2003, Natkin teamed up with singer/songwriter Alice Peacock and Camping and Education Foundation President Hugh Haller to raise money for literacy by starting Rock for Reading, which has allowed him to meet young musicians like those in the St. Laurence Rock & Roll Club.

The idea for the club spawned from Loulousis. An alumnus and volleyball coach who has taught at St. Laurence since 2004, Loulousis plays the guitar and harmonica and sings. When his band broke up, he reached out to students in 2006 to see if anyone wanted to play with him so he could keep his skills sharp.

“I just put up an announcement, and said ‘Hey, anyone interested in jamming with Mr. L., meet in room 128 at 3 p.m.’ The next thing I know, there are 60 kids showing up. That’s when I realized I’m not going to jam. I have a totally different thing on my hands. It was a different monster. It came to the point where we had three weeks of meetings to decide what we were going to do with all of these guys playing rock ’n’ roll,” Loulousis said.

Loulousis divided the students into bands based on the genres they were interested in. One group wanted to play heavy metal, while another was interested in classic rock. Others were into alternative music and punk. As the practices turned productive, Loulousis decided to display their talents and organize a show. They went to Guitar Center in Burbank, and the business lent them amplifiers, lighting, a sound system, a drum set and a fog machine.

From that generosity, Loulousis said, the Rock & Roll Club was inspired to pay it forward by hosting a Rock & Roll camp for fourth-grade through ninth-grade students each summer and to hold the Rock for Reading benefit. Last year’s performance drew 650 fans, and the group is hoping for 1,000 this year.

“It’s all about helping the community since they’ve helped us,” Loulousis said.

The club has also helped its students become more interested in school. Karen Grzenia, whose freshman son Alex has played the guitar for almost two years, said she was impressed by the program because it made Alex more enthusiastic about coming to school.

“Since joining the club and learning there are futures in music, this is the first time he has ever been willing to talk to me about college,” Grzenia said. “How can you not find that to be encouraging for a child? If it has that effect on my son, think about how many other students it could have influence on.”

Tyler Koch and Ethan Yesutis, both freshman guitarists, said they were drawn to St. Laurence for the opportunity to play music after school.

“This is one of the reasons I came here,” Koch said. “It’s hard to play by yourself, and knowing you have people right here at school makes it easier to have a band.”

Junior Dave Zarnowski is in his third year with the club. He said he plays for the thrill of performing on stage, and the club gives him that opportunity.

“The show is really awesome,” Zarnowski said. “When you get on that stage, your heart is racing.”

To learn more about Rock for Reading, visit rockforreading. org. To see Natkin’s work visit natkin.net.

This is part of the February 3, 2010 online edition of The Beverly Review.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you. Click here.