Northbrook band combines youth and experience

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Northbrook Garage band member Sam Harkey, 14, answers a question during an interview on Tuesday at his Northbrook home. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: July 22, 2011 3:38PM

After the musicians finished talking to the reporter, two of them rolled around on the carpet, playing with the dog.

The other two went outside to lazily toss a big Frisbee-like saucer across the front lawn.

It is strange to see: Four rockers with a sound that makes patrons of taverns stop and listen, but who are obviously still suburban children.

“I can’t believe this is working out,” lead singer Elenna Sindler said. “It’s surreal.”

Sindler is 12 years old. Guitarist Sam Harkey, drummer Eric Doar and bass player Eric von Holst are all 14.

Despite their youth, many who have heard the kids of Northbrook Garage think they are on their way to something special.

Among them are Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, the Brooklyn band led by a former Rikers Island jail guard.

The kids had the taste and temerity to cover the band’s funk-soul anthem, “She Ain’t A Child No More.” And Jones was charmed and impressed by what she heard on YouTube.

Last September, she begged the band’s parents to drive them down to St. Louis for one of their gigs.

And they came. And what followed was one of life’s great moments for four Northbrook kids, no matter what the future holds.

When it came time for “She Ain’t A Child No More,” Jones ordered the boys to stand on stage alongside their counterparts, and told Sindler to sing with her. She got right in the girl’s face.

“I was totally in shock,” Sindler remembered.

And then it happened. The towering guitar king Binky Griptite pulled the strap over his head and handed his axe to Harkey. He strolled off the stage.

The youth was stunned for a second, then grinned. He knew what to do with a guitar.

A few minutes later, von Holst was playing bass. Doar was on the drum kit.

And then they were invited to play their own version. The crowd roared its approval.

Today, Harkey will tell you that they know they’re good, but that they also know that their arrangement of the Jones tune is much simpler than that of the Dap-Kings.

This self-awareness is not a surprise to anyone at Northbrook Junior High, where they won their first hearts and talent shows.

“One of the things about them is that they’re really humble,” language arts teacher Mike LaCerra said.

 “I think that’s part of the deal. They’re not some group of kids screwing around with guitars and drums. These kids have a plan.”

The plan moves forward this summer. They’re playing the family-friendly end of Lollapalooza — Kidzapalooza — with sets at 1:30 p.m.  Aug. 5 and 11:30 a.m. Aug. 6, in Grant Park.

Last month, they released their first single, “So What,” written by Harkey’s dad, Todd “Seven” Harkey (so nicknamed, he says, because he’s a lucky guy). You can get it on iTunes for 99 cents.

Seven Harkey’s wife Brooke Wilson named them for a garage, but they’re not really a garage band. They practice in the Harkeys’ den, and mostly, they’re the products not just of hard work but of a strong school music program and private lessons.

Seven Harkey manages them, and they get a lot of support from Wilson and the other parents, who apparently brought them up to be good citizens.

At the junior high they all attended, nobody can say anything bad about them.

“They’re great kids and they’re all good students, and they’re well-liked and respected by their peers,” principal Scott Meek said.

“You can’t have a fan base if you’re a jerk,” Doar said.

Out of the mouths of babes.

One of the reasons they get along so well in school despite talent that could foster jealousy is that like many affluent schools, Northbrook Junior High has many other very talented students, Meek said.

It’s just a matter of degree.

They’re like a Disney story, but they play decidedly un-Disney rhythm and blues and soul-flavored rock.

Disney actually came calling last year, but lost interest.

That’s okay, Doar said. Who would want to be in a Disney TV band?

“They’re so annoying,” he winced.

Harkey and von Holst met and started playing together in fifth grade. Before the school year was out, the other Eric supplanted the band’s first drummer, and the new trio was soon playing gigs around town, including several tavern dates, mostly at the old Hanson Brothers tavern in unincorporated Cook County.

In April, 2010, the boys met Sindler at a junior high talent show, and they say they only needed a few notes to know they had found a lead vocalist.

The boys all play multiple instruments. Eric von Holst started not with a bass guitar but with a stand-up bass. Doar plays guitar well, but says “I was mesmerized by the drums.” Most people are impressed by Harkey’s guitar work, but at first, he said “I was fascinated by” the trombone.

The kids are all about the music. Sam Harkey’s little brother Ben, 11, is often allowed to join them on percussion, but it’s not just generosity that gets him on stage.

Like the rest of the boys, he never seems to miss a note.

And now, they’re in demand.

Last month, in a soft but steady rain, a large appreciative crowd at the St. Norbert (Parish Church) Block Party formed in front of the bandstand, where the kids were the opening act. Youngsters danced. Older folks appreciated the lack of clinkers and a lead vocalist who pleaded sweetly before original tunes, “We hope you like it.”

“Isn’t this fun?” asked Sunset Foods’ Ron Bernardi. “What a great thing to have in your hometown.”

After they played a few songs, Jay Lorenz and his wife Jean walked up and introduced themselves. Lorenz owned the now-shuttered Northbrook Garage, which may have been the oldest family-operated business in the nation.

The kids crowded around the old mechanic and his wife, and told them how proud they were to carry on the name. Lorenz walked away, saying he was very pleased that they did so.

“And look,” he said, laughing, “they gave me a T-shirt.”

One day, that shirt may be selling for good money on eBay.