Jason Fein Owner
Jason's musical journey started very early. He started piano lessons at the age of seven and it wasn't long after that he decided he wanted to learn how to play the guitar. Still not feeling like he had found his true musical calling he decided to give his school chorus a try when he entered high school. Things started moving fast from there. He formed his first band as the lead singer and by the time he graduated high school he went away to college on a vocal performance scholarship. While in college he formed his first touring band called Next Best Thing. They had some success including two albums and a song placed in a very popular motorcycle DVD that pressed over 500,000 copies.
After college NBT broke up and Jason was left searching for a new musical outlet. Little did he know he would soon find it in multiple forms. He co-founded The Run Around. In the ten years The Run Around has been together they have played shows all across this country, sold thousands of albums, have a successful music video and shared the stage with such national acts as Tom Petty, Bowling For Soup, Local H, Blues Traveler, Alien Ant Farm, Mest, Head Automatica, Lucky Boys Confusion, Nine Days, Gavin Degraw and many, many more. In the midst of all this, Jason was hired on as a vocal instructor at another School of Rock in the area. It wasn't long before he was recognized for his ability to direct and put on an impressive live show and was asked to direct the performance program. From there he went on to be the General Manager.
He learned that he loved the School of Rock mission and everything it represented and decided he wanted to make School of Rock his life. Geneva has always been a favorite town of his and just minutes away from where he grew up so he thought it was a great place to set up shop and start the next great chapter of his life. He can't wait to help mold the next generation of rock n' roll royalty.
Joey Schultz General Manager
Joey loves the new-age approach to music education that is School of Rock! He began his music education at age 8 on the snare drum. He moved on to the drum set, guitar, and saxophone in middle school, and kept playing all the way through high school (jazz and orchestral band). He attended Columbia College Chicago where he studied Music Composition and Audio Engineering.
Prior to becoming GM for SOR, Joey successfully helped open another SOR location, and worked in natural disaster relief across the nation. Joey is endorsed by SJC Drums and Soultone Cymbals, and has over 33k followers on Instagram. He has a wide variety of tastes, but truth be told, is a metal-head at his core. He has played with big bands in the past such as Oceano, Hawthorne Heights, Veil of Maya, and Born of Osiris to name a few.
He also enjoys time relaxing with his two daughters, dog, cat, and rabbit.
Bailey Poczos Music Director, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Piano and Singing Teacher
Bailey is School of Rock Geneva's Music Director, as well as a multi-instrumentalist instructor teaching guitar, voice, bass, and piano. She sings and plays guitar for an indie rock band called Johnny Personne, and has played with various bands and groups ranging from punk to classical to rock. Some of her recent bands include Joy Shooters (guitar) and The 48s (vocals).
Bailey grew up with both classical and practical training, taking private lessons in guitar, viola and violin, and was raised in an orchestral program at ECC. She has enjoyed her last five years teaching and directing at School of Rock, and can't imagine doing anything else!
Daniel Covarrubias Guitar and Bass Guitar Teacher
Dan first became interested in music when he listened to his siblings’ cd collection of Alternative rock. He was drawn to the variety of music he was hearing from video games. He was always humming tunes he heard and making his own. He began making his own music using Garageband. By the end of high school Dan had about ten full length albums of songs he wrote himself, based on his personal experiences. He wrote music as my way to express his own way of doing things.
Dan’s dad and brother In-law inspired him to take those accapella-riff styled songs to the guitar and practice techniques to build speed and memorize the guitar neck. Eventually he started playing his own shows and singing, sometimes even with a loop-pedal! He began to study Music Theory, and chart building and sight reading became more and more natural. Soon he was pulling off shows for Geneva’s Art Guild, Open Mics weekly, fundraisers, and joining a handful of cover bands and original rock bands.
Dan has been a guitar teacher and a bass teacher at School of Rock Geneva since our opening in 2015. Breaking down songs and feeling the uniqueness and togetherness of each part has always been his thing; and watching his students improve over the time has been fulfilling.
Joe Thomason Guitar, Bass Guitar, and Drum Teacher
Joe is a Guitarist, Bassist, and Drummer who began his musical journey when he was 11 years old. After first picking up a guitar in a middle school music class, he immediately became fascinated with the world of music. He began teaching himself songs from some of his favorite bands, and during this time he also picked up bass and drums, constantly wanting to further his musical ability.
He first started taking lessons to become a better player, but then after learning about music theory, he wanted to know what made music sound the way it does. This led Joe to attending Elgin Community College, and learning more advanced music theory as well as music production there. While in school Joe also started to explore the live performance side of music, and enjoyed sharing his music with anyone willing to listen. Now Joe hopes to share his passion for music with as many people he can.
Mike Ullegue Guitar and Bass Guitar Teacher
Mike taught himself to play guitar when he was in high school and has been playing guitar for 30 years. Mike graduated from Columbia College of Chicago with a degree in Performance Arts focusing on Jazz drums and percussion. Mike also has several years’ experience working as a guitar technician. Currently Mike plays lead guitar in Wedding Banned. Wedding Banned came together 15 years ago and they play 100+ shows each year throughout the Midwest. Over the last 30 years Mike has played in bands varying in style from rock, jazz to country. In addition to guitar, Mike has played drums, electric bass, upright bass and he is a vocalist. Mike also dabbles in ukulele and piano.
Mike has been a guitar and bass teacher at School of Rock Geneva for about a year and looks forward to teaching the next generation of rockers!
Kyle Gentile Drum Teacher
Kyle Gentile has been a performing musician for nearly 20 years. Starting off as a self taught drummer he recorded his first EP Drift, with his high school band Auxiliary at the age of 16. He went on to receive a Bachelors of Music in Jazz Studies from Capital University’s music conservatory. While attending University he was head of the percussion work study crew, performed all over Ohio with various rock/jazz/chamber groups, and premiered a taiko piece for PASIC while touring Texas with a chamber percussion ensemble. Kyle went on to become a teaching assistant at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Thompson Jazz studies program. Here he received a Master of Music degree in Jazz Performance and Pedagogy.
Over the years he has performed with artists of all genres all over the US as well as internationally. Some of these artists and groups include; Brad Goode, Safety Squad, Maria Schneider, Jonathan Saraga, Brian Casey, and Bill Boggs. Kyle recently returned to the northwest suburbs and continues to perform, record, and teach in various settings. Kyle teaches drums at School of Rock Geneva.
Chano Cruz Guitar and Bass Guitar Teacher
Born and raised in St. Louis, bassist Chano Cruz has always been surrounded by culture and music in his life. He began gigging full time in high school in the city and became known as a versatile electric and acoustic bassist in the area. Once leaving for college he began expanding his career all over the Midwest. He has toured all over the country and outside as well. He is currently finishing his undergraduate degree in Bass Performance at NIU and has already begun his career as a touring musician and educator.
Tyler Steege Drum Teacher
Ever since at a young age, Tyler has found great joy and satisfaction in making music, and sharing this with others. Tyler Steege has remarkably strong skills as a drummer, and particularly as a jazz performer. He has developed a great insight into the importance of listening carefully to music, and this is clearly reflected in his own playing. As a drummer, Tyler is both a mature role-player and soloist, creating music that has great feel and steady time in numerous styles. Tyler truly has a passion for music and is shown through his hard work, dedication and involvement in music.
Tyler Steege is attending Northern Illinois University which is nationally known for its outstanding Jazz studies program, majoring in music performance in Jazz studies. Tyler currently plays and performs regularly in the Chicago and Milwaukee-land area and teaches at the SOR in Geneva, IL.
Deon Taylor Drum Teacher
Deon has been teaching drums for about 6 years and is passionate about teaching and drumming! He loves to see his students progress and grow as musicians. He brings joy to the role at our school!