Paul’s Dead, band named for Crystal Lake man who died from fentanyl overdose, to play first gig Saturday in Chicago

Mike Fetzer describes his friend Paul Napholz as kind, compassionate and loving, as well as a talented musician who loved all music, but especially the Grateful Dead.

But Napholz also was in a losing battle with a substance-use disorder and on Dec. 23, 2019, after three years and one day of sobriety, he relapsed and died from a fentanyl overdose, said Fetzer and Paul’s mom, Brenda Napholz.

Paul Napholz, who grew up in Crystal Lake and was the father of two daughters, was just 27 when he died, they said.

To celebrate his life, bring awareness to substance-use disorder and help rid the stigma around it, Fetzer, of Algonquin, and a few musician friends have formed a band named Paul’s Dead.

At first, the band name may appear a little harsh, Fetzer said, but it is in honor of their friend and his love of music, in particular the Grateful Dead.

It is a band name that Fetzer, 30, said Napholz “would have loved.”

The band, which began rehearsing last summer, plays its first gig Saturday at The Bottom Lounge, 1375 W. Lake St. in Chicago.

Doors open at 8 p.m. and Paul’s Dead will go on at 10 p.m. The evening also will include a performance by Vision in the Rhythm and Hydrosonic Lightshow, a 60s-style liquid lightshow. Tickets at the door are $15 and $10 through the band’s Facebook page.

All profits from the evening will be donated to three groups with the mission to provide options to teens and young adults to keep them from getting involved in drug use, provide harm-reduction items and remove the stigma of substance use disorder. They are Warp Corps in Woodstock, Live4Lali, based in Arlington Heights serving McHenry County, and The Break teen center in Crystal Lake, founded 10 years ago by Brenda Napholz.

Live4Lali will be in attendance at the concert handing out fentanyl test strips and naloxone, a nasal spray that if given within moments of an opioid overdose, can reverse its deadly effects.

“We have to give this a face and not just [let someone die] and the only thing we talk about is that ‘he died from an overdose,’” Brenda Napholz said.

The show is also a celebration of her son’s life and the music he loved, she said.

When he died, she and all who loved him and who were supporting his recovery “were blindsided,” she said.

“It was a short four-day relapse,” his mother said.

If addiction did not have such a stigma, her son might have told someone he was relapsing or he would not have been alone while using drugs and he would not have died, she said.

For this reason, Brenda Napholz said she is “passionate” about removing the stigma and educating people about the life-saving benefits of naloxone and harm reduction tools.

“The way we are going to save lives is to rid the shame and the stigma,” she said.

Clay Mutert, 29, whose father Rob Mutert is the owner and founder of Warp Corps, also is in the band and was friends with Napholz.

He said Fetzer, who he’s played music with for years, has been talking about throwing a Grateful Dead event in Napholz’s honor since his death.

“It kind of evolved into this group and trying to do something on a bigger scale to bring awareness to overdoses and substance-use disorder, and it became a cool thing,” Mutert said. “It’s cool to see the musicians come together.”

All but one guitar player is from McHenry County, he said.

Drug use can be common in the music scene and the musicians involved in this band and Saturday’s event connect with that reality, the importance of removing any stigma and talking about it openly, he said.

“It’s just the nature of being in music,” Mutert said, adding that partying and drug use is common and at times “glorified, ... especially for young people.”

“There certainly are a lot of opportunities to make mistakes and fall into something (harmful),” Mutert said. “We all know someone who has struggled. It is like that five degrees of separation, where any one individual knows someone close to them that has been affected by substance-use disorder.”

Fetzer said playing the music Paul Napholz grew to love makes him feel closer to him

“This music has become the musical joy of my life and to play, and it came from him, my friend who is not here anymore,” Fetzer said. “It’s a way of keeping him alive even though he’s not here. … I just really miss him.”

Brenda Napholz echoed Fetzer’s sadness and praised him and the other bandmates, which includes another of her sons, who have come together in her son’s honor.

“It’s wonderful,” she said. “Overdose awareness is obviously near and dear to my family. It’s just beautiful. Losing my son was hard on all of us.”