MUSIC : The Home of Punk Music : Youth turns his parents’ basement into a nightclub for 50 to 150 guests. But some neighbors are angry.

Roger and Judy Peterson should have known something was up when their son Nathan, 17, of fered to clean out the basement.

Seven years ago, the Petersons moved into a two-story house in Granada Hills that was built in 1948 and Roger, a professor of management science at CSUN, considered turning the large basement into a darkroom for his photography hobby. It became storage space--until February.

Nathan wanted to turn the room into a nightclub where he and his friends could listen to music and have a good time.

“We’ve always preferred that our children bring their friends home, since that’s better than having them out in the streets, not knowing where they are,” said Judy Peterson, who approved of Nathan’s idea. “Besides, he’s always had an entrepreneurial spirit. When he was in junior high, he would buy candies at the Price Club for six cents each and sell them to other kids for a quarter.”

Judy Peterson also felt that Nathan, who shares the house with his parents, a brother and a sister, was responsible enough to trust with such a project.

“We’ve had 22 foster children live with us over the years, so our kids have had to know what it means to share and care about others. We knew he’d do this responsibly, and he has.”

Tired of driving to Hollywood to hear some of his favorite bands play and paying a $15 to $20 cover charge, Nathan attacked the cluttered basement in earnest. “I have a lot of friends who like the same punk and straight edge music, and we all agreed that there was a need for a club that was closer and less expensive.”

Straight edge music derives from punk, and both are made up of non-melodious, grinding songs that nearly anyone over 30 would define as unwanted noise. It came into vogue during the mid-1980s when a band called Minor Threat became popular for its militant anti-drug and anti-alcohol stance.

“It’s not as big a movement as it once was, but it still has a following in suburban areas,” said Lucas McClelland of Aaron’s Records in Hollywood.

Nathan usually looks like any other teen-ager. But before going out with friends or getting ready for a show, he will put on his punk regalia: metal-studded collar and wrist straps, rings through his nipples and an inch-long stud that pierces his tongue.

“I used to have a smaller one on my tongue,” he said, “but it came off accidentally while eating pizza. I swallowed it.”

At least one night a week and on Sunday afternoons, the Peterson basement becomes Cell 63, named for the place where the king in the cult movie “The Forbidden Zone” imprisoned his concubines. Those interested call Cell 63’s hot line to get updates on the latest shows.

About 50 to 150 people between the ages of 16 and 25 pay $3 to $5 to hear as many as three bands per show, with names such as Still Life, Inject and Sam I Am. The only chairs are outside, so guests stand or dance to the music.

“For the bands, it’s really a great place to play,” said Mark Rodgers, 24, a musician who works with several bands and produces shows at Cell 63 with Dawn Williams. “It draws a good bunch of people who are interested in the music, and Nathan keeps the evening pretty well organized. There’s also not a ‘club’ atmosphere that you find in Hollywood. It’s more relaxed, like playing at a friend’s house.”

Guests enter through a gate in the back yard and are led to Cell 63 through a rear door. The previous owners had partially finished the rectangular basement, which measures about 40 by 20 feet. In the corner of one wall is an oak wet bar and, in front of the room, directly behind the stage made of discarded wooden pallets, is a large stone fireplace, mantel and hearth, where Nathan and friends roast marshmallows after shows.

To create Cell 63, Nathan worked at furnishing without a budget. The Styrofoam blocks that cover the windows on the west side of the room were rescued from a trash can outside a Tower Records store. The carpeting was salvaged from a dumpster. The signs, “Please No Drinking or Drugs on These Premises,” and “Sorry, You Have to Use the Restroom at the Unocal Around the Corner,” are hand-lettered with a felt-tipped pen.

“About the only thing we’ve had to buy is duct tape, which we use to tape down the electrical wires, the carpets and the Styrofoam. It seems like that’s all I’m doing sometimes is buying duct tape,” Nathan said.

Profits from the gate and the sales of soft drinks pay for the bands, which get up to $100 for a performance. The profits also pay for pizza for the 10 to 15 people who watch the gate, act as security and help clean up. “It’s really a small operation; there’s not much of a profit left over, but that’s not really why I wanted to do this,” Nathan said.

He said his main interest is to have fun and to make sure that the people who come to Cell 63 have a good time. “At this level, there’s no money to be made. But we’re generating enough interest in the music now that I’d like to find a larger venue.”

There are others who would also like Nathan to find a new home for Cell 63.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Gloria Larsen, a neighbor who lives behind the Peterson back yard. “Cars are parked everywhere when they have their parties; we’ve even had to call out the police because they’re blocking driveways, or they’re drinking in their cars. And the noise is horrible; our TV room faces their back yard, and you have to turn up the volume to prevent hearing the thumping of the drums.”

One of Nathan’s main concerns is pacifying the neighbors since keeping good relations with them is important for the management of any nightclub.

“Our no-drinking or drugs policy discourages a lot of people who would come and cause trouble, and we try to finish by 11 p.m.,” he said.

Upstairs, the sound of music wafts into the Petersons’ living space, but the family tries to deal with it. “We just move up to the second floor,” Judy Peterson said. “The noise isn’t so bad when you get up there.”

The first show Feb. 2 went smoothly, and a well-behaved crowd of about 70 turned out to hear the groups Three in Blue, Society Gone Mad and Cradle Cap.

“We had sent out a lot of flyers and tried to advertise it pretty heavily. Unfortunately, the police also came out. They wanted to see what was going on, so I showed them and since then they haven’t really bothered us. They’ll cruise by some nights and if they see someone drinking on the street, they’ll get rid of them, which is fine with me because I don’t want those people around,” Nathan said.

He takes a walk around neighborhood streets during performances to check on problems and also pick up litter. “It’s important to be responsible, especially if I want to continue producing the shows,” he said.

According to police, Nathan is walking the edge between legality and illegality. “You cannot have a live band playing at any time of day in a residential area,” Los Angeles Police Officer Bob Rose said. “If someone complains, we’ll have to shut them down.”

Running a nightclub without the necessary city permits is also on the other side of the law, according to police. So Nathan is working on finding a new, more legitimate space.

“The neighbors have really been patient, and Nathan has really tried his best to keep things orderly,” Judy Peterson said. “But I’m sure they’re hoping he finds a new location. Soon.”

Nathan, who has started a preliminary search for a new location, believes that he has found his niche producing shows and hanging around bands. He dropped out of Granada Hills High School after his sophomore year a year ago because he says he was harassed by administrators who didn’t like his punk clothing.

Determined to finish his education, he studied at home and intends to obtain his high school diploma next year at the West Valley Occupational Center in Woodland Hills.

“I really missed the social part of being in high school, but I felt that, academically, I already knew most of the things I was being taught. And I’ve learned a lot more on my own than I would have learned in the classroom,” he said.

His ultimate goal is to enter college and become a psychologist, specializing in treating children and teen-agers. “I’m fascinated with what makes people do things, and I think young people are interesting. There are so many problems they have relating to self-esteem that need to be addressed. Plus, when I’m in school, I could be a psychology student during the week and still do the shows on the weekends.”

Even after finding a larger venue for Cell 63, he still plans to hold some shows in the basement. “I enjoy the Sunday shows, since I’m not worried about finishing by 11, and the crowd we get is more relaxed. They can swim in the pool and sit outside or go in and listen to the band. It’s fun and a great way to spend the afternoon.”

Where and When

Call: For program information on Cell 63, call (818) 222-4754, Ext. 3825.

Hours: Show days and times vary.