Chicago indie musician Ben Pavlik details his experience balancing music as both an hobby and career

Photo by Meredith Smith.

From the time Ben Pavlik learned to take his first steps, he could hear loud sounds of the trumpet and guitar etudes filling up his home in the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst. Pavlik’s childhood was immersed in the different musical notes and sounds from a young age. His dad plays the trumpet and is a high school music teacher, and his mom sings in choir.  

“When my dad had guitars out, he made a point to keep the guitars out while we were growing up as kids so that we would crawl over them and touch them. I take for granted now that we’re not hearing trumpet etudes in our living room,” Pavlik said.

Pavlik was curious from the start and knew music was something he wanted to explore. The first band he started was with his brothers when they were in middle school. The brothers were often found blasting out Led Zeppelin covers. His little brother would be on the drums and the older brother would play bass, where they would all just jam out in their house. 

During freshman year of high school, Pavlik started a band called Big Fans with Tatum Langley, another musician who now performs and sings at some of the best jazz venues across Chicago. Fast forward to senior year, Pavlik was a part of another jazz band where they would play at parties and other events. 

Ben Pavlik playing with a fellow bandmate at Book Club Chicago. Photo by Yesenia Esetban.

“I played in this Jazz Manouche group, which is like ratatouille jazz, like fast jazz and that was really cool. We would play at the mayor of Elmhurst’s parties, and the Drake Hotel in Oak Brook,  he said. 

At this point, Pavlik prefaced that he had not delved into indie music yet and was focused on playing jazz. 

When Pavlik left high school, he attended Northeastern Illinois University but quickly realized music was something he wanted to pursue full time. From there, he decided to break into the Chicago indie scene after having some connections with other musicians and finding out about Book Club, an underground venue where indie musicians often play. Playing around with unique sounds and having more creative freedom was something that fascinated Pavlik. 

One of the first indie bands he was a part of was called Inner Stella, which started up two years ago right after the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the band members, Aaron Paulsen, had seen Pavlik’s guitar playing on Instagram and messaged him asking if he would be interested in joining the band. They specifically focused on more experimental indie music and would play gigs at Book Club, toying around with different sounds and ideas in their music. 

The band eventually fizzled out because, from Pavlik’s perspective, they were doing too much too fast and all were experiencing the typical musician burnout. 

“I think maybe we took it too seriously,” he said. “It was like all the stoves were all turned on at once and there was just this pressure.” 

One of his band members and good friends from Inner Stella, Andrew Vucsko-Cameron, spoke kindly about Pavlik’s character and who he was as a band partner. 

“He’s just the sweetest guy ever. I mean, at first he can be perceived as quiet, but once you get to know him, he’s just the nicest dude ever, so supportive of his friends and always looking to bring other people up with him,” Cameron said. 

When speaking about his musical capability, Cameron described how singular and creative Pavlik’s music style is, along with him having some of the best technique he has seen from other musicians in Chicago. 

Ben Pavlik performing at Book Club Chicago. Photo by Meredith Smith.

“He’s one of the most creative minds in music that I’ve ever met,” he said. “Not even mentioning from a technical standpoint he is one of the best guitar players I have ever played with.”  

Being a full-time musician in Chicago comes with figuring out how to make ends meet when the bills start flooding in. Eventually, sharing one’s passion with the world can start to feel like a full-time job.

“Sometimes you have to play a lot of music you don’t like listening to for the money, just to be able to pay rent,” he said. 

I asked Pavlik how he balances holding on to music as a hobby and passion while also earning a living. His response was simple: stepping away even for a few hours a day to think about or do something else is a beneficial and healthy way to continue doing what you are passionate about. Also, Pavlik shared that he has a list full of voice memos on his phone from just playing and messing around with music in his free time. 

Now, at the age of 23, Pavlik and his girlfriend, Sarah Heldman, sit across from me at a local coffee shop on Clark Street. They are seeing a guitarist named Matteo Mancuso after our interview, and the two of them are buzzing with excitement to see one of their favorite shared artists. Heldman said she studied communication at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she just recently graduated, and also shares a similar passion for music.

It becomes clear even for the 30 minutes spent sitting across from the two musicians, that what they share is special. When asking about Pavlik’s inspirations for writing music, Heldman jokingly teases, “Me, obviously.”

The most recent music Pavlik is working on is an upcoming album with his girlfriend, a shared project the two said should be finished by June. Both were extremely excited to share the news and to be working on a passion project together.

On the side, Pavlik also started working at Book Club Chicago as a sound technician, and he plays jazz on Saturdays at a popular brunch spot on North Lincoln Avenue called Sojourn. He currently plays in two local Chicago bands. Big Fans, which he restarted with Tatum Langley, has more jazz influence. He also plays guitar and sings for another band called Gecko, falling more under the indie genre. The sound, Pavlik says, is kind of a mix of the Beach Boys and The Strokes.  

“We’re really into crowd engagement and interaction,” Pavlik said. “We think of the audience as one person, making the room feel smaller and more intimate. Creating that feeling of intimacy even in a bigger space, that’s our goal.”

Pavlik will be playing a solo performance at Book Club Chicago on March 23rd. You can find more information about the performance by following Book Club Chicago on Instagram here. 

Header by Sofi Martinez