- So this one's "Kate."

- [Videographer] Oh, you got a hair.

(Jacob gasping) - Where?

Here?

- [Videographer] Other side.

It's kind of just going wild on the one side.

Yeah, it's better.

- [Videographer 2] It's composer hair.

- [Videographer] Yeah.

(videographer laughing) - [Videographer 2] Mm-hmm.

- Did I get it?

- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

(videographers laughing) (soft piano music) - So I'm Jacob Pavek.

I'm a musician, composer, pianist.

My dad was a musician.

So, I grew up in a household of just music all the time, guitars everywhere.

You know, being a kid, I didn't really care for it, just like what my dad was doing.

I wanted to do something else.

So I, you know, skateboarded or you know, did something totally different.

And then as I got older, I just started to respect it a lot more.

He taught me how to play guitar, and then it just kind of went from there.

(soft piano music continues) I was writing songs all throughout like middle school and high school, and, just like could never really figure out how to say what I wanted to say in words.

I think I'm just a bad lyricist because I'm not good at telling a story, in particular, or like, focusing on a certain feeling.

And then, once I discovered, like, instrumental music, I could really, like, show my true self.

And then I like it all as well because then I can... You know, the listener can attach whatever meaning they want to it as well.

So, I don't have to explain what it means.

Everyone can just interpret it as they want to.

So I went to UW River Falls for Music Composition and Theory.

After I graduated, I just wrote a bunch of solo piano tunes.

So I released my first record, "Bloom."

And then I discovered that there was a whole, like, modern classical scene, like Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds, Johann Johannsson, bringing modern influences of, like, Radiohead to instrumental piano, maybe bringing in like a synth, strings, things like that.

And that's like, I got super passionate about that.

(soft piano music ending) I own probably 12 different pianos and keyboards.

Half of 'em are here, half of 'em are at home.

It's just the worst.

So this is CP-70, a little synth, I have that organ from the grandfather, this guy, (tapping on piano) that piano's not mine.

Yeah, I got this piano from my dad's friend who produced our band's records, and it's the exact piano I was looking for, Kawai US50.

It's got this nice felt, like I just did with this really like, soft and intimate, (piano notes playing) but then it's like a big grand.

(piano notes playing) So it's got the best of both worlds.

Yeah, gave me a deal and I'm happy, she's my baby.

But I have a couple of other pianos at home.

And I have a bad habit of buying like old niche keyboards, like this guy.

So like playing live, especially solo piano, you don't wanna do just by bringing like a digital keyboard, like that's so lame, if you're like doing stuff.

So, I got this one, that came out in the seventies, and it's like a...

It's a real piano, has real strings, comes in two pieces, and then it has pickups in it, so you can plug it in and put effects on it or whatever.

It weighs so much, and like my friends hate me for like having to help me bring it to gigs and whatnot.

But once we get it there, it's a lot cooler of an experience 'cause it's a real thing.

This is from the eighties.

You've heard it in all sorts of things, including Justin Bieber's "Intentions," the ba-ba-boom, ba-ba-ba-boom.

But it's like the most simple synth you can get without like...

It has like, you know, all the "Stranger Things," sounds like they use that all the time.

So it's like somewhat easy to use, and just as super versatile.

But it has a lot of character, so like, it'll like just short out or like buzz or something and I have to, like, turn it off, turn it back on, or like, give it a day.

And this is my pedalboard.

You just got volume, tuner, boost, delay, reverb, boom.

(upbeat synth music) Like, I just kinda like do it all at the same time.

And you can like, just pretend you know what you're doing because it, like, just does everything for you.

So you're just like, "Cool."

Yeah, that's fun.

It's fun, it gets overwhelming sometimes for sure.

So sometimes you just gotta play a piano.

(emotive piano music) So the new album, "Nina," just released it a couple weeks ago.

And it's been a long time coming.

I think it's been four or five years since my last one.

But, different inspirations on that one, like, there was one song called "Remedy," and I remember when COVID, like, first hit, and I just got super anxious about it, and like, sat down at the piano and just whatever came out, and it was "Remedy."

And it like, just for some reason made me feel a lot better, and just like a remedy to like my anxiety at that moment.

So that's one of my favorite pieces I think, on the record, that I could like pinpoint where it came from.

Been in Saint Paul for... Coming up on 10 years now, I think.

And then, yeah, moved in with my wife for a couple years and then we bought a house in 2017, and we've been there ever since.

I have to give a lot of credit to my wife because she understands how much music means to me.

So, like, we have designated nights where I can, you know, come here and just spend the night and create music.

We had our firstborn, Sonny, in 2021.

He's the funniest, weirdest human I've ever met.

I'm very grateful for him.

He's just over three years old now.

And then, we decided to go for round two and ended up having twin, identical twin boys.

So, we had three under-three for a while there.

(emotive music continues) I had a friend once say, when my wife Katie was pregnant with Sonny and I was just talking about kind of my anxiety around it, you know?

You know, it's natural.

And he said, "If you think music is beautiful now, just wait until you have kids."

He's like, "Everything just sounds better."

And, like, 100% it does.

So like, all the time I have, like, music running in my head.

Catchy song, I'm like whistling constantly, or just like making up stupid songs, like, improvising words or whatever.

Drives my wife absolutely nuts.

But my first born, Sonny, he's three years old now, hates when I play music, hates when I play guitar, (indistinct) just annoys him.

I don't know if that's totally fine.

He'll probably be a lawyer, not a musician, that's okay.

But I started like just making up a kid song about a chicken in the sky.

And, now we just lay down in bed when I put him down and he's like, "Papa, sing chicken in the sky song."

And he like sings it with me, and it's, you know, bonding, finally, over one of my passions.

But it's a really silly song.

But, let's see.

♪ I was walking by and saw a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ Why oh why is there a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ When chickens cannot fly ♪ I was walking by and saw a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ Why oh why is there a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ Flying so high ♪ When chickens cannot fly ♪ I'll ask this man riding by ♪ Why oh why is there a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ Flying so high when chickens cannot fly ♪ ♪ My oh my I don't know why there's a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ Flying so high ♪ When chickens cannot fly ♪ I guess I'll never know ♪ Why oh why there's a chicken in sky ♪ ♪ Flying so high when chickens cannot fly ♪ So dumb.

(Jacob laughing) But he loves it.

Maybe I'll make a kid's record.

(Jacob laughing) (piano note playing) - [Videographer 2] Love it.

- Yeah.