The crew at the new retail shop Lake Bluffs Music Inc., located in a small suburb of Chicago, knows what it means to be active musicians. Hailing from a shared background that includes audio engineering, music education, and performance, everyone involved in the store knows their way around a wide assortment of gear and customers. Their new shop is tailored to fill a community niche in direct support of owners Nick and Shelia Christofalos’ North Shore music school, the Activator Academy Music School. “It’s all about community and being open minded to what people need and want,” says store manager Andy Bosnak.
The roots of Lake Bluffs Music are in the Activator Academy, which Nick and Shelia started 12 years ago. They had lived in Atlanta for 13 years prior to that, but came back to Nick’s hometown to be near family. The music school is one of the largest on Chicago’s North Side and provides music lessons on a variety of instruments to everyone from kindergarteners to adults. It also hosts live events and operates an on-site studio called Side Door Studios. Additionally, they developed a strong relationship with a teen organization called the Committee Representing Our Young Adults (CROYA). In the meantime, the Christofaloses had opened a cycle shop called Activator Cycles in Lake Bluffs.
Bosnak says that the success of the Academy led directly to the need for a retail shop, which enabled them to offer a full line of services to the music community they had helped create. “Expansion and diversification into retail was necessary in order to continue to serve the needs of the students that attend their programs,” he says. “Lake Bluff Music provides another location to offer more music lessons and the retail shop can provide instruments and accessories for students and all area musicians.”
The shop’s motto? “Buy-Sell-Trade-Learn-Share.”
“If you have an old instrument you aren’t using anymore, consignment can fill that need. If you’ve just composed a song, recording or performing can fill the need to put it out there into the public realm.” It is indeed a one-stop business and community hub.
The shop currently counts Marshall Amplifiers and Washburn Guitars as its flagship products, while also carrying products from Ernie Ball, ProMark, Vater, Goodood, Hal Leonard, Rico Reeds, and more. Lake Bluffs also sells used gear on consignment.
The Christofaloses and Bosnak certainly know a thing or two about the music community from all different angles, Shelia and Nick have toured the country and released records as noise-rock band Reactovox since 1988, while Andy, a pro recording engineer, has been in bands since 1985 (he currently plays guitar in the post-metal group, Beak). The three met in 2003 when Reactivox entered Chicago’s Playground Studio, where Bosnak worked at the time, to record an EP. The trio loved working together and, soon later, Shelia and Nick offered Bosnak a job at Activator’s Side Door Studios. He was then a natural to help start up Lake Bluffs Music when they decided to open it up next to their cycle shop. Bosnak says the group’s varied in-depth backgrounds help the shop keep all their bases covered.
“All in all, there is a lot of depth and experience across the team,” he says. “Most importantly, there’s a passion for working with musicians young, and old, beginner, to novice to pro.”
In general, Lake Bluffs seems built around the experience of the growing musician – from beginners to those ready to cut their first record to anyone just looking for new experiences. Lake Bluffs has eight employees, including a dedicated staff of teachers to provide lessons, lead jam sessions, and facilitate collaborations between students. “Lake Bluff Music instructors are all lifelong musicians who have written songs, taught lessons, and played in bands for years,” says Bosnak. “We are here to share this music and life experience with students.”
To that end, the shop also puts on live, in-store performances of local rock bands like Sabe and Whymsical, as well as local DJ Peter Gundling. They also run a series for young bands to perform at the Activator Academy/CROYA student union stage called “SUPERJAM.” It’s one of the essential ways that Lake Bluffs ushers its customers into the next stage of musicianship.
“The point of purchasing gear and taking lessons is to eventually create and express yourself and perform,” says Bosnak. “Every little step along the way should be celebrated.”
