You know the saying about people not willing to talk about "the elephant in the room"? Not only would Mike Shapiro talk about it, he would personally pick up the elephant gun and shoot it right in front of you. That's how willing he is to speak bluntly and tell you what's on his mind.

If the LA Music Academy's motto is "Get to the music," then Shapiro's motto should be "Get to the point." Because he invariably gets to that point so fast it will make your head spin. Just prior to Shapiro departing for a European tour with the Al McKay All-Stars (which features roughly half of the former members of Earth, Wind & Fire), we talked to the school's Education Director to get his thoughts on a myriad of subjects relating to the school, catching the education bug, what it means to be a professional musician, and how he and his wife Kevyn Lettau create music together.

To me, it may be a bit of an overstatement. I resisted even taking a teaching position for a time. I very timidly agreed to try to teach one class and that sort of very quickly snowballed — within maybe four to six months of being here — to being given a lot more responsibility. It definitely was not in the plans.

I was asked to go to Europe to do a series of drum clinics with two other teachers from this school — before this school was this school. The plans had been laid and people had been hired. Somebody dropped out, so they called me and asked, "Can you fill in for so-and-so?" I said, "Yeah, sure. Go to Europe for a week and hang out and play some drums?" During that trip, Ralph Humphrey told me I should really consider teaching a class here. I told him I didn't teach. I did the week of teaching and sort of got bit by the bug I guess. Then we got back, and they got a little more serious as far as finalizing who was going to do what. They asked me to make a commitment, and I agreed to do one class.

I've been playing most of my life. I'm fairly one-dimensional in that way. I'm basically a drummer. I've produced several records and done a few other things, but I've never really taught privately - which I probably needed to back in the day when that would have been a great source of supplemental income. But I just didn't. And I didn't study. I'm self-taught. So, I didn't really have a schematic for what to do or how to teach. I guess after teaching a couple of these classes over there, I realized that it's really not about any of that. Teaching is about being open and sharing your experiences and being able to articulate them to a group of people who are seeking information. I think what convinced me is that I was with a group of people that seemed pretty serious about seeking information. So that made me feel like what I was doing was of value. I didn't realize there were going to be groups of people that couldn't care less about what I was talking about and then you have to deal with them in a different way. But initially, my first experience with it was really positive. And that's the bug that bit me.

Early on, I think the thing that was the most important was counseling students because there was nobody to do that. So I began to counsel students, and I began to gain an overview of what was going on in all of the departments. Through that I realized that somebody needs to be looking at everything and making sure that things are staying the course. Almost simultaneously the administrative side of the school said, "Maybe we should think about developing this position for you — to be Education Director. What do you think about that?" And we didn't have that many students, so I was like, "Sure. How hard can this be?" I know now how hard it is. It is a challenging job because the responsibilities are not only counseling but also having a grasp of the entire curriculum. I've learned a lot about a lot of things actually. I'm sort of self-educated, which has been great. I'm also a kind of an on-the-job training kind of guy. That's how I learned how to play my instrument. Some things have blown up in my face, but for the most part that's the way I like it.

Absolutely. And that's the way I want it. I don't think I could do it if I had to be sent somewhere to take a course in education management. I'd be the wrong guy for the job. So I do it, and I try to put a lot of energy into it and a lot of love into it. I have a much greater passion for it than I ever thought I would, and it's funny because I almost keep waiting for the day when it's going to wear off. And it's been 8 ½ years. I go on the road, and I do my thing. I feel free. I get on the plane and I leave. Then I get out there and 24 hours later I'm going, "I got to get on the computer and see what's happening back [at the school]. What was the resolve of this student? What was the resolve of this class?" I think it's just woven into my fiber by this point.

The biggest surprise is that people actually listen to what I have to say. I'm the youngest of three kids. I was always the shortest guy in school until the growth spurt in high school. I was the most least listened to guy in school — or so I felt. So the biggest surprise is that I would make a suggestion about the craft and people would say, "That's a really good idea." And the bigger surprise has been to actually see that in practice. To see somebody take what you say and then apply it to what they want to do. It's huge. It's scary, actually. It's a huge responsibility. What if they have a really hard time, you know? Do they know where I live? But that is the biggest surprise.

Okay.

There is no substitute for it. I went to a music school (when I was younger) and the idea was to go for the entire four year program and I lasted about four months. Now most of it was on me. I was a horrible student, no two ways about it. But I felt very lost in the size (of the classes). I was overwhelmed by how many students there were. In retrospect, I look back on it, and I think there are a lot of pluses about having that many people in a pool of musicians to network with, and I'll put most of the blame on myself for not being able to cope with it. Having said that, you can't get lost here. If you're intention is to come to LA to get discovered and use this as sort of a stepping stone, I understand that, but you will not leave here without an attempt from the entire teaching staff to give you an education. And that, I think, can only be done in this size environment.

I'm going to give you the downside, which probably no one else would. These kids, seemingly, at times are a little coddled. When you are playing with people who are at your level, the level of frustration that you go through is something that you need to develop a survival tactic. However, and this is where we bridge to the plus side, when I was coming up as a musician, the most beneficial thing to me ever, besides listening to recorded music which will always be the most beneficial thing, was playing with musicians who were older than me and better than me — whether they were professionals or simply just older and better. To be the worst guy was always the most valuable thing — the guy with the least experience, the guy with the least amount of ability. Put me with some guys who are going to kick me in the ass. That's where I learned the most as a player.

You don't want to lose face, which you inevitably do. But you get a direct line to tap into stuff that you don't know yet. I tell my students that if you look at a guy who is twenty years old and listen to the way they sound and compare that to the way a forty year old sounds, no matter what the twenty year old has in the way of technique and ability and chops, the forty year old is going to have a level of seasoned-ness that the twenty year old is not going to have. I listen to guys who are sixty or seventy years old play their instruments and they draw a sound out of the instrument that I will never have until I'm that age. So there is a benefit in that. I know that the slogan is "Play With Pros," but I apply it to my own life and that is just play with guys who know more than you do. Another specific thing that happens to students here as a result of playing with professional musicians, is that they develop a stronger sensitivity to time and time feel than graduates of other schools I've seen.

We have a bunch of great people on our faculty who really make their livings doing music. They have played the standard gigs that no one talks about and many have played with big names in all different styles. They have a vast amount of ability and have been able to survive and support families as musicians. They have a wealth of knowledge and experience and more importantly are able to come in here and do what I said earlier — to translate it into words that people understand and convey it in a way that these students can benefit from. In a real world way. Eminent faculty doesn't mean famous people; it means you are highly respected as a player. What's great is we have faculty who are great players and who work but who also are great teachers. This is very rare; usually there's a tradeoff, and here you don't have that tradeoff.

The program is fast. It's very difficult to get through the curriculum in the year that you are here. But even in one year, we aim to get these kids ready for the real world, and many of our graduates that worked hard while they were here are proving that the program does help because they are getting work in the real world. A big part of helping them get to that point is through the ensembles they perform in nearly every day. At some schools, you're only required to play once a week, but we really get right to the playing side of things, which I think increases the effectiveness and depth of the program massively. It really magnifies the learning you would normally do in a "regular" school. Also, the thing to remember is that all of the things you asked me about before - the "real world" faculty, the size of the school, along with the ensemble playing with people who are better than you are - are what help to magnify the learning. We made the school the way it is because it's simply a better way to get on with it.

We are a one-year intensive music school. These kids are supposed to come in here and come out the other end having learned how to have a life as a professional musician - at whatever level. Not the myth of coming into the music school and coming out the other side a star. It's to come out the other side having the knowledge necessary to employ yourself. That's the practical business aspect. There's also a lot of time and effort spent on trying to guide these students into the world of art, so it's two-pronged. I want them all to be artists. I want them to succeed as artists which means simply all they have to do is something artistic that they love. I would also like them to be able to survive doing this and not something else.

I know there's an important educational aspect to it. You know? This governing board of music schools says you're in.

This school is going to continue to attract people, I think, based on word of mouth and people who have come through this program who have a realization that what we do here is serious. Good, bad, ugly — whatever — it's serious. We're not kidding around with these guys. The great thing about accreditation from my understanding of it is that a lot more need-based students will have the opportunity to come here. We give as many scholarships as we possibly can, and right now, it is very limited because we don't have private funding. We don't have grants. We don't have foundations that are providing financial assistance to be able to send kids, so we do it ourselves. We're pretty homespun in that way. I think the accreditation affords people that are a level just above that perhaps to get a loan at a low interest rate and pay it back slowly and get to where they want to go. We live in a country where the way the arts is dealt with is terrible.

We are just finishing. I'm holding a master of reference mixes in my hand right now of twelve songs. I have one song to remix and master, and then I am done. I'm hours from being finished. I have been on the road so much, and she has had other things going on that it has taken awhile.

Yes. American songs with kind of a Brazilian lilt to them.

It has been on the table for years, and I think Kevyn felt — for most of her career — that the timing was never right to do standards because so many people were exploiting the songs, and I also think that when we first started making records that Ella Fitzgerald was still alive, Sarah Vaughn was still alive, Betty Carter was still alive, Frank Sinatra...there was a respect there, and I don't think she felt like treading on their territory. She would do a standard or two on a record, but she would try to write the bulk of the records, and she has a lot to say as a songwriter. So they've kind of been sitting there and finally a friend of ours, who is a great arranger, said, "It's time to do this. It's your tenth record — which is a milestone. You should consider doing this." So we looked at some of the songs, some of the arrangements, and kicked some ideas around. She found some terrific songs - some that are very popular and some lesser known that we still consider to be standard songs from the greatest composers. And we made the record.

We've been married for almost sixteen years, we've made ten records, toured the world — I'd say it is working great! It took a minute to get used to the dynamic. You know, who really gets the final say? With a young artist, the producer always has the final say. I might have been playing pretend for awhile — that I'm going to be the one (with the final say). She is very strong-willed, but she is also very quiet in some ways. And when she gets quiet about something, or when she stops fighting you on something, you're wrong.

I was pretty hands off on this record. We do pretty much everything live in the studio. She sings everything live. She doesn't do a lot of overdubbing. We would do a couple takes of a song, and she would like one take better than I would and I would want to record it again, and we'd go back the next day, and with her arms folded she would say, "I'm telling you the first one we did is the one. Why won't you listen to me?" And I'd say, "Well, because we've been married for sixteen years. And that's why." But at the end of the day, her instincts about her music are better than anybody else's. For better or for worse, she has had great successes and failures like everybody else critically and in terms of sales. She still knows best. As long as I remember that the dynamic is great. The dynamic being on stage and being on the road (with her) is tremendous. I have played with a lot of singers - a lot of singers through the years. She is my favorite. And that is not a biased opinion at all. I'm happy to tell anyone, family or otherwise, if it is not working out.

I have another one with her we are going to do — finally — we're making record number 11, which is going to be done in October. We're going to play at an incredible little theater in Pittsburgh called the Manchester's Craftsmen's Guild — a really fascinating little place that helps people who are on the streets, who have lost their jobs — rehabilitate. They teach them skills. Involved with this place are these two musicians from New York, Marty and Jay Ashby, who I have known for years. Jay is a great trombone player who has played with Paul Simon for years and has done a lot of stuff. Anyway, they built this 300 seat theater, and I played there last year with Sergio Mendes. Pat Metheny played there, etc. Anyway, they asked Kevyn to come this year. This place is amazing. The theater is beautiful, and it's fully hooked up to a state-of-the-art recording studio. They're going to shoot a DVD and record a live record. She has never done a live record and it's time. That is my pet project. I will probably never make a solo record. I have no desire to be a solo artist. I love being a side man. So I'm really excited about that. And then I'm going to go to Brazil with Sergio Mendes. He has not performed in his home country in 30 years. He is a dear friend, and this is something I just want to witness. It will be a huge retrospective of his career.