About
Meet Our Founder
My name is Mike Leffler, and I've been playing and teaching drums for over 30 years.
After high school, I came to Hollywood and studied at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood California graduating with honors in 1988. After graduation I moved back east and began performing and teaching professionally. I was based in New England for 20 years and performed extensively across the northeast and mid Atlantic circuits. In 2008 I moved back to the west coast and have been teaching and performing in Los Angeles.
I play all genres of music, from rock, jazz to latin, and have extensive live performance experience, playing at clubs and venues across the U.S.A and Canada.
Education
Otter Valley U.H.S - Brandon, VT | Diploma, 1986
Musicians Institute - Hollywood, CA | Honors Diploma, 1988
Southern New Hamp University - Laconia, NH | 2005
Awards
Mike Pinder's Song Wars Top 5, 2011 (Cohesive - "The Way That It Goes" and "To The Stars")
VH1 Save the Music, 2010 (Cohesive - "The Only Difference")
Album of the Year Nominee - Los Angeles Music Awards, 2009 (Cohesive - "To The Stars")
Writer / performer credit
Single of the Year - Los Angeles Music Awards, 2008 (Cohesive - "To The Stars")
1st Place - Budweiser Battle of the Bands, 2000 (Riot Act)
Primary Teachers
- Joe Pocaro - Technique
- Steve Houghton - Ensemble / Chart Reading
- Gary Hess - Reading
- Chuck Flores - Jazz
- Efrain Toro - Latin
- Chuck Silverman - Latin
- Casey Schuerell - Rock
- Mike Mangini - Physiology
Performance Experience
1989 - 1990
Christine (New England Nightclub Circuit)
1990 - 1991
Danger Street (Eastern Canadian Circuit: Nova Scotia, Newfound-land, New Brunswick, Quebec)
1991 - 1994
Riot Act (Mid-Atlantic and New England)
1995 - 1997
8084 - (New England)
1998 - 2005
Riot Act - (New England)
2014 - 2016
Midnight Coal Company (Los Angeles)
2005 - Present
Cohesive (New England, Los Angeles)
2016 - Present
Model Citizen (Los Angeles)
