by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Leonardo de Luca

Nickname: Luna

Age: 45

Occupation: Music/music biz teacher

Bio: This self-assured Plateau resident has been teaching music, the ins and outs of record production and how one can set oneself up as an “artist entrepreneur” and hopefully make a big wad of dough in the always lucrative music biz since he was 19 years old. Through his school Avatra, Leonardo—a pretty gifted musician in his own right—has provided instruction to over 2,000 students, many of whom have actually achieved varying degrees of success in the industry. He runs 10 kilometres every day, and is currently training for the Montreal Marathon that’ll be going down in September.

Is teaching students how to bend over and pull their ass cheeks wide apart in an inviting manner an important first lesson in his music business course? Not really.

Something that he finds “astounding”: How little most musicians know about the music industry. “Not only how little they know, but how little they want to know. It’s amazing how many people think that to be a ‘real artist,’ you must know nothing about money. Or if you’re good with money, then that must mean you have no talent or creativity. But of course you can be an artist and an entrepreneur. It’s that whole romantic notion of the starving artist—which is ridiculous.”

Something he has created: A method of songwriting that is guaranteed to overcome “all the typical obstacles people have—like writer’s block, originality and stuff like that.”

Does this method of songwriting involve the time-honoured tradition of taking someone else’s work, changing a chord or two, and calling it your own? No.

Does he often get students with obviously so little talent that he feels honour-bound to tell them that their lesson money might be better spent on something more beneficial to them—like drugs? Never. “I don’t believe in talent. People seem to define talent by how quickly somebody learns to do something, which, really, is just stupid. One person may be fast, whereas someone else might be a little slower to learn. And that makes them untalented? Come on.”

Has any student ever approached him later on looking for a refund because they took his lessons for years and never evolved into a Mitsou-esque mega-star? No. “I can’t control outside forces. And it’s bullshit to believe that just because your record isn’t selling means that it’s no good. It just means your marketing isn’t any good.”

How to reach him: www.avatra.com.

Childhood ambition: To become a pro baseball player.

Something he has at home that it’s safe to say few others have: Practically every Montreal Mirror ever published in its rich and glorious history.

Where he hangs: La Cabane, Eurodeli.

Favourite alcoholic beverage: Sangria.

Last book read: The Tao of Physics, by Fritjof Capra.

Musical preferences: Dave Matthews, Ani DiFranco, Peter Gabriel.

A recent film he dug: Bulletproof Monk.

Words of wisdom: “Success is a matter of how you define it.”

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca