001Welcome to the Clawcast podcast, the Shell Shocked Edition for 2025. Actually, this is the holiday edition. Um, and we're excited to to bring it to you as we close out the 2025 portion of the school year. We are back this year talking to our wonderful staff and students, getting to know them, find out uh what makes them tick and why they're so awesome. And what a way to start um our our year off in terms of our podcast presentation and close the year with none other than our director of bands, the wonderful Mr. Michael Baker. Mr. Baker, welcome to the podcast. >> Thank you, Mr. Sha. >> Thank you for being here. We're very excited to have Mr. Baker and get to know him a little bit. uh find out what uh what he's all
002about and what's going on with our band. So, we're going to start with Mr. Baker a little bit about you and your your background if you don't mind telling the all the people the millions of viewers if uh what what um is Mr. Baker all about professionally, personally, maybe even a little bit. And what's your background? >> Hey, so currently in my second year as the director of bands at Clston Public Schools, which is pretty cool. Uh the short and sweet of how I got to this point. Uh, so I grew up in what you might affectionately call a non-m musical family. Uh, my mom, I know she sang in choirs a little bit in high school. Uh, but that's come and gone. Uh, nothing close to a band instrument anywhere in my blood. And
003I wasn't interested in it either myself to be quite honest. Uh, however, in the district that I grew up in, I was a lamp gear kid. Go tell any >> cross town guy. >> Yeah. Yeah. A little bit down the road. Uh, everyone had to at least give a good go at a band instrument in fifth grade. So, if I had to do it, I was going to play alto saxophone. But I have a friend, his name was Eddie. He said I absolutely had to try the trumpet because it makes your lips feel funny when you play. They vibrate in the mouthpiece and it tickled a little bit. So, we get down to the gym in fifth grade and I try out this trumpet and I get a sound and for the record, it did
004feel pretty funny. And then this lovely fella who was fitting me, he said, "Good job, buddy. Now, go back to class." No alto saxophone for me. So, I'm off to fifth grade band. uh something I wasn't looking forward to on an instrument I didn't want to play. Okay. Uh I tried to quit a good handful of times, but unfortunately my mom had already made a handful of payments on the instrument. So I was sticking it through. Uh now, uh my attitude towards band changed in a pretty major way shortly thereafter. So my father was not in wonderful health and he was out of the house for a couple days. Um, we don't know what the deal was, but I do remember distinctly it was about November, my little brother, myself, and my mother, we were
005sitting in the living room and she received a phone call. Uh, she started to cry, which is sort of unusual for her cuz she was a pretty tough lady. Uh, she got off the phone and we had asked her what was going on and she said, "No punch is pulled that our father was in the hospital and they weren't sure he was going to make it through the night." Uh, now toughest fella I knew. I thought he was going to be all right. Uh unfortunately next morning we received another phone call and that was it. That was the last I ever got to got to speak to him. Um couple weeks go by, we were out of school for I think two weeks and those were some tough times. You know, it's a lot of
006life to come to grips with when you are in sixth grade. >> Um but time comes back when life has to carry on and we had to go back to school. Um so math, social studies, science, English, wasn't interested in any of it, but something pretty incredible happened when I got to the band room. So, I remember uh we had our first piece of sheet music, real deal. No longer out of the method book, but full page of music. I remember when we started rehearsing it, uh it was the most incredible thing I've ever experienced. It was like for that little bit of time, all my troubles in the world just sort of melted away even with a lot going on in my life. >> U band quickly became the place where I could check
007my baggage at the door and enjoy doing something beautiful with the friends around me. >> Um so, it didn't take me long after that. I remember it was the holiday concert which is coming up for Clawson public schools uh where I performed that piece for an audience probably my first time uh and I felt on top of the world and even in sixth grade I made a pretty big promise. I said I was going to spend the rest of my life paying that story forward. Uh young for a promise like that but I meant it man through and through. So many years later working as hard as I could be the best I can be at music handful of degrees and a good bit of experience under my belt. I'm currently in my second year
008and Clawson public schools is the director of bands where I get to pay that story forward every single day. >> Living it. >> That's pretty cool. >> You're living it. >> Speaking of living it, incredible background and story. Thank you for sharing that. >> Outside of school, outside of being the director of bands and the beauty of the director of bands in this position at our school and in our small school is your fifth through 12th. So, if you're a fifth grade >> um band student, you students will have you all the way through their senior year, which is pretty incredible. So, what about your love of music beyond the school today and what you do, where you play, what you play, what does that look look like from a hobby perspective? >> Sure. So,
009I always hold that to be a really good music teacher, you don't have to be good at an instrument. Not required necessarily. You do have to be a fantastic musician. And that's not something that's developed by by uh by chance. It's something that's developed intentionally. So, I do a handful of things to improve my musicianship every single day. Um first one, as far as my music leading, my directing of bands, I direct the Five Legs Metro Brass, which you might best describe as a band of band directors. It's all adults. It's very high level music, very motivated group, non-competitive. It's wonderful. But I also play I play solo flugal horn. Big position in the five lake silver band which is the number one brass band in the country. >> Did you say the flugal horn?
010>> Flugal horn. It's like a trumpet. Plays all the same notes but it's prettier, you know. >> Wow. Okay. >> Yeah. Wonderful instrument and you get a lot of solo spots for it. So good instrument. I perform in the top brass band in the country. Uh very cool that they're located in Southfield in our backyard. U now we've won all the local events. the US Open brass band, not golf championship. Uh we've won the regional events over in Dublin, Ohio, and we've won the nationals. So, our biggest accomplishment came up a couple months ago. We were invited as the first brass band in North America in history to compete in the Swiss Open, brass band championships, uh which is a big honor for something like for something well like us. Uh now the Swiss Open
011for those who don't know um is a competition in Switzerland in Lousern where they invite 10 of the best bands from around the world to come compete for their championship prize. Um we did that but I think even bigger beforehand we took a tour in England where we performed with the best brass band in the world. I sat shouldertosh shoulder with them. I even got to see them rehearse see what builds them into the best band in the world. So, once in a-lifetime opportunity, both from a playing perspective and a music leading perspective. It's pretty neat. >> How did you What an experience. Um, how did you guys make out in in that group of 10 in Switzerland? >> Yeah. So, when they said they took uh 10 of the best bands around the world,
012they really were not kidding. Uh, we tied for last. However, uh, between the tie, we took ninth place. The other group took, so we weren't in dead last. uh you know uh brass banding, it's British brass band they call it, and we were over in their home turf. Uh less developed over here. Yeah. Uh they've been doing it for hundreds of years over there. So you learn a lot like that. We had a really good showing. Um we had a lot of compliments. Uh there have been American bands who have gone to similar events in past, one or two of them. And uh a handful of the people who were walking around said, "Usually when an American band takes the stage, everyone goes and gets lunch." But we played a couple notes and everyone stuck
013around. So, uh, we're on up and coming, but there's a lot to learn and we've done that by sitting with the best. >> What an experience. And to be able to sit in front of your students and maybe even show them, I'm I'm sure they've seen it a little bit, uh, that you not only talk about it by day, but you live it, um, you know, by night sort of. So, uh, what an experience for you and our students to know that you're doing that. So, congratulations on that. Well done. And, >> um, so thank you for that for that background and and what led you here. Now you're here an integral part of our our school district, not just the high school uh where your classroom is, but our school district and and just
014in year two, the impact you've made is pretty pretty significant. What is it about Clawson specifically um for you that you enjoy uh so much coming to to work? I know you spend a lot of time here. It's all the times you'll 5 6 7:00 uh you'll you'll walk by the band room and you're in there and the doors open and um what about Clawson public schools and in this place for you uh makes it special. >> Sure. So I'm coming from an unnamed district really big one reputable. I taught in addition to band I taught a little bit of elementary general music. Kindergarten man I'm not brave enough. Scary times a tough crowd. People in the world braver than me. Uh, I taught a little bit of recorder class in fourth grade and we
015had a handful of drop-in students. People are new to the district, which was an issue cuz they bought instruments based on enrollment. So, I had a couple of kids without a recorder, you know, and we're talking five bucks on Amazon. I had to go to war with some of my superiors, some of my uh my my bosses to try and get these kids an instrument that they needed. Uh, the support wasn't there. Uh, the great part of Clawson is it's the closest knit community you're going to find. Uh it starts with our leadership at the school. Anything I need, we don't have all the resources in the world, but Miss Horn tries her best to make it happen. Uh the support goes all the way up and all throughout my peers. But uh unlike my
016other district, I have people in my email from the communities asking to donate instruments. People just want to call and talk about the band program. Uh it's it's a community where everyone is invested in everyone. Uh it's not just uh band, it's not just orchestra, it's everything we have from sports to our athletics to academics and everything in between. So it's not just a special place to work, it's a special place to be. It's the community with uh with a big heart. >> Yep. Well, as much as as important as all those people are to you and giving to you, which I that's that's kind of you to say equal parts. I mean, you and and performing arts specifically and the band are important to them and us. So, um it goes both ways. So,
017again, we appreciate all that you do. I will >> being that this is the holiday edition, we're closing out 2025, moving into 2026. Uh you have a concert next week, big holiday concert. Looking forward to that. All three of our performing arts um choir, band, and orchestra next week. Looking forward to those concerts. So, good luck with that. I know it'll be fantastic. As we roll into the holidays, two questions for you. One, big ones, hard-hitting questions, hard-hitting here on the Shell Shock podcast. One, your favorite go-to holiday themed movie. >> Sure. >> And two, any plans um or traditions with you and your family or friends around the holidays? >> Yeah. Okay. So, holiday movie. Uh I usually don't have a whole lot of time to watch movies, but holidays you get a little
018bit of time. Uh my favorite movie is Home Alone One. Uh yeah. Number one, it's got to be number one. I remember when I was a kid, I was watching it with my aunt. I was real young and you know the the scene where they're going through the house, the the two burglars, and they're they're getting a little banged up. I felt so bad as a kid. She kept reassuring me, which is a weird memory, but it brings back all sorts of good ones for me. So, I love watching Home Alone One. >> Uh we have a lot of traditions. The Baker family is a small one. >> Uh Haley, my fiance, and myself. We usually start Christmas with the Baker side of the family. It's my little brother, myself, my mom, my aunt, and
019Haley, and that's about it. Spend the whole day in pajamas. We open presents together, which is fun and a good time to be with family. My favorite part of Christmas, uh, my aunt, she bakes these no-baked cookies. They are the real deal. The bees knees. Okay. >> Um, chocolate no baked cookies. I could eat a whole plate. Usually they have to cut me off cuz I will. That'll be my breakfast, lunch, dinner. It It's a good problem. It's the best problem, man. So, that that's the tradition for me. It's the no baked cookies. Wonderful, wonderful. Love that. Love that. Well, um, first we appreciate you, all that you do. Appreciate today and you being uh, our our final guest of of 2025. Um, giving us all the the wonderful background, letting uh, all of these
020u wonderful viewers get to know uh, Mr. Baker, the real Mr. Baker, and uh, kind of the behind the scenes, Mr. Baker. So, uh, what a pleasure to have you here today. pleasure to have you a part of Clawson public schools and and all that you do to impact our students. So, happy holidays, sir. >> Thanks. You, too.