Write a Hit in Five Minutes with Narada Michael Walden

Narada Michael Walden is a multi-Grammy winning producer/drummer. It is not an understatement to say Narada is a defining voice in music -- from Mahavishnu Orchestra and Santana to Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Mariah Carey.  

In this interview, Muzi creator Rachel Efron sits down with Narada to discuss his creative process. Enjoy this glimpse into the wild synergy of their co-writing, which to date has yielded well over a hundred songs including tracks for Journey and Narada, himself. Enjoy, too, intimate stories from multiple chapters of Narada’s esteemed career — including his early days being influenced by Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Guru Sri Chimney, the phone call from Aretha that delivered her lyrics to “Who’s Zooming Who?” and insight into exactly how long it takes to write a hit.

Enjoy these excerpts, or watch the whole video here!

Rachel: Do you move quickly or take your time?

Narada: I’ve learned that the spirit, in my case, will react very quickly. And if I’m not quick to catch it, it can dissipate. 

Rachel: So is that your process? You’re just living, and then you get an idea and capture it? 

Narada: That’s part of the process. Capturing it, yes. Guru said inspiration is here for us 24/7. We can just take our hand and reach up and grab a bird of inspiration at any time. So I know that. I can write anytime. 

Rachel: I totally feel that. There’s always something.

Narada: You just have to let your feeling guide you toward it.

Rachel: One of the coolest things for me working with you is you would send me a melody, or a chorus hook. You’d be like, Rachel, I need your most heartfelt love song. Rachel, I need you get them on their feet with this one. But in order to write it well, I had to find my own personal need to write it. Some of the stuff your hooks found in me, I never would have found on my own. 

Narada: And I have to tell you, the way I came to know you: I was reading on Facebook to watching an interview, and you were going on about how you like to identify the hook. And I was like, wait a minute, that’s what I do. Then somehow you mentioned Joni Mitchell. And I also love Joni Mitchell. I can sing verbatim Joni stuff. 

Rachel: Yeah, someone who's interested in both hooks and Joni is a particular kind of person. 

That was just a couple weeks before lockdown. We met before we knew that was about to happen. And then the world went inside. But I felt during that time my world got so big because of our collaboration. 

Narada And one morning you came by when Neil (Schon) was arriving. And Neil said, “You’re really working” And we were. We were cranking, cranking, cranking, cranking, cranking. 

Rachel: Were you always pointed toward music and creativity.

Narada: As a little boy I loved to bang on pots and pans and play along with Nina Simone records. On a pie tin and a box on a high chair. Try to figure out what that person’s playing and play along with them. It was always my happiness.

Rachel: You have been such an important voice in music in so many eras of music. How do you write music that interacts with music tastes as they change in the world? 

Narada: I have to realize, we’re on planet Earth. What’s Earth into at this time? Then I take whatever song the heart wants to give and mash it into the production style of the times. Because the times are always changing. I don’t want to just make album tracks. I want number one. I want top ten.

Rachel: I really admire that in you. Whatever is happening on Earth, you get interested enough to sing your song there. 

Narada: I keep Quincy Jones’s words to my heart. Quincy said, “Don’t strangle the baby in the crib.” As writers we’re so quick to discard. And that habit can make you throw away one of your geniuses. I found the other way works best. Love the most. And then when they’re all dressed up and happy, then decide who can go out into the world and do the most damage. 

Rachel: It was profound for me to go through that process with you. It’s like, we’re gonna love something all the way to the finish line. And then sometimes we’re just gonna let it go. 

Narada: Don’t forget the world I come from, people have to hear things to buy into a project. You know, Aretha. A phone call can come through, and she says, “Who’s zooming who? Looking at a guy, he looks at me. But then the fish jumps off the hook.” We smash a song together. Clive Davis has to hear the song to green light a budget to go cut that song. 

Rachel: It still serves us even now, though. Because we get to hear it back. We get to be Clive Davis and hear it back.

Narada: I think so too. 

Rachel: What are you excited about now?

Narada: Everything. Having kids has changed my process. Now I keep bankers hours, in at 9, out by 2 or 3. I learned a lot living in New York with Mahavishnu Orchestra. If you have an hour, you can make a hit in an hour. If you have a half an hour, in a New York studio, you can make a hit in a half an hour. If someone said, you got five minutes to go write a hit, we could do it.

Rachel: You would say that to me a lot. You’d text me, “Rachel, I’m going into the session in twenty minutes, send lyrics to this melody.” And I wrote you back, “I’m in a meeting.” You’re like, “That’s the best time to write lyrics!”

Narada: So tell us about Muzi

Rachel: It’s a mobile app that helps you access greater creativity in your life. I find working with artists, so many people want to be more creative. I think we’re all inherently creative. I want to help people claim that and resource themselves so they’re ecstatic like we are when we’re collaborating. 

Narada: How does Muzi work?

Rachel: You take a quiz, answer thirty questions you’ve probably never asked yourself about your creative life. Then based on your quiz, you get a picture of your Spark, which shows where you’re thriving and where you need support. Then Muzi gives you the specific tools you need. 

Narada: I wish for everyone who’s a writer to give yourself more belief in yourself that the ideas you’ve got are valid. Unblock yourself.

Rachel: So great to speak with you.

Narada: I’m so glad you came by today.