NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN
International Musician Magazine – November 1978
International Musician Magazine – November 1978
they’re not professionals.
My dad is just a great admirer. He would bring me albums of all the jazz
drummers, all the greatest. The collections of Max Roach and all those
cats. I used to listen to all that big band stuff, and then I liked drum
solos when I was real young.
Did you ever take any lessons?
Yeah, I started taking
rudiment lessons when I was ten. That was when I got my
Did you ever take any lessons?
Yeah, I started taking
rudiment lessons when I was ten. That was when I got myWell,
I really never finished studying. I was always being shifted from one
teacher to another. One teacher would get jealous or another would be
moving out of town. There was never anything solid or steady.There was one guy who
helped me out a lot named Harold Mason who, during that time, was playing
drums for Stevie Wonder. He taught me a lot. God bless him. He been using two bass drums,
but this past year, I only used one. I have been using one with a double
pedal on it. In other words, it has two beaters. When I went out with
the opening of my band, the CBS All-stars, which is Billy Cobham, I think
CBS put in the contract that I could only use one bass drum.
Because of Billy?
Well, yeah.
But he has three bass drums.
Because of Billy?
Well, yeah.
But he has three bass drums.
Are you satisfied with your
recorded drum sound?
No, I’m not. To
me, it’s an endless quest. I just recently found an engineer who
I think might do it for me. His name is Allan Sides. He did the sound
for Close Encounters, Jaws, Star Wars, The Fury, The Omen, and
when you hear the sound in these movies you actually tremble. But I’m
still searching. Up until this point the only album that I’m really
No, I’m not. To
me, it’s an endless quest. I just recently found an engineer who
I think might do it for me. His name is Allan Sides. He did the sound
for Close Encounters, Jaws, Star Wars, The Fury, The Omen, and
when you hear the sound in these movies you actually tremble. But I’m
still searching. Up until this point the only album that I’m really
When a musician
makes his first ever appearance on record at the age of 22 playing with
the Mahavishnu Orchestra, he must be something special. Narada Michael
Walden is something special. He was a semi-pro musician by the age of
11 and continued to play rock, soul and jazz through his teens. In 1973,
John McLaughlin invited him to join the re-styled Mahavishnu Orchestra,
the version which featured Jean-Luc Ponty on fiddle. (This was soon after
Mike had met the guru Sri Chinmoy and adopted the forename Narada.)
He worked with the band
for two years and appeared on three albums – “Apocalypse”,
“Visions of the Emerald Beyond” and “Inner Worlds”
– playing both drums and keyboards and writing more and more material.
In 1975, Jeff Beck invited him to London for the sessions produced by
George Martin, which resulted in the album “Wired”, released
the following year. Life became increasingly busy for Narada Michael Walden.
After leaving the Mahavishnu Orchestra, he played and recorded with bassist
Alphonso Johnson, Weather Report (on their album “Black Market”),
Roy Buchanan, (“Loading Zone”), Allan Holdsworth and Don Cherry.
Then came his first
album under his own name – “I Cry, I Smile”, released
on Atlantic in 1977. Two albums later, he still finds time to collaborate
with the likes of Beck, Santana and Fripp, while also producing albums
for other bands. And he’s still only 26.
How old were you when you first started playing drums?
I was real young. I
was banging on the crib, pots and pans, oatmeal boxes and all I ever wanted
for Christmas was toy drum sets. So there never has been a problem with
me with what I wanted to do.
Were your parents musical at all?
Great appreciators.
On my mother’s side, they all play but
He worked with the band
for two years and appeared on three albums – “Apocalypse”,
“Visions of the Emerald Beyond” and “Inner Worlds”
– playing both drums and keyboards and writing more and more material.
In 1975, Jeff Beck invited him to London for the sessions produced by
George Martin, which resulted in the album “Wired”, released
the following year. Life became increasingly busy for Narada Michael Walden.
After leaving the Mahavishnu Orchestra, he played and recorded with bassist
Alphonso Johnson, Weather Report (on their album “Black Market”),
Roy Buchanan, (“Loading Zone”), Allan Holdsworth and Don Cherry.Then came his first
album under his own name – “I Cry, I Smile”, released
on Atlantic in 1977. Two albums later, he still finds time to collaborate
with the likes of Beck, Santana and Fripp, while also producing albums
for other bands. And he’s still only 26.How old were you when you first started playing drums?
I was real young. I
was banging on the crib, pots and pans, oatmeal boxes and all I ever wanted
for Christmas was toy drum sets. So there never has been a problem with
me with what I wanted to do.Were your parents musical at all?
Great appreciators.
On my mother’s side, they all play but first real snare, bass drum
and cymbal. I studied for a good five or six years. Just reading and learning
how to do hand things, all the rudiments.
When I was 11 or 12,
I was playing in bars in Michigan. I had a little duo – me and an
organ player. I was 11, he was 10. We were called the Ambassadors. When
the main band went off, we would go up for the intermission and play.
People were always freaked out at how little we were because we were slaying
them! We were doing Jimmy Smith material and that kind of thing.
Most 10 year olds don’t even have control.
I really feel that God
has been very kind to me. I’ve never had any problem with it. If
I work at something I can really do it. If I don’t work at it, I
don’t do it. If I’m moved to do something I can do it. I have
that capacity. Now the problem I have to figure out is what I want to
do. What areas, what I feel my spot is.
The night before last
I sat down at this Bossendorf piano. This piano is a woman and this woman,
the piano, just told me how much she loved me. I told the piano how much
I loved it. I had this vision of myself doing solo concerts on the piano
and just singing. I think it is a very strong part of my nature and someday
I will do that.
You don’t feel that drums are your main instrument, then?
Yeah they are. I have
the most command and mastery over the drums but my heart’s fulfillment
is writing a beautiful song. Just crying out, that’s my heart’s
fulfillment. And also playing the drums. I’m not putting that down.
What I’m saying is to allow more room for my artistic, melodic,
lyric sense to come out.
What did you do after you finished studying?
When I was 11 or 12,
I was playing in bars in Michigan. I had a little duo – me and an
organ player. I was 11, he was 10. We were called the Ambassadors. When
the main band went off, we would go up for the intermission and play.
People were always freaked out at how little we were because we were slaying
them! We were doing Jimmy Smith material and that kind of thing.Most 10 year olds don’t even have control.
I really feel that God
has been very kind to me. I’ve never had any problem with it. If
I work at something I can really do it. If I don’t work at it, I
don’t do it. If I’m moved to do something I can do it. I have
that capacity. Now the problem I have to figure out is what I want to
do. What areas, what I feel my spot is.The night before last
I sat down at this Bossendorf piano. This piano is a woman and this woman,
the piano, just told me how much she loved me. I told the piano how much
I loved it. I had this vision of myself doing solo concerts on the piano
and just singing. I think it is a very strong part of my nature and someday
I will do that.You don’t feel that drums are your main instrument, then?
Yeah they are. I have
the most command and mastery over the drums but my heart’s fulfillment
is writing a beautiful song. Just crying out, that’s my heart’s
fulfillment. And also playing the drums. I’m not putting that down.
What I’m saying is to allow more room for my artistic, melodic,
lyric sense to come out.What did you do after you finished studying?
used to tell me “I’m
going to make you one of the world’s greatest drummers.” I
can remember him telling me that. Back then, it didn’t mean anything
but now that I look back on it, he really spent a lot of time with me.
Mainly he worked with me getting my independence together. That’s
one thing that is hard for drummers – to be able to have four-way
co-ordination. Four different things happening at the same time. Most
drummers have two things happening, the right hand and right foot going.
But to be able to break it up is what’s happening. To have four
different things happening. That’s why I admire Sid Williams, Billy
Cobham, Lenny White or Harold Mason. These guys can just break it up and
play anything at their command. Steve Gadd is a master at that, an absolute
master. He is incredible. He’s white with a black attitude.
What kit do you use?
I’m using a Gretsch
kit, the same kit I started off playing with Mahavishnu. I’m always
changing the heads and changing the tuning and trying different stuff.
I use a deep Ludwig snare. I like that really heavy snare sound. I’m
trying a new thing with a Canasonic head. I took a Dr. Scholl’s
kind of thing with tape on the back of it and taped it to the rim of the
drum, so that when I hit the snare, it flops up in the air and comes back
down to the head. Voila! So the drum has a chance to be open and cuts
off at the overtone. That is something I picked up from Mick Fleetwood.
That’s how he gets that heavy feel because you hear the natural
sound of the drum, but then it cuts it off before it gets too out of hand.
It works real well.
What size toms are you using?
Well, 12”, 13”,
14”, 16” and 18”. And in the past, I have
What kit do you use?
I’m using a Gretsch
kit, the same kit I started off playing with Mahavishnu. I’m always
changing the heads and changing the tuning and trying different stuff.
I use a deep Ludwig snare. I like that really heavy snare sound. I’m
trying a new thing with a Canasonic head. I took a Dr. Scholl’s
kind of thing with tape on the back of it and taped it to the rim of the
drum, so that when I hit the snare, it flops up in the air and comes back
down to the head. Voila! So the drum has a chance to be open and cuts
off at the overtone. That is something I picked up from Mick Fleetwood.
That’s how he gets that heavy feel because you hear the natural
sound of the drum, but then it cuts it off before it gets too out of hand.
It works real well.What size toms are you using?
Well, 12”, 13”,
14”, 16” and 18”. And in the past, I have Only
two on stage, though. So I was a little clever and went out and got me
this pedal that makes me still play it like I do, but with only one bass
drum.So it’s still the same approach as if you were using two basses?
That’s right.
And I found I like it even better. It’s punchier.What size is your bass drum?
24”.
I’m going to do a rock trio album with Glenn Hughes, Ray Gomez and
myself. What I want to do is get some fat drums, some huge drums, and
little cymbals. You know, a heavy contrast. But I am a real cymbal man.
I love cymbals. That’s my thing, more so than drums. I used to spend
time on the coast, just listening to the ocean. I try to capture that
ocean sound. That’s why I have this 30” Zildjian cymbal and
the sound it makes is just like the ocean.What other cymbals do you use?
They are always changing
but you know how some guys use “Chinese cymbals”? This Chinese
cymbal is authentic, it’s right from China. It’s not made
by Zildjian, it’s from Oolong, China and it’s authentic. It
sounds incredible. And I used to use an 18” cymbal, but now I’ve
cut it down to a 14” or 15”, to get that real “splash”
sound so it cuts right above everything. That’s also a Zildjian,
paper-thin. A 24” medium ride, and 18” crash, and it works
out great. I used to use more than that because I’m a cymbal freak.
That’s why, out of all the drummers, I can relate most to Billy
because his approach and my approach are very similar. He’s a Taurus,
I’m a Taurus, he loves cymbals, I love cymbals. And I think Lenny
White and Tony Williams’ approaches are very similar to each other.knocked out with as far as the
sound goes is Visions of the Emerald Beyond. That was hottest to me, drum-wise,
I think. Billy Cobham’s drum sound on Birds of Fire is incredible.
And both of these albums were done by Ken Scott. I think Ken Scott is
the hottest drum engineer ever. In the past I’ve used people who
were taught by Ken, who grew up with Ken; Dennis McKay, and a guy named
Jerry Smith. They all come from Trident in England. And now I’m
trying to go with more of an American kind of thing and see how that turns
out.
Was Mahavishnu Orchestra your first major band?
Yeah. Right before I
joined Mahavishnu, I was a busboy in a restaurant. Apocalypse was my first
album and I was 21 years old. I went from being a busboy in a restaurant
to flying to England to work with George Martin! The album was not an
easy one to make, let me tell you. The Mahavishnu Orchestra was in one
room and the London Symphony was in another. We were communicating with
videos. Michael Thomas had a picture of me and the drums, and I had a
camera of him conducting. And I had to coordinate myself with him conducting
the orchestra. Then, when that wouldn’t work, the orchestra would
have to lay their stuff down first and I would have to match my stuff
with them. You have to judge things two ways – musical performance
and consciousness. The musical performance of Apocalypse isn’t
as hot or as great as other records but the consciousness of Apocalypse
is incredibly high. You can put that album on and even though you can
point out mistakes musically, the consciousness is very high on that record.
Every time I listen to that album I’m re-
Was Mahavishnu Orchestra your first major band?
Yeah. Right before I
joined Mahavishnu, I was a busboy in a restaurant. Apocalypse was my first
album and I was 21 years old. I went from being a busboy in a restaurant
to flying to England to work with George Martin! The album was not an
easy one to make, let me tell you. The Mahavishnu Orchestra was in one
room and the London Symphony was in another. We were communicating with
videos. Michael Thomas had a picture of me and the drums, and I had a
camera of him conducting. And I had to coordinate myself with him conducting
the orchestra. Then, when that wouldn’t work, the orchestra would
have to lay their stuff down first and I would have to match my stuff
with them. You have to judge things two ways – musical performance
and consciousness. The musical performance of Apocalypse isn’t
as hot or as great as other records but the consciousness of Apocalypse
is incredibly high. You can put that album on and even though you can
point out mistakes musically, the consciousness is very high on that record.
Every time I listen to that album I’m re-