10/13/26

What an amazing day! 

We hopped in a van and drove to legendary producer Narāda Michael Walden's personal studio Tarpan Records in San Rafael. We were greeted warmly by his long time assistant Kimrea Begley and met Narāda (and his young son Michael). We presented them all with some nice new Saint Mary's hats and sweats which they sported for the whole visit. The walls in the lounge are decorated with countless gold and platinum records, as Narāda has had FIFTY SEVEN #1 hit songs!

We were then introduced to his engineer of over 30 years Jim Reitzel, who has also engineered for Carlos Santana and countless other artists. He gave us a history of the studio itself, when it was built & how it was built. The whole place is essentially a floating room completely isolated from outside noise! Jim then took us into the "Vault" where many of the master tapes are stored. After that Jim took us into the control room where the large console and recording gear are. He showed us the current Pro Tools session they are working on: A brand new record by the legendary Temptations! We were treated to new music that has not even been released yet.

Then we had the opportunity to hear from Narāda about his life in music, and ask him questions about his how he got his start in the music industry, his career as an artist, producer and his approach to songwriting and working with other artists.

While we were talking he got a call from one of the original member of the Temptations Otis Williams! Narāda put him on speakerphone with us and we were able to hear from him about his career, & advice for young musicians. This was an unexpected and amazing experience!

After that, our very own upcoming drummer Caelyn Ford got to play Narāda's giagantic drumset as he listened, and then Narāda played for the kids. Amazing.

We headed back to the east bay after warm goodbye's, and then went to have pizza and ice cream. Tremendous day!!

-Mr. Ellis