Diane Warren Is Keeping Her Creative Fire Burning

... And some would say, hotter than ever! A songwriting mastermind behind a staggering number of magical movie moments and Grammy-winning hits, Diane Warren is the only songwriter ever to receive an honorary Oscar for her tremendous contributions to American film. Having made an indelible mark on the movies with songs like “I Don't Want to Miss a Thing” from Armageddon, “Because You Loved Me” from Up Close & Personal and “Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now” from Mannequin, Diane’s creative passion has only grown stronger and more resolute with the expansion of her outstanding musical repertoire. And even with her songs featured in over 150 films so far, she is more fired up to write music than ever before. We gave the six-time ASCAP Songwriter of the Year and ASCAP Founders Award winner a call to discuss her Oscar-contender song “The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot, being an iconic Angeleno, what makes a song right for a film and a few spicy questions as a bonus.

 

Welcome Diane! Thank you so much for joining us. You have a song called “The Fire Inside” on the Oscar shortlist, from Flamin’ Hot – Eva Longoria's directorial debut. This could be your 15th Oscar nomination. That is a huge deal.

 

If that happens. That will be my 15th, and it'll also be the seventh in a row, which is pretty amazing.

 

Seven is an auspicious number, too.

 

And my birthday is the seventh [of September], so that's great.

 

Okay, good to know. I’ll write that in my little book. You have had so many honors and awards, you've written so many songs. How do you keep your fire burning creatively?

 

I want to write a better song. I love this – what I do – so much. I love writing songs, and so I can't wait to get to work. I mean, most people went on vacations this holiday season. I was basically at my office every day. I love writing, and I loved writing this song because the song had a double meaning for the movie Flamin’ Hot, which is such a great story. It's about the janitor – a true story – Richard Montañez, and he had the idea for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and literally couldn't get anywhere, but called the Chairman of the whole company from his janitor's office, and literally made that dream happen. So the two meanings of “the fire inside,” one is obviously the fire inside you get from Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. You eat them, you get a fire inside. But what the song is about is passion, and it's about that thing that keeps you going, that thing that makes your dreams come true, that literally burns down obstacles. When there's an obstacle in front of you and you have that fire, it's going to burn it down and nobody's going to stop you.

 

And when I was writing this song for the movie, I'm writing it and going, “God, I'm kind of relating to everything I'm writing. I'm kind of writing about myself, and I'm writing for anybody who has that passion inside them.” And so many of my friends have told me that this is the song they're waking up to now, that this is their wake up song in there that gets them going every day.

 

Passion can manifest in so many ways, and it can be expressed in so many ways. I feel like a lot of your really beloved songs for movies are these really passionate power ballads, and this is an infectious, uplifting reggaeton track. It doesn't strike me as typical Oscar fare –

 

It's not my typical Oscar fare, but it's just as Oscar-worthy as anything else because it's a song that really encapsulates what this movie is about. No, it's not the big ballad like some of these songs I've done – I love doing those too. But when I'm writing a song for a movie, I have to write that perfect song for that movie. When I finally saw the movie, I wrote down the title of “The Fire Inside,” and I knew it had to have a reggaeton tempo. It had to move. It couldn't be a big ballad. But it's a powerful song, and it really does tie in everything in the movie. And then also outside of the movie, it can be your theme song, our theme song, for anybody with passion.

 

I also love considering the concept of what makes a song “Oscar-worthy,” or what makes a song fit so perfectly in a film. And your songs have been featured in over 150 films. So in your expert opinion, what makes a really good song for a film, and how do you approach it when you're brought the concept for each song?

 

Well, honestly, I'm writing the song that I want to hear in that movie. It's kind of selfish really, but not selfish because it's a song I want everybody to hear in that movie. But I have to write, I get inspired. What ties this up emotionally? Maybe it's in the movie, maybe it's at the end of the movie. What is the best way I'm going to walk away from this movie feeling that this got captured in a song? And if you do it right, these songs you'll hear years later and it'll take you right back to that movie. And also it'll stand on its own and become whatever you want it to be. That's what my best movie songs do. I can go back to “Because You Loved Me,” which was written for Up Close and Personal. When Robert Redford's character dies and Michelle Pfeiffer is saying thank you to him. And well, then it became a wedding song! So it has so many different meanings.

 

Yes, the songs can have this whole other life.

 

Yeah. The thing about a song, if it's a great song, it can live on in different ways. But when I'm writing a song for a movie, it has to first and foremost work well in that movie. But like I said, when you do it right, it lives inside of the movie, and then it lives outside of the movie as well.

 

Sounds like a really incredible blessing that you're still so lit up by what you do every day.

 

I love it. I love doing songs for movies. I love working with artists and new artists or established artists. I'm working with so many artists right now, more than I ever have to be honest.

 

So you're doing this thing that you've always done, that you've always loved. When you're approaching a song, is there something that you look forward to most about the process, and is there something that scares you? Or are you past that?

 

Nothing scares me. I just try to write a great song and hope I find the right artist for it. I'm always writing, so sometimes I forget about songs that I shouldn't be forgetting about. But I just love doing this. I love working with all kinds of artists in different genres. I'm in a million different genres right now. Doing a song with Becky G, doing something with David Guetta and dance, and I'm doing something with Tiwa Savage and Afrobeats right now. So all kinds of stuff.

 

Genre to genre, do you approach writing these songs differently?

 

I just write the best song I can in anything I'm doing. Every song is its own country, with its own rules and laws and whatever.

 

Speaking of “its own country with its own rules and laws,” I feel like you're a very California person. You've been there a while, right?

 

Well, I'm born here. I'm from Van Nuys. I'm a Valley girl.

 

I was watching Flamin’ Hot, and it felt so southern California to me, so grounded in that world. And Becky G is an LA native as well.

 

And that's what was so cool. What I do is I am a casting director for the song and the movie. So Becky G, the reason she did the song in the movie, it wasn't just an accident. I really think about who is the most authentic person for that song. They have to be the right artist to sing that song, but really important also, is they have to fit that movie and they have to be authentic. Becky G could have been in Flamin’ Hot, she could have been in that movie. And also she’s self-made, like I said, she's from LA, didn't have anybody in her family that could help her career – she did it herself. Just like me. I'm from Van Nuys and my dad sold insurance, and I had a dream of being a songwriter. Becky G had a dream of being a singer. Eva Longoria, it wasn't easy for her to get the gig to direct this movie. People know her as an actress. But she did an amazing job. It was really successful. But I guess the point I'm saying is all three of us have created ourselves.

 

You all personify the passion that you're trying to evoke in the song.

 

If you look at Becky, you look at Eva, you look at me. We're three living examples of the fire inside and what the fire inside can help you achieve.

 

That's a really beautiful concept. I notice when I flip through your discography, a lot of your songs are about empowering women. You've worked with so many phenomenal women of all ages and backgrounds. It's just a murderer's row of incredible women. You're one of the most successful woman songwriters of all time. You have one of the most successful woman-owned publishing companies.

 

Know what? I don't put myself in that box. Yes, I'm alone. Yes, I'm female, but show me a lot of guys that have done what I've done. So I don't even look at it like that. I have one of the most successful publishing companies in the world.

 

Period.

 

With one writer.

 

You don't want to focus on your gender, because you're doing the same thing the men are doing – sometimes better!

 

I never got the memo that I couldn't do what I do because I'm a woman. And so I feel sometimes that's a box to put somebody in. They don't say, well, so what's it like to be a male director, a male actor or a male songwriter, or whatever. So to me, it's just being a great songwriter.

 

I think it was Serena Williams. And they said something and my Beyoncé song was playing in the background, which was awesome, that this was happening at that moment. And they said, so what's it like to be the best female athlete in the world? She goes, I prefer the best athlete. I'm just the best athlete. I thought that was so f**king cool. And my song happened to be playing in the background at that moment, so I'm like, yes.

 

Did it feel like kismet, beshert?

 

Yes, exactly. Oh, a fellow Jew. I love it.

 

Absolutely my Hebrew sister! We were talking about how many songs you've written for movies and what makes a good song for a movie. I'm wondering, do you like to go to the movies?

 

I do, but I want to answer one thing. What makes a great song for a movie? It has to be a great song.

 

It stands on its own. It also works beautifully inside the movie.

 

I do love going to movies. And what I love more, is that on the Academy site, when you're a member of the Academy, you get to watch all the movies at home. I have to say, there's nothing better than that. In your pajamas with popcorn at your house and watching a movie with your friends.

 

What are your favorite kind of movies to watch?

 

My favorite movies are psychological thrillers, really dark psychological stuff. I love a great psychological thriller or a great sci-fi, but that Black Mirror kind of sci-fi. Not monsters and all that. I don't like that stuff. I really love psychological thrillers, movies with cool stories and movies with a lot of heart. I like that. But really edgy thrillers are my favorite.

 

Have you ever eaten Flamin’ Hot Cheetos?

 

I have. They need to make a vegan version now though because I'm a vegan.

 

Do you like spicy foods?

 

I love spicy food. Really spicy. Yes. Do you?

 

I love spicy food so much. I love going to restaurants and they bring me a bowl that looks positively radioactive. Moving back to your songwriting and what’s next: You already have so many incredible things in your repertoire. If you were to embark on the creative endeavor of your wildest dreams in 2024, what would that be? Or would that just be continuing to do what you do and what you love?

 

I'm living my wildest dreams, so just to keep living it.

 

That's so phenomenal. Imagine living your wildest dreams. That's what I'm manifesting.

 

What are your wildest dreams?

 

It's difficult to say. I don't know if I know what that is yet. Right now, the only thing I know for sure is eventually I want to have lots of dogs.

 

Well, that's great. I'm a big animal activist, so anything involved. Oh, that's wonderful. Any kind of dog or cat or farm animal or anything is good. You're on the road, you’re on your way.

 

So many people that I know used to think that I worked at the ASPCA because I work at ASCAP, which is…

 

Oh, that's funny!

 

It's been very nice talking to you, Diane. I really appreciate it. I know you're very busy. You have songs to write. You have spicy vegan food to eat and animals to enjoy.

 

That's right – but it's great to talk to you. Happy f**kin' New Year.

 

*****

 

+ Flamin' Hot is out now. Find out more and how to watch.

+ Want more songwriting stories from Diane? Check out our podcast interview from 2021.