If everyone travels through various phases in life, then it’s safe to say that Michael Franti has been there and done that for almost everything, and all the while, staying true to himself. For nearly the past two decades, Franti has ignited live music with an outspoken spark that signifies revolution, change, awareness, and any other pinching thought stuck on the tip of your tongue. From the black industrial sounds of the Beatnigs in the 80’s, to the assaulting Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy in the early 90’s, Franti has continually delivered socially ambitious, no holds barred beats, underneath rhymes that have provoked audiences to look around, question authority and become more conscious of the surrounding political and social climate.
As his messages have evolved, so has Franti’s music. Beginning with his new band Spearhead in 1994, the talented lyricist began to further explore his roots, while combining some of the essential groove ingredients he holds most dear –Curtis Mayfield and Bob Marley. And Spearhead began to turn heads and sway hips with a groovy adventure of music that brought uplifting karma and a sense of community for free-thinkers and live music fans alike. In 2000, Franti and Spearhead released Stay Human, a statement on justice and survival, visiting the poignant issues of medical marijuana, incarceration, and media monopolization. Built upon the fictional case of Sister Fatima, Spearhead genuinely brought to the forefront the state of current affairs through the victim’s eyes. Perhaps, music is the fine medium between right and wrong, as Franti continues to use his personal music as a healing power – a force to crumble the agents of terror or paranoia, so abundant in our increasingly conservative governing system.
Everyone Deserves Music is Michael Franti and Spearhead’s first release since September 11th – a day most darkest in our eyes, that caused a creative fire for this multi-faceted band. Franti, the barefoot purveyor of social consciousness is out to prove that yes, everyone deserves music, even our worst enemies. An album that combines a mix of R & B, hip-hop, reggae and folk, this is quite possibly the landmark album in Franti’s already accomplished career. On the heels of a lengthy US and European tour that runs through December, we spoke with Franti about 70’s soul, yoga, music, and a bit of chronic healing with W on the White House lawn.
Everyone Deserves Music is your first release with Spearhead post-9/11. Did you take a different approach to your songwriting since those events?
Yeah, I’ve always tried to express my concerns about the world, but after September 11th, it kind of took on an emergency for all of us. There was a lot of fear, a lot of questions, a lot of anger, so on this album I wanted to write songs that expressed these issues. But not something all dark…I wanted to make an album that when you listen to it, it’s inspiring.
The music itself is more upbeat, with a lot of 70’s funk and soul.
Funk music is music I grew up with. Everything from Martin Gaye to the Gap Band…the Commodores was the first concert that I ever went to. So, that was the music of my childhood, but my childhood was also equally influenced by reggae, punk rock, and hip-hop. As a live band we want to make music that encourages people to dance, but we just don’t want to be up there with drum machines. For us, everyone in the band has always been into playing funk music.
I don’t think people give enough credit to your band. They’re all accomplished musicians.
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Yeah, I think my band is the best group of guys in the world. Everybody in my band is so well versed in so many styles of music that if I come to the band one day and say, “ok let’s do jazz, or let’s do something that’s hard rock,” they can do it. But Carl Young, the bass player, he’s been with me the longest. He’s really the heart of the band. When I’m off doing interviews or off doing some business with our label, he’s the one who has the band in the studio, rehearsing with them and making sure everybody’s doing what they need to do. Carl is really musical. And the band really changed about five years ago when Dave Shul, the guitar player, came in. He brought a whole new musicality to the guitar. Before, our records were really centered around drums, bass, and Fender Rhodes. The last two records the guitar is a lot more vocal.
When you changed the name of the band from Spearhead, to Michael Franti & Spearhead, did you feel as if you had to go back out and reintroduce yourself?
Yeah, we did. I didn’t necessarily have to go out and introduce myself, but that was the basic message at the time. We left a major label and started doing things on our own and started doing things more organically. The music changed. I thought to myself, when I made the album Stay Human, if I was going to make one album in my whole life, what would I want it to say and how would I want it to sound. And all of my musical heroes, all the musical messages we wanted to bring forth, like the death penalty, connection to greater power…that was real different from when we were at Capitol Records. The last conversation we had there, they kept telling me that I should do songs on the new album with Will Smith. They were really out of touch, and so we went off and reinvented ourselves.
Stay Human revolved around the fictional case of Sister Fatima. Did you feel that album raised any particular awareness against issues of racial equality, environmental issues and medical marijuana?
That album was really influential in a lot of people’s lives. The reason why I say that is not just because of the letters I get, and talking to people face to face, but we did hardly anything to advertise that record. We hardly had any radio airplay, but we sold more records than we had ever asked, through word of mouth. And it continues to sell by word of mouth, and I hope it continues reaching people on a hard level.
On the new album, one song in particular – “We Don’t Stop” – is bursting with energy. If you could play that anywhere, where would it be? I was thinking the White House lawn might be a good place to start.
Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. In San Francisco we do a big peace concert here called “The Power to the People.” We had 30,000 people there, but yeah, I’d love to do that on the lawn of the White House too.
One of the more interesting lines from “Everyone Deserves Music,” is ‘even our worst enemies deserve music.’ Say perhaps, George W. Bush was your worst enemy, would you make him listen to something specific?
I wouldn’t make him listen to anything, I’m sure there is music that moves him, but I would just encourage him to spend more time with music. Yeah, I think music moves in a very subtle way with people and it’s very difficult to say what a certain person will respond to. My father passed away three months ago and I was listening in the car to this song, “Sweetest Thing” by U2, and I began to weep. And I went and bought the CD and played it over and over again. It’s a song that I never paid that much attention to before. George Bush, obviously, he has a lot of healing to do, obviously has a lot of misdirected emotion and he can probably benefit from getting out of his head a little and getting into his heart a little. I’d rack up his iPod with a lot of shit, we’d sit down, have a plate of beans and rice and then I’d smoke half a spliff and offer that to him. (laughs)
Many people have been moved by your presence on stage, is their anybody that you’ve shared the stage with that has moved you?
There’s been a lot. I love Ben Harper. We did a couple shows with Sly and Robbie. Their rhythm man, when they chip-chime the drum and bass, it’s incredible. There is a guy from Australia that I really love named Xavier Rudd, he plays the didgeridoo, acoustic guitar, and plays drum beats all at the same time, it’s amazing. He’s an incredible artist and is out touring America right now, you should check him out. I’ve played with Public Enemy and Chuck D and KRS One. We’ve done a few shows with Trey Anastasio and we’ve always had thoughtful conversations that go beyond typical backstage chatter.
Your upcoming tour hits predominately liberal areas such as Eugene, Ashland, Chico, Sun Valley, Bozeman, and Tahoe. Do you hope to eventually play more conservative areas to get your message across to people who perhaps really need it?
Totally! I want to play everywhere, everywhere I can play. It’s interesting, because when I first started out, I thought, ‘I’m only getting to play major markets, that’s where people are looking to be more adventurous, and I’ll probably never play the Ashland, Oregons or the Burlington, Vermonts of the world,’ and eventually I made it there. Now, I’m playing the smaller towns that are kind of hip and aggressive and I’m glad to be there.
I could imagine playing the real conservative areas. This year, we played Mobile, Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama and a lot of other places that were very conservative. I had people come up to me and thanked me for coming and appreciated the things I had to say. We did this one show in Alabama, and a mainstream radio station came down who was playing some of our music. We didn’t play “Bomb the World” that night, as it wasn’t on the setlist. And at the end of the night, the owner of the station came up to me and said, ‘one of the reasons why we wanted you to play this show was because we can’t play that song on our radio station, but we want the fans of our station to hear this song.’ It’s funny how things work. It’s just a reminder that you can never be judgmental of how we are, because you go some place that is known as conservative, and there end up being loving and positive people there.
With such a demanding tour schedule, how do you keep yourself continually upbeat and rejuvenated each night?
Well, I practice yoga everyday and that keeps my mind clear, and keeps me connected spiritually.
Have you always practiced yoga?
No, actually I’ve done it for about a year, but it’s something that as soon as I did it, I started doing it everyday. Before that I meditated. Another thing is continually surrounding myself with people that I love and care about.
What is your definition of the word “success?” Obviously, it’s not just record sales.
Success is not really a word I use that much. But I want to be happy, just like any of us. I found that I’m happiest when I feel like I’m being a service to other people. Luckily, I have music as a way to do that.
Is there anything unexpected planned for this tour? Maybe something we haven’t seen before with any of your previous outings?
The band is working on diversifying our music, so it’s different every night, and the shows are always different. We try and write a setlist fifteen minutes before we go on, and now we’re always wanting to change verses of songs and doing other last minute things. And there are a lot of other songs that we’d like to play acoustically
Are there plans for another spoken word tour?
Yeah, after we finish this one, we’ll probably do another spoken word tour.
Is it harder to perform that style of show each night, knowing you’re on your own?
Yeah, it’s harder to gather up the energy. Like, if I know I’m there with the band, I don’t even have to do anything. I can go on, off, and two songs later I can come back. Spoken word takes a lot of courage to walk on stage with just a microphone. It can be a hard thing to do.
