Franti feeling and healing the world
Who: Michael Franti and Spearhead
Where: Dustys Bar and BBQ
When: Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 8 & 9
All the Freaky People rise up, for the revolution is here. Michael Franti and Spearhead need no introduction for lovers of music with soul, passion, performance and positivity. The tall, beguiling San Francisco native is a songwriter, musician, activist, poet, father and spiritual human being who gives his all for what he believes. Franti takes the serious, the sad and the beautiful fragments of life and turns them into art and education through music.
We caught up with him just days away from finishing his new album, Everyone Deserves Music (due for release in the summer), and just minutes away from the start of his sons birthday party. What a guy for fitting us in!
Pique: How exciting, being almost done on a new album. Hows it feel to be at this point?
MF: Its a pretty emotional time for me actually. This album is something Ive been working on for a long time. I started writing for it over a year ago and started recording in May. We tour so much that I would be on the road for a couple of weeks, then come in and record for a couple of weeks but it has every bit of my heart and soul in it.
Pique: I cant imagine what its like to be on the verge of putting out a new project that means so much to you, especially for a performer who uses music in such a powerful and positive way.
MF: With the last record, Stay Human , if you listened to the whole album, by the time you were done you would be really moved because there were a lot of pieces that fitted together to make the whole story. But with this new album Ive made some songs that do the same thing in three minutes. I feel these are some of the best songs I have ever written. I feel like theres a few songs on it that I will look back and say these were the songs that became my contribution to the world.
Pique: Your music combines real issues, serious social commentary with funky danceable, fun beats is that an intentional mix?
MF: I try to make the words have beautiful chords because I want it to work on a lot of different levels. Im vying for space in this pop realm where so much is just about the beat or the hook of the song rather than whats being said, so when trying to communicate in that world I need to be crafty about it.
Pique: Your personal life and views are such a big part of your performance. So many artists shy away from showing the real them, but you embrace who you are and what you believe. Do you find it hard drawing a line between personal Franti and performance Franti?
MF: As Ive grown more mature as a person and an artist Im starting to feel that maybe the distance between me as a human and a performer has grown less and less. I feel like I am really myself a lot more now on stage. I dont worry so much anymore if people wont like my music, or if I wear the wrong clothes or if I say something people arent going to appreciate. As I grow more I find I am allowing myself to be me, being comfortable in my own skin and that in itself is as big a journey as the one Ive had with music.
Pique: You say a lot of people ask you why you live in the city when theres no trees or birds or nature. But you say there are people in the city, the greatest life of all. What is it about being human that gives you so much inspiration?
MF: The more I learn about who I am the more I feel complete. Success to me is feeling fulfilled. Sometimes you go through a really hard time in your life and you think "man, how am I going to make it in to tomorrow?" Then the next day comes and that wave of emotion has passed and youre still there and youve been polished by the intensity of that wave. Realizing something about yourself that you didnt know the day before is so beautiful. Learning to speak a new language, learning some chords on a guitar or meeting someone new who teaches you something. These things are the rewards of living and the rewards of being human and most of it comes through the turmoil. All the things that are bad are the things that help us find love and joy and discover ourselves and understand who we are.
Pique: In light of the last few years with terrorism, the threat of war, the ever-present atrocities in the third world, do you think after all this time discussing these issues that the world is improving or dissolving?
MF: The world today has been pushed to a precipice. The human, the natural and the spiritual interests of the world are constantly taking a back seat to the corporate, the military and the materialistic interests of the world. People are really feeling it and dont want it. They want to be treated like a human being. Theyre telling me "I dont want to be just a consumer for advertisers to bombard. I dont want the world to be bombing each other. We want the world to be taking care of each other." People are really starting to form an opinion on these issues, whether its at the dinner table or protesting in the street, and I think thats a good thing. People are saying: "Do we really want these wars to be taking place or do we want to find real and lasting solutions on why theres conflict between nations and the ultimate conflict, between rich and poor?"
Pique: So, I believe youre a snowboarder. Can we expect you in the halfpipe then or are you a backcountry freak?
MF: Ha, ha ha! You can expect me on my ass, thats what you can expect! I like hanging out in the fresh air and being in the snow. I spend a lot of time just chatting with my friends and we ride a little bit and we stop and look at the mountains and the trees and see an animal or something if were really lucky. For me its another way of spending time in nature. Im not there to go fast and knock people over or show somebody a trick that others cant do.
Michael Franti and Spearhead are in town for two shows only. Tickets are $35 from Dustys, GLC or www.upstreamentertainment.com and very close to being sold out. At time of press opening act is Tre Hardson, from Pharcyde, but rumour has it he may do his own show on the Saturday night at Merlins for all you Franti fans who miss out.
Also, check out Directions in Groove this week on Cable 6. This local music show features a selection of Spearhead concerts in Whistler from the last few years, including an interview with Franti at his last Whistler gig at Zoophorus.