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Taken from CHARTattack (Sep 05, 2008)
Michael Franti Rebels Peacefully
by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)
 Michael Franti has been to Jamaica many times and has recorded material there with his band Spearhead on multiple occasions. But every time Franti returns, he's taken by how much Jamaicans love music.
The studio doors were wide open while Michael Franti & Spearhead recorded their new All Rebel Rockers album with production duo Sly and Robbie (Black Uhuru, Peter Tosh) in Kingston, Jamaica. This meant anyone could come in off the street to listen, and it also meant Franti could experience the Jamaican love of music firsthand.
"They hear the rhythm just pounding and the bass coming through and they'll come in," Franti says. "There might be a guy you've never seen before, and he'll just stand in the corner with a spliff in his mouth, and at a certain point the music will stop and he'll go, [Franti imitates the sound of inhaling from a joint and then speaks in a Jamaican accent] 'Eh mon, you know in the second verse? You need a new keyboard part, mon!'
"You're looking at this dude like, 'Who the fuck are you, man? Are you producing my album? I've never seen this guy before.' Then you start to listen and you're like, 'Oh shit, he's right. It does need a new keyboard part in the second verse.'
"Music is so much a part of people's everyday lives 'cause everywhere you go in Jamaica there's a sound system on every street corner playing music, and so it's kind of like they immediately either approve of the song or they don't."
Jamaica was an appropriate place to make All Rebel Rockers. Franti's known for being a musical chameleon, and has recorded hip-hop, folk, reggae and rock during his career. He and his band experiment more with dub on All Rebel Rockers than on any other album they've released. In fact, the "ultra-deluxe" version comes with a bonus disc featuring dub versions of the tracks.
While Franti has spoken about All Rebel Rockers being a record you can dance to, it's a bit more than a party record. The songs feature Franti's usual ruminations on social justice, equality, world peace, love and what it means to be human, and Franti says it's a record that aims to combat cynicism.
"It's easy to pick up a newspaper and get frustrated and be like, 'Man, this world is just going to hell.' But I wanted to make a record that made people feel inspired, so they could wake up every day and be like, 'Man, I can face this day and I want to look to positivity and light.'"
Franti is also working on an ongoing, long-term documentary called Stay Human. He's been travelling the world, asking people what it means to be human, and documenting the interviews with a camera. He also has another documentary in the works about a festival he's bringing to Tanzania to combat ethnic tensions in the country. Though he describes today as "a time of crisis in the world" and points to climate change, rising energy prices and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as evidence, he won't become discouraged and links his activism back to the title of All Rebel Rockers.
"To be a rebel means to go against the system, but if today the system is bringing us fear and war and negativity and climate change, then to be a rebel today means to bring positivity and light, and to bring solutions to climate change and to be providing for people so they don't have to feel like violence is their only solution."
Michael Franti performs on Sept. 10 in Ymir, B.C. at the Ymir Community Baseball Field.
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