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Taken from The Deadbolt (Jan 27, 2011)
Sunshine and Survival with Michael Franti of Spearhead
by Reg Seeton
 Over the years singer, songwriter and musician Michael Franti has been a survivor in more ways than one. After making music for over twenty-five years, twenty with his band Spearhead, Michael Franti was forced to confront his own mortality and his purpose in life after Franti's appendix burst two years ago and the singer was rushed to hospital for an emergency appendectomy.
Franti, also a poet, composer and advocate of social justice, world peace and a healthy environment, came out of his stint in the hospital a new man with a fresh perspective on life. At the same time as Franti's surgery, fate worked in mysterious ways for Michael Franti & Spearhead when the band's album, All Rebel Rockers, hit the Billboard Top 40 and became the most successful Spearhead album to date. However, after confronting his fate in the hospital and during his recovery from appendix surgery, Michael Franti expressed his new appreciation for life through the latest Spearhead release, The Sound of Sunshine.
 Still feeling the love of life after the release of The Sound of Sunshine last year, Michael Franti recently went one-on-one with TheDeadbolt to share his experience of survival and recovery, how he approached the album, what he learned from working with legendary producers Sly and Robbie, and how Michael Franti follows his heart and continues to learn from the greatness of those who came before him.
THE DEADBOLT: Given the inspiration behind The Sound of Sunshine, how did confronting your own mortality not only change your outlook on life but also how you view your own music?
MICHAEL FRANTI: It made me appreciate things in my life that I often overlook: the preciousness of every moment I have with my friends and my family, the abundance I have in my life from being able to earn a living doing something that I love, to things as small as how amazing it is to eat an orange. On this album, I wanted to express this gratitude musically. Sun is another thing that brings so much life and joy to the planet, and I wanted my music to be a fitting soundtrack to the sun.
THE DEADBOLT: Since the album was so personal for you after what happened, did you find the songs were easier to write?
FRANTI: I always write songs from a personal place, but after my surgery, I had a lot of emotions that were right on the surface. But for me, turning those emotions into music is always an intense birthing process.
THE DEADBOLT: In some way are you grateful for going through so much pain to look at life from a new perspective?
FRANTI: I'm very grateful, first of all, to be alive, and secondly, to be given the opportunity to see my life with fresh eyes, and to be able to appreciate more than I ever had before.
THE DEADBOLT: When you look back at how life works in strange ways, how did you feel about having so much pleasure with the success of "Say Hey" on the previous album yet so much pain when you went into the hospital?
FRANTI: The week that "Say Hey" went into the Top 40 in America was the week my appendix ruptured. I've been making music for twenty-five years and that was the first time one of my songs had entered the charts. I told the doctor, "you better fix me so I can hear my song on the radio". But when I got out of the surgery, hearing my song on the radio was way down on my list of priorities. When I look back on it now, I'm grateful for the boost in my career that having a hit song has given, but I still enjoy playing on the street as much as I do playing for thousands of fans who come to our shows.
THE DEADBOLT: Can you talk about what you learned from Sly and Robbie when you went down to Jamaica for The Sound of Sunshine?
 FRANTI: Working with Sly and Robbie is like going to a University of Rhythm. In addition to being amazing producers and musicians, Sly and Robbie are philosophers who freely share the wisdom that they have for playing on thousands of records. After forty years of them making music, it's an honor just to listen to their music and live in a time when they are still around. To actually be in the studio with them lending their talents to my songs is one of the greatest moments of my musical life.
THE DEADBOLT: With the release of "Hey Hey Hey" at a time when people need to help in overcoming adversity, does it ever feel like you were destined to go through pain in order to show others some light at the end of the tunnel?
FRANTI: I'm not sure if I believe in destiny, but it has given me an opportunity to share my emotions with other people. I want my music to be there for people in the way that a good friend is there when you need someone to listen or a shoulder to cry on or those times you need to throw your hands in the air and do something crazy.
THE DEADBOLT: With the lyrics "Don't give up, this song is for you" in "Hey Hey Hey," how symbolic are they for you given the success of the album and how long you and the band have been making music?
FRANTI: I believe in following my heart and I learned from my family, from teachers, coaches, and the example of other successful people throughout history that it's ninety-five percent practice, four percent philosophy, and one percent good luck that gets you to your goals. I am a student of successful people and I love learning in five minutes what has taken someone else a lifetime to master. Our career as a band has been a long, slow, uphill climb, but along the way we've enjoyed every second of it. I learned from bands that came before me that if you treat everyone you meet with respect and a smile, they will always welcome you back to come play in their venue again, and the fans you treat in that same way will always come back to see you play.
THE DEADBOLT: Now that you've made the album and it's been out to the public, what does The Sound of Sunshine actually sound like when playing live while feeling the audience?
FRANTI: We love playing the songs because the songs have been crafted to be played on the acoustic guitar without any accompaniment. When you have a song that works like that, you can add any other instrument to it and it's always going to sound like a great song. I've made songs in the past that don't work well as acoustic songs, and no matter how much we try to play them live, they don't work.
THE DEADBOLT: Have you started on a new record, and how will the next album be different?
FRANTI: We never stop recording or writing. Even on tour, we bring a portable studio along and set it up in our hotel or dressing room. February of 2011 is the first time we will have an entire month off without doing a show in many years. It's my intention to take that time to concentrate on writing new material.
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