Franti-
Well when Disposable Heroes broke up I went out to Philly
to work with Joe "The butcha" Nicolo because he was a fan
of Disposable Heroes.I went out there for a couple of weeks
hung out and started recording some stuff. After a while I
met Mary [Harris] who was a singer and a drummer then she
came in and started singing on some tracks and I liked her
a lot so, she brought her friend Liane [keyboards] in then
I sent Zulu out to Philly to meet me 'cause he was in S.F.
From there we just pretty much keep adding new people 'till
we got our band all together.
Matt-I
heard that there is an interesting story behind the name spearhead.
Franti-Yeah
well you know,the head of a spear is the first point ,it's
cutting into the future,you know,and spearhead takes it's
name from Chief Shaka who reinvented the spear for the Zulus.
He took it from a long spear that you throw to a short spear
that you use in a hand to hand style combat.When we do our
music we try to ..
Zulu-Get
in close to you.
Franti-Yeah
and we try to re-invent the way we do things, just like that.
We invent the tools of the struggle.
Matt-In
comparison to your older projects, The Beatnigs and Disposable
Heroes, it seems like Spearhead has a much more subtle approach
to getting your message across to your audience.
Franti-Yeah,
in some ways a more subtle approach .If you really want to
reach people you can't shout at them.If you shout at them
then they turn their heads, but sometimes they shout with
you ,but if everybody in the room is shouting along with you,
then that means that I'm the only one thinking.I just wanted
to write songs this time around that people could just listen
to and enjoy.And maybe some people are just in it for the
entertainment, then other people have a higher level of thinking
and they want to dig deeper for the jewels that are hidden
in those lyrics.
Matt-Is
that something you are going for now, or...
Franti-Well
we don't ever stay with one thing you know, even tonight you
will hear stuff that's different from the record, different
versions, funkier stuff. We're a band so it never stays being
one thing.
Sonny-Do
you like it better having a band now as opposed to using samples
and shit?
Franti-Well
we had a guitar player and a drummer in Disposable. I like
having a band just because it's more free you know what I'm
saying? We can stop in the middle of a set and come back and
get the audience involved.
Matt-I've
read that you said Spearheads' mission is to help develop
the moral and spiritual sides of hip hop.Do you want to elaborate?
Franti-Well
I don't know if I actually ever said that. [ laughter ] I've
seen that written somewhere , but you know it's like we keep
saying that we have a five year plan for the future you know
what I'm saying? Comin' to the year 2000 and there is so many
people in hip hop that only wanna deal with what they see.
You know what I'm saying? Not with what they believe. They
want to talk about whatever it is they see on the street,
they are not trying to deal with what they believe in. In
Spearhead we deal with what we believe in.
Matt-There
has been some diversity in your projects ranging from the
aforementioned Beatnigs to the collaboration with William
S. Burroughs . Do you feel at home now so to speak with Spearhead?
Have you finally found what you've been looking for musically?
Franti-Yeah
well it's always the search for new things, so I never feel
like you really ever find a home. You know what I'm saying?
You find that you lay a groove and you lay a foundation for
where you are going. Still, once you've found yourself in
the middle of the river you still have to make turns in that
river. So that's it. We're on the journey but we keep changing
, going from side to side around each corner.
Zulu-If
we get too circular we get lazy. We not working hard enough.
We never stop work. Spearhead the most work. Spearhead at
9 o'clock has got what regular people do in 24 hours [chuckles
all around]
Sonny-What
do you guys like to do for fun?
Zulu-Jump
out of planes, skiing.
Sonny-Whoa!
You ski?
Zulu-Yeah
and this is Jamaican talk about this skiing business not the
bobsled. This is different. Right! ?
Franti-Well
I've got a son so a lot of my down time is spent hanging out
with him and the other kids in the neighborhood.
Matt-How
old is your son?
Franti-He's
7 and a half almost 8.
Sonny-How
did you guys get involved together?
Zulu-I
and Michael?
Sonny-Yeah.
Franti-He
used to be underground general. He ran all the underground
parties in S.F. You know the warehouse shit . From about 83'
forward.
Sonny-And
you're from Jamaica, right?
Zulu-Yeah
defiantly.
Sonny-What
are you all about?
Zulu-Peace,
understanding, compassion, justice. Yes, right over wrong.
Reality is the most important thing. No distractions.
Matt-Are
you guys and the rest of the band one big tight knit family
?
Franti-Pretty
much yeah . Especially compared to some of the other bands
I've been in .A band is a volatile situation. Your work is
about emotion and expression of emotion. Not everybody has
the same emotions at the same time, so you try to make a collaborative
effort.
Zulu-Well
there is 7 of us in the band and 11 of us travailing and 2
gorgeous women to keep the rest of us in check.
Sonny-How
are you guys feeling tonight?
Franti-Feelin'
good.
Zulu-Beautiful,
gorgeous, magnificent, brilliant, excellent, just totally,
totally...
Matt-All
around positive?
Zulu-All
around positive!
Matt-Any
bands you guys are into right now?
Franti-We're
just checking out everything in hip hop right now. The biggies
and the smalls. Um..The Fugees . We just got done touring
with them we like them a lot. Local groups like The Invisible
Men and stuff like that.
So that's it . Spearhead went on stage that night and kicked
much ass It was one of the greatest "good vibe " shows I've
seen in a long, long time. Keep an eye and an ear out for
Spearheads new video for the song Hole in the bucket
[slaveship remix] from their debut album Home. Much respect
to Michael Franti, Michael Zulu, and the rest of the Spearhead
crew. And a big thanks goes out to Teresa at Bill Adler Promotions
and Joy from Capitol Records for setting this up and just
for being so damn cool.
Zulu-Beautiful,
gorgeous, magnificent, brilliant, excellent, just totally,
totally...