Michael Franti and Spearhead Biography

New Studio Album Yell Fire! and Directorial Debut of Feature Film I Know I'm Not Alone.

Two years ago Michael Franti decided to "walk his talk" and traveled to the war zones of Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This wasn't a USO green zone sponsored visit - Franti and his team organized a trip that would take him to the core of the red-zoned, war torn neighborhoods of Baghdad, the West Bank and Gaza Strip with his guitar, video cameras and the intent to experience first hand the human cost of war.

Out of this journey, Franti has created a compelling documentary film titled I Know I'm Not Alone and a searing, reflective new album of original songs titled Yell Fire! recorded in Kingston, Jamaica and Franti's hometown of San Francisco, California.

Ironically, Franti's journey to the war-ravaged Middle East inspired his most uplifting set of songs to date. He explains, "The thing that I found when I was in war zones was that nobody wants to hear songs about war. They want to hear songs about connection to people, and songs about love and life, songs that make them dance." It was legendary Island Records founder and Franti cohort, Chris Blackwell, who suggested that Kingston, Jamaica would provide the perfect backdrop for translating these impulses to tape.

The Kingston sessions brought in the godfathers of riddem Sly and Robbie on live drums and bass, percussionist Sticky Thompson along with Spearhead bassist Carl Young and guitarist Dave Shul. The tracks were recorded at Anchor Studios with Mario Caldato Jr and Robert Carranza (Beastie Boys, Jack Johnson) engineering. Franti continued to write and record upon his return home to San Francisco before handing mixing duties over to Brian Malouf (Eric B, Ziggy Marley, Pearl Jam).

Franti has always spoken his mind through his music: from his early punk rock band Beatnigs, to the industrial-noise of Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, to the thinking-man's hip-hop of Spearhead. "In the past, we've touched on a lot of genres of music," Franti says, "but this is an album where all those things have been rolled into one. I feel this is our best record yet." Songs like "Yell Fire!" and "Time To Go Home" are calls to action: in the streets, at home, and in our own hearts. Other songs such as "I Know I'm Not Alone," an uplifting blast of hope, "One Step Closer To You" featuring a soulful backing vocal by Pink, and the beautiful "Is Love Enough?" featuring reggae star Gentleman, tap into the album's compassionate side.

While seeing Yell Fire! to completion back in San Francisco, Franti began editing the hundreds of hours of footage from his travels in the Middle East. What emerged was an intimate telling of how war affects the individual: the cab driver, the soldier, the aspiring young musician. It was during this process that the film and album became inextricably linked. Franti recalls "my editing studio for the movie was upstairs and my recording studio was downstairs, so I would constantly alternate from one project to another. The process was like a catharsis for me, moving through this journey I had made."

In addition to his groundbreaking recordings and globally acclaimed live concerts, Franti is a renowned speaker for social justice and human rights. He has lectured at many of this country's top universities, including Yale, Georgetown and Stanford, and shared the stage with the likes of Mohammad Ali, Bill Clinton, Michael Moore, Ralph Nader, and Gloria Steinem. In 2005, Franti became the first recording artist since Johnny Cash to perform at the maximum security, level 4 section of Folsom State Prison.

The new studio album Yell Fire! and full-length feature film I Know I'm Not Alone are slated for a Summer 2006 release.

Quotes About Film: "I Know I'm Not Alone"

"Watch this film then insist that Michael Franti becomes President of the United States!"
--Anthony Minghella (Academy Award Winning Director, English Patient, Cold Mountain)

"Michael Franti is the most important artist recording and touring today who has yet to reach the mass audience. The subjects he sings about are totally genuine and derived from personal experiences."
--Chris Blackwell (Founder-Palm Pictures, Island Life, Island Records)

"Michael's (Franti) a modern minstrel weaving stories of war and occupation into his heart of peace, giving us hope, not just tears. The film is powerful, honest, and touching."
--Serj Tankian (Musician-System Of A Down)

"Beautiful music, caring soul, passionate commitment."
--Robert Greenwald (Award Winning Director-Outfoxed, Wal-Mart)

Michael Franti's "I Know I'm Not Alone" affirms a simple and exhilarating truth: music and open, honest, human to human communication can shift ideologies and create meaningful change. Seeing this film re-ignites and inspires us to do more - and to do it differently, it opens the heart and mind, and while it's a journey into tragedy, it's effect is exhilaration and hope.
--Lee Hirsch (Director, Amandla! a Revolution in Four-Part Harmony)

"Michael Franti so easily embodies the kind of artist we must all yearn to be, forever connected to the heart of the people and always giving us something meaningful to dance to, even and especially, in the face of war and despair."
--Saul Williams (Musician, Actor, Poet)

"Michael Franti has always been a conscious voice of hip-hop. We here in the United States of Amnesia need so many more voices out there that speak truth to the situation in Iraq - without awareness, how can we preserve democracy at home, when we barely understand the culture that the U.S. has invaded and occupied. This film is, like Chuck D said long ago, the real network news."
--Paul D. Miller aka Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid - (Artist, Writer, Musician)

"I Know I'm Not Alone" is an antidote to despair. With soulful music and boyish charm, Michael Franti sings his way through two brutal occupations--Iraq and Palestine, breaking through the hate and revealing the oneness of our human family.
--Medea Benjamin (Founder-Global Exchange)