Michael Franti

“I always identified with that feeling of being an underdog. So I always was looking to connect with and meet people from other cultures, to experience people living a different life that I am.”

“I drive a hybrid. It's a Ford Escape. That's my only car.”

“Music was a central part of my childhood because my mother played organ and piano in the church, and that meant all us kids had to be in the church choir.”

“Music is sunshine. Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. Music gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose.”

“It's a really personal thing for me to write a song.”

“I took a trip in 2004, a year after the war started in Iraq. I played music on the streets of Baghdad for Iraqi civilians. I'd also play for U.S. soldiers at night when they were off duty in the bars. Then I would talk to people, and I would film them and ask them about their life and the conflict.”

“I try to use the attention that I get to help and to serve, and that's really what I'd see as my work - to serve my community, serve the planet, serve my family. And I think a celebrity is someone who draws the attention on themselves, and then it kind of stops there.”

“I really encourage people to travel so we can see how the rest of the world views our country. That's really important. Secondly, as artists, activists, and citizens who vote, we have to begin to vote from our heart.”

“My house was filled with music. We had a piano, and my brothers and sisters played instruments. Even though I was around it, I played basketball.”

“The rap community has been singled out as more homophobic than other groups, but I don't think that's right. It's homophobic, all right, but no more so than the heavy-metal community or the Hollywood community or any other community.”

“If we do not change our negative habits toward climate change, we can count on worldwide disruptions in food production, resulting in mass migration, refugee crises and increased conflict over scarce natural resources like water and farm land. This is a recipe for major security problems.”

“You learn a lot when you're barefoot. The first thing is every step you take is different.”

“I don't know if music can change the world overnight but I know that music can help someone make it through a difficult night.”

“I really believe that, as an artist, my opportunity to help to bring about awakening is one that should come from a personal process that someone has, and not from me telling somebody that this is the way it is.”

“It really is a strange time we're living in, when saying 'Don't kill people' is considered a radical point of view.”

“I have a desire that I want to make people feel happy through my music. I'm always trying to find optimistic ways to express myself.”

“Everybody's opinion is equally valid, and I feel like everybody should have an opportunity to speak out, and everyone should have the courage to speak out.”

“I went to Iraq because I wanted to see what one year of occupation had done to Iraqi society, and I went to the West Bank and Gaza Strip because I wanted to see what three generations of occupation had done to Palestinian society. I found a lot more hopelessness and despair in Palestine.”

“I'm a news junkie who's constantly reading newspapers and magazines. I look around and see what's happening in the world.”

“Bonnaroo has kind of become the granddaddy of all American festivals. The thing I love about it most is that it wasn't born out of picking the top ten bands off the Billboard chart and creating a festival around it.”