With the annual Byron Bay Bluesfest peeking around the corner, interview opportunities are pouring out of the ears of promoters and sideshows are selling fast for those who can’t make the trip to the East Coast. One not to be missed is Ziggy Marley, who plays the Corner Hotel on the 9th April.
Having grown up with Bob almost being a second father (he was played so much in my household) and Ziggy’s third album Love is My Religion paving the way for the creation of my own personal philosophies, I jump at the chance to have a chat with the eldest son of the Marley clan.
I prepare a short list of questions that I hope give Ziggy enough breathing space to speak freely about whatever he pleases. After reading many of his past interviews, he seems one of those artists who have lots to say about lots. In my excitement and anticipation, I try to prepare for everything humanly possible except, evidently, the dreaded reality that our phone connection will be fraught with crackles, static and, well, the possibility that neither of us will hear the other.
Tuff Gong Worldwide connects us. I warmly greet Ziggy, asking how he is.
“Hello? Hellooo? I cannot hear her.”
The operator comes back in, where I can hear her clear as day. “Sorry Louie, Ziggy’s having a hard time hearing you. If you could just speak up that would be great.”
I apologise and comply by asking Ziggy again in what I hope isn’t a shout. There’s another crunch and we get disconnected completely. Panic sets in.
With strictly ten minutes, I’m called back at almost four minutes in and it’s with a profuse apology that I start again, jumping straight into my questions with fingers and toes crossed. It sounds as if we’re literally talking across the ocean with a violent storm in between us.
“We’re always looking forward to coming out to Australia,” he manages. “It’s one of those places where we don’t come to that often so it’s always very special. [The tour] is so far so good!” Unlike this phonecall…
Wild and Free is Ziggy’s fourth solo album and was released in July last year. He and his band have been touring it heavily ever since and his upcoming appearance at Byron Bay will be his first in Australia since 2009’s Raggamuffin tour.
His ethos and general life philosophies seem to evolve on each album released. His debut solo, Dragonfly, in 2003 saw him cement himself as the voice and leader behind The Melody Makers while 2006’s release, Love is My Religion, won him a Grammy through his exploration of personal, social and political themes (and, you guessed it, love).
Ziggy is the first to admit it’s hard to define. “Love is an experience. Love is action, love is illuminating. It’s hard to use one word but you can use adjectives too. Love is compassion,” he thoughtfully decides.
From love, he moved onto the most important aspect of life with 2009’s reggae-influenced Family Time (scooping his fifth Grammy along the way) with the help of friends and family like Rita, Cedella and Judah Marley, Jack Johnson, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon and Jamie Lee Curtis.
“We’ve been given this [music] in our life and so we give what’s in our hearts. You know, our music is entertainment. Whatever people can take from it, however people describe it… I like to make sure everything is natural, that everything comes from the nature.”
This includes one of the primary messages from Wild and Free: the title opening track being one of support for California’s Proposition 19 to legalise marijuana (and take a look at his comicbook hero, Marijuanaman, savior of all things green). Ziggy shares the song with friend, actor Woody Harrelson, as they sing the far-reaching effects of legalisation benefiting small farmers and countless others.
With the Marley juggernaut blowing full steam ahead with another extensive US tour after the Bluesfest, what else is planned for the future?
“Hmm… I’ve got some ideas but living in the moment is a better place to be!”
