Reggae artist Mike Love immersed himself in the music he adores to the point that it has become his life’s work, a labor of love. Anyone who has seen him perform knows that he sings straight from the heart. With sincerity and mastery, Love expresses earnest messages that are meant just as much for those who hear them as they are for him when he performs them. “People are hungry for something, and a lot of times they don’t even know what it is. Positive music that has messages of spiritual and social change can be a beacon for them in the darkness,” he says. “That’s really the inspiration for all I do—healing. We need it now more than ever, myself as much as the next person. The music heals me as much as it does those I play for.”
Love is in preparations for a tour that starts this month in support of his new album, Love Will Find A Way, which released Sept. 1. The album is a collaboration between Mike Love and 25 other musicians, many of whom are dear friends and who represent a cross section of communities from around the world who are aligned to the common goal of uplifting the consciousness of the planet for social change.
“It’s really cool to be a part of that,” he said in an exclusive interview with AXS.com. “A lot of us kind of found each other and have worked together in the past” -- Xavier Rudd from Australia, for example,Trevor Hall, Paula Fuga and Nahko. “We all know each other so we can share stories about each other, even when we’re not together.”
“Nahko is on tour kind of non-stop. Sometimes, we’ll come to random festivals like ARISE or Shangri-Laand we’ll see each other; we’ll share the stage together. Sometimes we’ll even get to tour together,” Love relates. “It’s cool to be able to share that space and to do the work that we are called to do. Sometimes we are able to do it together. Sometimes we put albums together; we can call each other and help each other out.”
When asked about how he came into reggae music, Love explained that it was the music that he grew up with. He notes artists like Bob Marley, Alpha Blondy, Israel Vibration, and The Abyssinians as influences. “That’s always the kind of reggae that appealed to me; the roots reggae from Jamaica,” he said. “The thing that appealed to me about it -- Bob Marley’s music, for example -- is that he had a message; his music was all about having a message. The music was about something spiritual, revolutionary, about positivity, about love. Those are the things that got me deep into spiritual roots reggae music.”
For a long while, Love played strictly reggae, emulating the artists he followed and adored, but over the last couple of years, he’s begun to incorporate some of the other music that influenced him early in his life such as the blues, rock and even flamenco. He’s also found that just as he’s emulated some of the reggae masters, his music is becoming a part of the reggae canon. He explains how his song “Permanent Holiday”, which presented a sort of complicated puzzle that Love didn’t think anyone else would be able to copy became a song that many people have covered in their own musical projects. “It took about a week to memorize it all. It’s kind of like learning a new language,” he said. “It’s kind of funny because a lot of times when I make music, it’s really different, far from being simple in a lot of ways. I used to think that no one else would ever cover it. I didn't think people would take the time to memorize the full sections on a song like 'Permanent Holiday', but on the internet, there are a bunch of people that have covered it and there is even one band that broke up all the parts between them. I thought about doing that with my band but I thought, ‘Nah. It’s too much work.’ And then somebody went and actually did it.”
Love takes it as a compliment these days. “It feels amazing. It’s hard to grasp sometimes when other people love your music so much they learn it themselves. I’ve done that so much with so many other people’s music, it’s kind of how I started out performing -- so it’s really kind of a trip to think that other people are doing that with music that I have written.”
Mike Love’s new album Love Will Find a Way has been a long time coming. “It’s an album I’ve been working on over the last couple of years,” he said. “A lot of these songs represent some of the best music that has come through me and I’m really excited to finally put it out and share it.”
To find out more about Mike Love, check out his website. His album is available now on Amazon for download. To stay connected, find him on Facebook and Twitter.
Fall 2015 tour dates
September 8 , 2015@ The North Door - Austin, TX
September 9 , 2015@ Cambridge @ House of Blues - Dallas, TX
September 10, 2015 @ Rose Music Hall - Columbia, MO
September 11, 2015 @ Subterranean - Chicago, IL
September 12, 2015 @ Shangri La Festiva - Clarks Grove, MN
September 13, 2015 @ Black Swamp Fest - Bowling Green, OH
September 15, 2015 @ The Knitting Factory - Boise, ID
September 16, 2015 @ Nectar's Lounge - Seattle, WA
September 17, 2015 @ The Goodfoot - Portland, OR
September 18, 2015 @ Volcanic Theatre Pub - Bend, OR
September 19, 2015 @ Provolt Community Center - Provolt, OR
September 20, 2015 @ Leo's - Oakland, CA
September 21, 2015 @ City Winery - Napa Valley, CA
September 22, 2015 @ Moe's Alley - Santa Cruz, CA
September 23, 2015 @ Harlow's - Sacramento, CA
September 24, 2015 @ The Knitting Factory - Reno, NV
September 25, 2015 @ El Dorado County Fairgrounds - Placerville, CA
September 26, 2015 @ Harrah's Rincon - Valley Center, CA
September 27, 2015 @ Avila Beach Resort - Avila Beach, CA

*originally published at AXS.