by ERIN MACLEOD

With Damian Marley Jamrocking his way to the top of the charts, it’s easy to forget that there’s a whole lot of other kids in the Marley clan. Ziggy, a full 10 years older than Junior Gong, reportedly sat in on his father’s recording sessions. Perhaps that’s why he’s so firmly planted his music in the foundation of reggae rather than picking up the vibes of the dancehall. His most recent record, Love Is My Religion, is a collection of pleasant rootsy tunes, the standout being an acoustic version of the title track that leaves little doubt that he is his father’s son. The Mirror spoke to Bob’s eldest about his tour, his tunes and his philosophy.

Mirror: What made you decide to go ahead and do the concert in Israel this summer, at a time when many artists cancelled?

Ziggy Marley: We decided to do it because our mission was important. It is doing my duty to go there—anywhere—and spread the message, my religion, myself. Nothing could really have stopped me or changed my mind from going. The mission was important.

M: On your last album, you have a song called “Shalom Salaam”—what caused you to write this song and comment on conflict in the Middle East?

ZM: The reason for writing that song was because I just can’t understand the conflict between Islam and Judaism. Islam and Judaism is coming from the same root, from Abraham. [They] were founded by brothers. I can’t understand why there is so much hate between the two forms of religion. There is so much suffering caused by that. I was really angry about the situation, so I wrote “Shalom Salaam” trying to say that there is a choice, either peace or war. We need to really understand: it’s either peace or bloodshed.

M: What has been the response to the song?

ZM: I get a good response. But that don’t really matter to me. I do what I can to tell the people the truth, and the truth doesn’t always get a good response.

Duty freedom

M: You use the word “duty.” Do you think that you have a duty to make and perform music with a message?

ZM: I wouldn’t say that’s how I see it—that’s how I do it. That’s what I do naturally. I don’t write songs with messages because I think the world needs it. It just happens that way.

M: I’m sure there will be comparisons made between your roots album and your brother Damian’s more dancehall record.

ZM: I’m just a musician, you know? Reggae music is the root of what I do, but I don’t think of myself as a reggae musician, just as a musician. I make music that the whole world can understand and listen to. I don’t like to put it in genres. My type of music is world music. I listen to [my sibling’s] music, but we each do what we do.

M: You’re involved in a lot of charity work.

ZM: It’s important to me to give to others, whether that be music or charity. It’s just a part of my philosophy of life. That was something that we learned when I was very young. Those who need us—the motherless, the fatherless, the orphans—it’s a part of our mission to help them.

M: Do you think that music can help to bring people together and raise awareness?

ZM: One of the most powerful tools on Earth is music. Music is something that can shape a society. You can see now the way the society is—the most popular music and what it is doing to the minds of the youth. If you look at society and what is the most popular music, you can see a correlation. We’ve got to work to make other ideas more popular, but it’s very hard. It’s like money—you can use money to do good and money to do bad…the same thing with music.

M: Your album is called Love Is My Religion. How do you feel about religion?

ZM: I’m not into man-made institutionalized religion. Love is the way to God. To know love and to give love is the greatest expression and experience of God. So I tell them, love is my religion. I can’t tell it straighter than that.

At the Spectrum on Saturday, Sept. 2, 8:30 p.m., $27.50

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