“It’s not about drums,” says Mickey Hart. “It’s not about
drumming. It’s about raising energy and transmuting it. You know, changing that
spirit that you get – into something you can work with, something empowering.”

You might know him as the fiery, charismatic Grateful Dead
drummer who toured the world for what seemed like eons.

But at home, he’s just Dad, doing all the little things -
recycling, changing the light bulbs, making the move to hybrid cars.

Or maybe it has more to do with his wife Caryl, the devoted environmental
activist, and their 14-year-old daughter Reya who’s “been a hugging trees since
she was 3.”

It might be why he’s been tapped to celebrate Earth Day and headline
the free Green Apple Festival in San Francisco’s
Golden Gate Park on Sunday.

Taking a break from a “top-secret” project in his West County
studio, Hart laid out his plan to save the planet:

Q: What’s Earth Day mean to you?

A: “It’s at least one day when we can raise some personal
and group consciousness about the Mothership here. And try to think about how
we might save this blue-green spinning rock from oblivion.

Q: Maybe one day every day will be Earth Day?

A: Perhaps. As it gets down to everybody gasping for air at
the end of their chain, they might start thinking more seriously about it.

Q: What are some of the things you and your family do at
home?

A: We’re doing all the light bulbs and the solar. We drive
hybrids, Lexus and Prius.

Q: I think the last time I saw you, you had a Porsche 911.

A: Then I had a Ferrari. That was really a great move on my
part. That was before I was even thinking about anything.

Q: So you decided to get rid of the gas guzzler?

A: Yeah, it was kind of a lust thing for me. Then you
realize this is really dumb – on every level. So you start cutting back on
things. You start thinking about recycling a little more seriously. You try to
clean up your act and leave as little of a footprint as you possibly can. You
don’t fly as much. It’s all about off-setting which Caryl does for us. I hear
about it from her all the time, on a daily basis I might add.

Q: Are you happy to finally see that a lot of the things the
Dead tribe was preaching over the years – harmony and balance - are finally catching on in a mainstream way?

A: I’m really pleased at the way it’s become – I don’t wanna
say trendy, but it’s become popular. So people can feel good about doing this instead
of feeling like they’re being pulled around by their neck, thinking this is somebody’s
foreign policy or national policy or some cockamamie idea. Here we know we’re
choking on the air. I remember Scoop Nisker used to say: “If you don’t like the
news, go out and make some of your own.”

Q: How do you get that across on Sunday?

A: It’s about the rhythm between everyone. There will be all
kinds of people on stage, from Congo
to Brazil and Guinea. Great
drumming groups from all over –

Q: From Motley Crue?

A: You mean Tommy Lee? He’ll be playing and also Jon Fishman
from Phish.

Q: Set the scene for me: You’re drumming and you look over
and there’s Tommy Lee smiling back at you.

A: That’s fine. If he wants to come to drum this is the
place to do it. He’ll be with some real drummers. He’ll have a good time. I’m
sure we’ll go for a ride. And Bob Weir will be there, too.

Q: I was looking at the lineups across the country – there’s
Doug E. Fresh, The Nevilles, Los Lonely Boys – but this one might be the most
primal of the bunch.

A: I love it, that’s what my wife says: “You’re so primal.”

photo by John Burgess/PD