"I'm lucky that I can spread the message of love," Marley said in a telephone interview this week.

"Love is My Religion" is Marley's second solo album, without his brothers and sisters who comprise The Melody Makers. For the 12-song collection, Marley wrote all the material, played most of the instruments and produced a fair share of the tracks with help from co-producer Ross Hogarth, a Grammy winner.
Marley penned most of the songs as he traveled the world, and filled out the album with a few leftover tracks from his youth. The album is filled with the Marleys' trademark reggae sounds, bolstered by danceable grooves and African percussion.
LiveDaily: The message of love and friendship seems to be a running theme on "Love is My Religion."

Ziggy Marley: It was some stuff I was writing about that came together. I wasn't meaning to write about those themes.

So it wasn't a conscious decision to write about friendship and love?

No, no. I wanted to write an album that was kind of more spiritual, more emotional.

Does that reflect where you were at the time you were writing the album?.

We're trying to be. We're trying to get feeling of the alignment of the planets.

How long did it take you to record "Love is My Religion? And was it shorter or longer than your previous efforts?

It took one year to record the album. That's about [the same].

Tell me about the recording process. Did you record it any differently than you did your previous albums?

This one, it was a different process. I did it in a home-studio vibe, and it was me alone spending a lot of time with the music, trying to figure out the parts and arrangements and stuff like that. I wasn't working with a producer for most of this record. It was just me working late at night in the studio. It was different.

Was it more difficult?

No, it's more spiritual. That's what it's all about. There was more opportunity to realize that we're not alone in our existence. It's a coincidence how things happen. There's a lot more happening when you're alone in an environment. You can actually perceive the things you wouldn't perceive if you were around a bunch of people.

So you prefer to work alone? So do I.

Some people don't work like that. Some people don't like to be alone.

I understand you played most, if not every, instrument on the album.

Not every. I played a lot. I had engineer working with me, Ross, who played some instruments, too.

That must have been a lot of work.

It's not work. It's great fun. It's great enjoyment. It's experimentation and mystique that worked.

When you recorded your first solo album, "Dragonfly," why did you decide it was time to split from The Melody Makers?

The group was doing other things. It was just a time when everyone was searching for other avenues to express themselves.

Do you see any collaborations with The Melody Makers in the future?

Maybe not in that form. There will be family collaborations some time down the road.

Have any of your family members come out on tour with you?

Yeah, this year we did the "Roots, Rock, Reggae Festival" with me, my brother Stephen and Bunny Wailer. It was good.