Q: Is there any recent news on Nez?
A: Nez is spending a lot of his time working on the re-opening of VR3D, an invitation-only 3D online community. He's also been working on various projects in his studio in Northern California, including re-mastering "The Prison". His latest album "Rays", is now available on CD. It's downloadable at Michael Nesmith - Rays and Rhapsody. A special Limited Edition Rays CD was made available on November 28, 2005, but sold out in a few hours.
Bullz-Eye currently has an interview of him available online.
Read what customers are writing about "Rays"
Q: Are there any recent interviews with Nez?
A: Yes. In December 2006 he is featured in Swindle Magazine's First Annual Icons Issue. You can hear him on Radio New Zealand's Kim Hill Show, recorded December 2, 2006. He had a September 2006 interview with Will Harris for Bullz-Eye. In May 2006 he had an interview in the Irish Times and in The Scotsman. He also had an April 2006 interview in Wired. There's an article about him at the BBC News.
Nez is also a regular contributor to the yearly edge.org question. Last year's question is "What is your dangerous idea?" Click here for Nez' answer (as well as 100 other very interesting answers).
In April 2005 he agreed to write a short piece for IGN.com on the late Douglas Adams, who was his best friend.
Nez did an interview for Canadian Bravo's Arts and Minds, but that was in early 2004. Nez was interviewed in the September/October 2003 issue of Tokion Magazine. He's also got the June 2003 cover story of ArtistPro Magazine (you can buy a copy of ArtistPro from us). You should also check out the IGN Film Force interview. Nez answers 10 questions asked by IGN. Listen to Nez being interviewed on the WorldCafe with David Dye. Watch Nez on the BBC discussing the effect the internet has on the musician.
These days, the best place to find out what he's up to is Videoranch.
Q: How do I do that?
A: Click here and subscribe to our Videoranch e-mailing list.
Q: Are there any recent reviews on Nez' work?
A: Yes, there are a stack of them. Click here for a list of links.
Q: I'm new to Nez' work. What should I try first?
A: You should try the CD "Tropical Campfires". It's considered by many to be his best album. It's available for download at 99 cents a song. If you want a good laugh, try Elephant Parts on DVD. It's comedy and music. It won a Grammy.
Q: Is Nez ever going to write another novel?
A: He just finished writing his third re-write for his second novel, "The America Gene". No release date yet. We're thinking about making a few chapters available on line, like we did for his first novel.
Q. Where else can I hear Nez on the internet?
A. Nez ' music is available to hear and download on Rhapsody, Napster, iTunes, Sony Connect, Walmart and MSN Music.
Q. Where can I hear Nez' music on the radio?
A. There's a radio station out of Freedom California called KPIG. It started in the early 70's as KFAT, and has faithfully played Nez's music since its beginning. You can hear all of his music from The First National Band days to "Tropical Campfire's" If you don't live within a 50 mile radius of Freedom, you can go to KPIG.com and listen to it over the net. They play a lot of great music from John Hiatt to Lucinda Williams to Sonny Landreth.
Q. Has Nez ever worked with Bob Dylan?
A. No. Nez has never met or talked to him, although Nez has great respect for his work. The reports about any collaboration between him and Dylan are completely false.
Q. Did Nez ever work with the Beatles?
A. No. He had a short, friendly acquaintance with John Lennon and Ringo Starr, but it was entirely social.
Q. Does Nez run any other MIchael Nesmith sites or have a MySpace page?
A. No. There are a stack of fan sites run by other people. Nez does NOT have his own MySpace page. There are some MySpace pages that claim to be Nez, but they are not. The only Michael Nesmith site that is run by Nez is Videoranch.
Q: What inspires him?
A: He's inspired by the work of other artists. Visually, his tastes run from Renoir to Ruscha. Henry Miller was Neftoon's northstar. As for music, he listens to everything all the time.
Q: Is Nez ever going to do a third part to The Prison and The Garden?
A: He's supposed to, but at the rate he's going, he won't be doing it until 2012. (We hear he has begun writing the story for the third part.)
Q: What's the deal with Nez and autographs?
A: Generally, Nez does not give autographs. So if you write to request a picture, or an autograph, we can't help you. Having said that, he will from time to time sign some of the things we sell here at Videoranch, and he is pretty good about including a special greeting if you ask for it. So far, he has signed every copy of Neftoon, and every copy of Elephant Parts, (he comes in every few weeks and signs a stack) but to our knowledge he has never sent out a pure autograph, or a signed picture. Why? Nez seriously dislikes professional autograph collectors, since their purpose is to get something for free and sell it. There is no way to tell who is who, so he generally says "no". (This reason is probably the origin of the framed signed autograph we have for sale in the Merchandise section of our store; although it turns out this makes a pretty nice gift for someone) Bottom line: you can request an autograph on anything you buy at Videoranch and there is a decent chance we can get it for you, otherwise, ‘fraid not.
Q: Does Nez really sign the autographs that are in the frames you have for sale as well as the Blossom Special and The Prison LP?
A: Yes he does and he dates them as well. He also signs his novel, The Long Sandy Hair Of Neftoon Zamora.
Q: Will he personalize the autographs?
A: Yes, just send us an email or give us a call when you place your order. Make sure to include your name and order number and give us a couple of days to track the boss down.
Q: Is Nez really the father of Country Rock?
A: We don't know, but a lot of people seem to think so. We asked Nez and he said he didn't pay any attention to stuff like that. Listen to his earlier albums ( Magnetic South, Loose Salute, etc.) and judge for yourself. One thing you might want to check out: If you can get hold of an Ian Matthews album Nez produced called "Valley Hi", listen to "Seven Bridges Road", specically the vocals Nez and Ian did. Make a note of the date they recorded it and then listen to the Eagles version of the same song and the date it was recorded. Hmm...
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: He's a trustee and president of the Gihon Foundation.
Q: Did Nez invent MTV?
A: In a word, yes.
Q: Did Nez' mom really invent Liquid Paper?
A: Yes
