Brooklyn, NY (Top40 Charts) This Holiday Season, Lee Diamond (of the New York based rock band Shock Radar) has teamed up with other like minded "Nez-ficionados" to offer a gift to the world; a FREE musical tribute compilation to the songs of his (and maybe your) favorite Monkee, Michael Nesmith!
The compilation can be previewed and downloaded here: https://thenez.bandcamp.com
It's also up on several
Monkees fan sites as well as at https://www.facebook.com/nesmithfanpage
Lee recently spoke to Rick Eberle from PopCore Entertainment about how (and why) he spawned the idea for the album, which includes tracks from his band Shock Radar (Roll with the Flow) and from Lee himself as a solo performer (Some of Shelly's Blues - LIVE), as well as Herb Stalk (Papa Gene's Blues), Calotype (Don't Call On Me), Casella (Sunny Girlfriend), Jo Elless (Grand Ennui), The Grip (Circle Sky - LIVE),
Blake Ian (Different Drum), Jake Incao (Sweet Young Thing), Ringo Dolenz (The Crippled Lion), So L'il (Daily Nightly), Paul Bradford (Juliana), Amy Gaetano (Nine Times Blue), and of course the obligatory all star Nesmith Tribute Band (Listen To The Band).
RE - Why Mike Nesmith?
LD: Mike Nesmith is an incredibly prolific and accomplished singer, songwriter, inventor, entrepreneur best known for inventing MTV, his inheritance of millions from his mother's invention of liquid paper, a movie producer of cult classics such as Repo Man, and of course, The Monkees.
RE - Why the motivation for a tribute album?
LD: I feel he is THE most underrated songwriter. He is a lyrical, storytelling wordsmith cloaked under the veil of a bubblegum TV pop star (The Monkees). But his accomplishments are greater than that. He has a whole catalogue of solo albums as profound and poetic as anything
Bob Dylan or
Neil Young has done. This is a tribute focused on songs that he wrote, not just
Monkees songs he sang. We got more submissions from his solo work than Monkees, which he'd probably find flattering. I also wanted to hear different artists' interpretations of his songs, like Calotype made an electro version of "Don't Call On Me" and So L'il performed a completely ambient take on "Daily Nightly". No one's done that before.
RE - Why/How were the rest of the artists on the compilation chosen to participate?
LD: I posted all over the internet for submissions from up and coming musicians/bands to be a part of it, if they loved his music, specifically the songs he wrote. I tried to choose a broad variety of genres. I didn't want the songs to sound like his versions, but their own renditions.
Blake Ian played a ukelele version of Nesmith's greatest hit- "Different Drum". Jo Elless made a magnificent cover of "Grand Ennui" with a horn section. This is a compilation Michael Nesmith would find interesting.
RE: - Where can they purchase copies - is it just streaming?
LD: It'll be available for download free on Christmas.
RE - Did you produce this record? What have you done in the past in terms of production?
LD: I put the whole compilation together. I chose the artists. We got an overload of submissions, so there will be a second volume covering different songs under various genres. I'm a musician, have my own band that I produce everything in called- Shock Radar. I also play drums and guitar in other projects.
RE - What should people know about Nesmith that they probably don't?
LD: His solo work is deeply profound. He deserves to be appreciated the way Gram Parsons, Johnny Cash, or
Bob Dylan do. His body of work is enormous and still undiscovered by many. He's always been the man behind great movements in music history and culture in general to the point of a 'Renaissance Man'. But he's behind the scenes fame-wise.
Born and raised in NY where he worked at several record stores till attending Boston's Berklee College of
Music on scholarship, and further studying art and journalism at New School University, Lee J Diamond has climbed his way to the top of the city's music scene, simply doing what he does best, mixing and playing all styles from around the world. The eccentric artistic styling of his latest band Shock Radar's 'Post-Pop' songs is fresh and unique.
For more information on Shock Radar, please visit https://www.facebook.com/shockradarfanclub and www.top40-charts.com.
