Real Radical

Amongst many things, Micah Nelson is a passionate advocate for the hemp industry and member of the band Insects vs. Robots (IvR). Last year, he was appointed to the National Hemp Association (NHA) Board of Directors. Since then, he’s been making some [sound] waves in both hemp and music industries. Our chat was as short and sweet as Elijah Wood’s portrayal Frodo Baggins, but carried a depth of character that consumed any doubts about how the coming years will pan out. We didn’t talk about politics, and we didn’t whine about unfair choices. We bonded over our love of music and our favorite magical plants.

What inspired you to get involved with the NHA?

I’ve always been a fan of hemp, the plant and all its various uses. I’ve always spoken out about it, the injustice that’s been done to it, how it can help bring back the family farmer and save the American economy. I like the NHA because of a number of reasons. They, like myself, see that hemp is an agricultural crop, not a drug, that holds a lot of promise for our farmers and rural communities and, you know, you can make food out of it. You can make feed for your livestock. You can make fiber and clothes.

“The more people learn about marijuana, ideally the more facts they’ll learn about marijuana’s husband, hemp.”

What do you hope to accomplish with the NHA in the next three years?

I’d like to end the federal prohibition of hemp through the Industrial Hemp Farming Act (IHFA). I have a petition on Change.org right now with my face on it. It’s encouraging congress to pass the IHFA, which would [federally] make it legal for farmers to grow it in the states. There’s been a prohibition on the plant, and I think that’s criminal. The IHFA would educate consumers about the value of the product and distinguish between marijuana and hemp. You know, there’s a myth that hemp is the same thing as marijuana when marijuana’s the female plant (that’s the psychoactive THC plant), and hemp is the male plant. It’s not only a great medicine, like marijuana, but it can do a bajillion other things that marijuana can’t do, that are industrial, and I think it’s honestly a bigger industry than cannabis sativa marijuana has already shown it can be. The Change.org petition has over 100,000 signatures, but needs 150,000.

Along with your quest to legalize industrial hemp, what are you doing for the legalization of cannabis?

I’m smoking a lot of it. I’m not dead yet, I’m pretty healthy. I generally think I have a positive outlook, for the most part. I’m a decent person. I’m not going to really do anything other than advocating for it. If people ask me what I think about it, I’m going to tell them how I feel and think about it and what I know. You know, the facts are out there now more than ever. The more people learn about marijuana, ideally the more facts they’ll learn about marijuana’s husband, hemp.

You played a hemp guitar at Farm Aid, right?

Yeah, that was really cool. Michael Bowman of the NHA brought over this guitar. I’m expecting this novelty guitar that sounds like shit, but it’s made out of hemp, so it’s automatically cool or something, but no. It sounded great. It’s got these Seymour Duncan pickups; it’s really beautifully made . . . this brand called Canadian Hemp Guitars. I hope people start buying their guitars more because they look, and they feel, and they sound great. And you’re supporting the backbone of America by purchasing and playing these guitars, and you’re living by example.

Once prohibition ends, what do you think you’ll do?

I’d like to grow some hemp. I’d like to get my hands dirty. I love Los Angeles; it’s a great place to work, but I never really saw myself living there full-time. Right now it’s really good, but I’ve always envisioned that one day I would have a farm that I could escape to, maybe somewhere in the northwest . . . Who knows what will happen in the unforeseen future, but that’s my ideal little vision. Eventually having my own little plot, maybe with a hobbit hole made out of Hempcrete, which is naturally insulated, naturally mold resistant and pest resistant . . . Growing my crop, hopefully sustaining the land from selling my crop, making music in the meantime and regenerating soil.

It’s one thing to be an artist and a musician, and that’s great, but maybe you’re more useful being a hemp farmer or a senator or a governor or something, you know? Everyone is part of that fight, and it’s like a big team.