Particle Kid is an experimental future-folk project from Los Angeles-based musician and visual artist
Micah Nelson. The youngest son of country music icon
Willie Nelson and an occasional member of brother
Lukas Nelson's band,
Promise of the Real,
Micah's diverse releases as
Particle Kid have taken an exploratory bent, combining lo-fi loops and strange textural elements with more straightforward folk and indie rock songwriting. Throughout the latter half of the 2010s, he was extremely prolific with albums like 2017's Everything Is Bullshit and 2019's Window Rock. His next major project was 2022's epic two-hour album Time Capsule.
Using a name bestowed on him by his father during his teenage years -- intending to welcome his "prodigal son" home from a school trip, a stoned
Willie Nelson fumbled the term, accidentally calling him "particle kid" --
Micah began experimenting with D.I.Y. recording techniques and building dreamy psychedelic soundscapes with a variety of different instruments and tones. After a handful of demos, a single, and self-released EPs, he started issuing
Particle Kid releases on California-based indie Dome of Doom Records in 2012. Following the Shapes EP, he collated some of his earlier songs on the 2014 release Demo-Itis. During this same period,
Micah joined his brother
Lukas and
Promise of the Real in backing up
Neil Young for a series of shows.
Over the next few years,
Micah juggled his various projects, touring major venues and recording as part of
Young's band and playing smaller ones on his own as
Particle Kid. He also formed an orchestral ensemble called
Insects vs. Robots and engaged with various visual art projects including an animated series. In 2017, a self-titled
Particle Kid album and the fuzzy Everything Is Bullshit further evolved his sound, as did a 2018 collaborative album with L.A. folk-punk artist
Sunny War called Particle War.
Particle Kid finished out his first decade with 2019's Window Rock, then returned early the next year with a concert album,
Live! Underground.
Nelson's next project was a behemoth, even by his own prolific standards. Recorded in a variety of locations and on formats ranging from 2" analog tape to four-track cassette records, 2022's Time Capsule was a two-hour, 26-song collection covering myriad styles and featuring guests like
Sean Ono Lennon,
J Mascis,
Margo Price, and even his father
Willie Nelson. ~ Timothy Monger