Musicians - Mike Watt

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	Musicians - Mike Watt

Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957 in Portsmouth, Virginia) is a bass guitarist, singer and songwriter, best-known for co-founding the punk rock bands The Minutemen and fIREHOSE; as of 2003, he is also the bassist for the reunited Iggy Pop & The Stooges. He is also a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan.

Though Watt has not had much mainstream success or visibility, he is often cited as a key figure in the development of American alternative rock; The Red Hot Chili Peppers dedicated their hugely successful Blood Sugar Sex Magik to Watt. Throughout his career he has been known for his inventive, melodic playing; his basslines are often quite distinctive.

Biography

Early career

When he was young, Watt's family moved to San Pedro, California, where he became good friends with D. Boon. Watt and Boon picked up bass and guitar, respectively. Watt was a fan of T. Rex and Blue Öyster Cult, while Boon's exposure to rock music was limited to Creedence Clearwater Revival, another Watt favorite.

Watt and Boon were initially rather ignorant of music; they didn't know bass guitars were different from guitars, and Watt simply removed two strings from a guitar to emulate a bass. When he acquired a bass guitar, he lamented that the instrument was rarely prominent in rock music, but has cited John Entwistle, Geezer Butler, Gene Simmons, and Richard Hell as influences. Entwhistle's prominent basslines--at once bouncy, muscular, propulsive, and melodic--seem to have been a strong influence on Watt

Years later, Watt would view the dearth of prominent rock bassists differently, saying that the lack of role models left him free to develop his own approach to playing bass guitar.

The Minutemen

By the mid-1970s, Watt and Boon formed a band called The Reactionaries with drummer George Hurley and vocalist Martin Tamburovich. The band later became The Minutemen (named after the 1960s reactionary group) with another drummer named Frank Tonche, who only lasted two shows with the group; Hurley, who had been in a short-lived new wave group at the time the Minutemen first formed, rejoined Watt and Boon. After signing with SST Records in 1980, The Minutemen began touring constantly, releasing a number of albums along the way. Their music was based on the speed, brevity and intensity of punk, but included elements of jazz, folk, and funk.

In 1984, Watt met Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler during a Black Flag/Minutemen tour. They soon became romantically involved, and subsequently began collaborating on songs. They formed a two-bass duo, Dos, and have since recorded and released three records so far.

The Minutemen ended tragically in December 1985, when Boon was killed in a traffic accident. Their fifth full-length album, 3-Way Tie (For Last) had already been scheduled for release at the time of the accident.

fIREHOSE

After Boon's death, Watt was profoundly depressed; he and Hurley initially intended to quit music altogether. Sonic Youth invited Watt to hang out with them in New York in 1986; they recorded an outstanding cover of Madonna's "Burnin' Up" (with additional guitars by Greg Ginn) on the first Ciccone Youth EP, and Watt played bass for two songs on the Sonic Youth album EVOL.

Subsequently, one Ed Crawford, a Minutemen fan who drove to San Pedro from Ohio, persuaded the Watt/Hurley rhythm section to continue playing music. fIREHOSE was formed soon after. After three releases on SST, fIREHOSE signed with major label Columbia Records. Their music often sounded much like that of The Minutemen, though the songs became longer and more traditionally structured (generally, verse-chorus-verse). Shortly after the release of 1993's Mr. Machinery Operator, the band decided to call it quits.

Watt and Kira married in 1989, but their marriage fell apart not long after fIREHOSE's break-up. However, both their friendship and Dos have remained intact; they even recorded their third album "Justamente Tres" not long after their divorce.

Solo career

After working with fIREHOSE, Watt began a solo career. His first album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, featured appearances from literally dozens of well known musicians (many were Watt's peers from the 1980's SST era), including Henry Rollins, J Mascis, members of Sonic Youth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Soul Asylum, Jane's Addiction, the Beastie Boys, and Screaming Trees. Though he was already revered by many musicians and fans as the founding father of alternative rock, the album and its supporting tour were Watt's first taste of mainstream attention and fame, when Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Dave Grohl of Nirvana were part of his touring group. After Vedder returned to his Pearl Jam commitments and Grohl began working with his new band Foo Fighters, Watt formed his only four-piece touring group to date, The Crew Of The Flying Saucer, featuring guitarist Nels Cline and two drummers.

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