Watt@The Watt:

Mike Brings The Noise

originally published October 17, 2001

mikewatt1.jpg Photo by Frank Hamrick

If anything, former Minutemen/fIREHOSE bassman Mike Watt knows how to keep his creative cylinders firing, somehow managing to surpass all the multitudinous gaskets blown along the way. After the mutual disbanding of underground rock bastion fIREHOSE in 1994, San Pedro, CA's favorite son has accomplished more in a span of seven years than most musicians could in a millennium. Aside from releasing two sprawling yet thoroughly impressive albums (the loose-limbed, buddy-laden Ball-Hog Or Tugboat and the primarily autobiographical Contemplating The Engine Room) under his own moniker, Watt has kept himself up by filling the rotating bass slot in the Perry Farrell-led Porno For Pyros, as well as lending his low-end chops to the jazz-straight-outta-hell project Banyan, featuring another Jane's Addiction/Porno For Pyros alum drummer Stephen Perkins.

The grizzled bass fisherman (as in tightly wound four-string angler) hit the asphalt once again in late 2000 along with Pair Of Pliers, pals Tom Watson (guitar) and Vince Meghrouni (drums), playing a slew of career-spanning material as well as a host of cover tunes hailing from both obscure depths and familiar oases. After a life-threatening infection forced him to apply the old air brakes for some time, lucky showgoers recently saw a well-recovered Watt kick his "thud staff" ("Wattspeak" for bass guitar) into full throttle overdrive as one third of the touring version of old pal J. Mascis' new outfit The Fog.

Since he's never one to stay off the road for long, if ever, Athens readies for one more dose of serious "four string rasslin'" and "thunderspielin'" (that's real live rock and roll to you and me) as Watt burns rubber back to the 'Watt, so to speak, backed by returning guitarist Tom Watson and drummer Jerry Trebotic (previously found expressing himself and doing the occasional Vogue with Watt in the Madonnabes), who've been billed ever so slyly as "The Jom And Terry Show." If previous jaunts through town are any indicator, one should expect a sweat-fueled romp akin to some abstract piñata filled with goodies from various corners, quadrants and parts unknown, systematically pummeled into submission by everyone's favorite punk rock commandant.

Finding, somewhere, the time needed to expand his grasp of the Internet and its various modes of mumbo-jumbo, a passel of shows from Watt & Co.'s in progress "Time To Cat And Not Mouse Tour" will be webcast directly through their cyberspace command post, www.hootpage.com. For those prone to sporadic bouts of hibernation, the Athens show is indeed on the list of pending transmissions.

The best, if not the most appreciated, musicians are those with a genuine love for their duties at hand. Broken bones, empty rooms, bad crowds, heartache and personal crises have often made the best even better and the tough even tougher. With over 20 years in the till and continuing to kick ass like nobody's business, Watt has overcome tragedies and ailments to emerge, with a few lumps, bruises and battle scars, doing what he does best – touring econo and working that thud staff.