I am mike watt and I am the son of a sailor, born in 1957 in virginia and work bass for a living. I came to san pedro in the los angeles harbor of california when I was eight cuz of my pop's work (machinist mate in the navy) and met d boon there when we were bof twelve. his ma put me on bass... part of the punk movement, in 1980 we formed the minutemen, doing my first recordings (w/sst records) and touring (w/black flag) 'til we all lost d boon in 1985 (our best album "double nickels on the dime" released the year before). after that I did fIREHOSE w/george hurley and ed fROMOHIO for seven and a half years. I would do my first mike watt "solo" album in 1995 called "ball-hog tug boat?" for columbia records that had fortyeight people on it. I would work bass for other bands like porno for pyros, j mascis + the fog and for 126 months, the stooges plus also more recently tav falco, flipper and mssv. I would write, record and preform three operas, "contemplating the engine room" (1996), "the secondman's middle stand" (2005) and "hyphenated-man" (2010), still gig regularly w/my secondmen and missingmen, soon to have new albums w/bof groups. I have had the hoot page (mikewatt.com) up since 1996 and it contains tour diaries and information on all the projs I've done and continue to be part of like the jumpstarted plowhards. twice a week when I can I do 'the watt from pedro show' (twfps.com) since 2001. my next tour (seventyfourth one) is sep/oct of 2026 on the west coast w/mike baggetta and johnny herndon as casa sueno. https://www.hootpage.com https://www.instagram.com/wattfrompedro CURRENT TOUR CASA SUEÑO fri + sat, oct 2 + 3 at strum pdx 1415 se stark st, #c, portland, or mon, oct 5 at the sound lounge 225 se h st, grants pass, or tue, oct 6 at the miniplex at richard's goat 401 i st, arcata, ca wed, oct 7 at the arlene francis center 99 6th st, santa rosa, ca thu, oct 8 at bottom of the hill 1233 17th st, san francisco, ca fri, oct 9 at decades hifi lounge 5840 traffic wy, atascadero, ca sat, oct 10 at zebulon 2478 fletcher dr, los angeles, ca https://casasueno.net Credits Stephen Bluhm - Sound Engineer, episode editor, and Interviewer https://www.stephenbluhm.fun ‘Brave, courageous, and bold!’ - Jonathan Richman ‘Stephen Bluhm really brings it for me, makes a true believer out of
me concerning music and artistic expression.’
- Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE, Stooges) Work Crush is the new synth pop group led by Stephen Bluhm, joined at live dates by Scott Kellerhouse on bass (Aphasia Minor, Hellish Cashstrap) and Ethan Kelly on keys. Mike Watt, punk pioneer as co-founder of Minutemen, joins on the first Work Crush single, Emotional Plea, out digitally August 28 on Vintage Annals Archive. Set to a driving disco beat, Emotional Plea cuts deep to the desperation so many people are feeling in the face of a heartless and violent administration, asking “what is our dark destiny allowing this to be?” Watt elevates the track with his signature melodic bass, and Alex Wernquest (Camp Saint Helene) provides the rhythm, which was recorded along with Bluhm’s vocal at Wernquest’s Catskill, NY studio Basement Floods. Bluhm sings passionately, and adds classic synth sounds and a Nile Rodgersish chucking guitar. Work Crush refuses to use generative AI, and Bluhm asked musician and illustrator Steve Teare (Flat Mary Road) to create the evocative artwork, a child playing with a toy military plane. Rich Wexler Producer http://www.vintageannalsarchive.com Podcast Episode Page www.vintageannalsarchive.com/vintage-annals-archive-podcast.html Please join our Patreon https://patreon.com/VintageAnnalsArchive
