I love Mike Watt‘s writing. He such an obviously great guy. Anyway, Watt has kicked off his most recent tour diary for his current trek with Iggy and the Stooges, and it’s as awesome as ever:
I’m playing ronnie’s bass lines now – I better get it together and ig helps me w/that. all the guys in the band do that – I wanna do everything I can for them, I truly do. I can think of no higher calling for someone like me. hell, there would be no punk scene w/out the stooges in my opinion, none – it would’ve never existed and cuz of that me and d. boon would’ve probably only tried copying songs off of records in his bedroom, I swear to god. I seriously owe these gentlemen everything. I meana, d. boon too but they’re right up there. I also just LOVE this music, love it. it is a total mindblow to me I get to be learning from them… damn, it’s been ‘pert-near seven years now – april 27, 2003 was our first time together, at the coachella festival out in the desert… fuck, it’s hard to believe – any of it/all of it. about stooges playing these days even though I am up w/them, I’m thinking very much none of it is really about me except for being responsible to play their music the best I can and do nothing but help and in no way hinder. they have incredible legacy but they are also here in the now and doing it for motherfucking real. I don’t to be doing any badge-buffing at their expense, truly. I wanna do good bass for stooges – nothing else matters to me.
Hard to believe Watt’s been playing with the Stooges since 2003; that’s pretty much as long as the band was together in its original incarnations (1967-74).
The Stooges: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki
Mike Watt: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki
Photo by AMP from Lollapalooza, 2007. See more.
TOUR SPIEL!
Saw Watt last year open for Dinosaur Jr. He stole the show. Don’t let his humilitiy fool you, while the Stooges surely influenced many, Watt has had an equal impact over the years.
watt pretty much was one of the primary influences in shaping my world view as a young man. his influence goes beyond music. his workmanlike, still creative, approach to music and touring has played an influence how i run my company, how we approach our projects, and how we believe that no one person working for or with us is any less important then the person to the right of them. for me, a lot of that is directly attributed to the man and his preaching through music. i feel fortunate to have been exposed to him early enough in my life to have it made such a positive impact in my life and open up so many paths to interesting and beautiful things. he’s one of the best there is.
I wish I knew more of his music. I didn’t even hear of Mike Watt until Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder toured with him following ‘Ball-Hog or Tugboat?’ in 1995. Lots of people bash the commercialization of the Seattle bands (and rightly so in a lot of cases), but their success opened my young ears to many artists I probably wouldn’t have given a chance or possibly even heard of.
Jonathan, you should definitely go out right now and pick up the Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime if you don’t have it. Some (much? all?) of it is a little tough to get into at first (weird, lo-fi, jazzy, goofy, political), but it rewards repeated listens. At least download “History Lesson – Part II” — it might change your life.
Duly noted – thanks, Jake.
Vitas,
Was reading your post above and thinking “fuck yeah!”. Imagine my suprise when I saw your name at the bottom!! Hope you’re doing well my friend. Much respect!
Jer
One of the most gracious and amiable music dudes I’ve had the pleasure to meet. And dude destroys on bass.