my name is mike watt and I work the bass. I am the son of a sailor, born in virgina in 1957 (year of sputnik) but came to california when nine and have lived in san pedro ever since. our town is the west part of the los angeles harbor. I'm mostly known as co-founder of the minutemen w/guitarman d. boon, the cat who got me into playing music when we were boys and who's ma put me on bass. the minutemen became no more when he passed away in van wreck and I thought that was it for playing for me but people kept me going and I did a two bass only band called dos (still going after thirty years) w/kira and then fIREHOSE w/george hurley and ed fROMOHIO. I was on sst for eleven years and then on columbia for fourteen. in 1995 I did my first solo album called "ball-hog or tugboat?" and ever since have put together bands around different projs I got going. I put the secondmen together to realize my second opera (I ended up doing three of them), "the secondman's middle stand" in 2004. pete mazich is on organ and jerry trebotic is on drums, both are from here pedro and are also longshoremen during the day. we did sixteen gigs opening for x last year and john doe asked if we'd come to sxsw this year and open up for his band on march seventeen. oh yeah, I also did bass for the stooges for 125 months, an incredible experience! I also did three tours each w/porno for pyros and j mascis + the fog. as bass sidemouse too I was w/tav falco's panther burns for a u.s. tour last fall. my next tour will be later this fall in europe w/two italian guys in a band we got called il sogno del marinaio ("the sailor's dream" in english) to play stuff there from our second album which is on my own label, clenchedwrench.