'History Lesson: Part 2'

Here we are now, entertain us." \nIt was 10 years ago that Kurt Cobain first uttered those tortured, sarcastic words, forever to be branded upon the public consciousness. A visionary and a poet, hero to some and god to others, Cobain was undoubtedly the voice of his generation, echoing frustrations and longings in a way no one else had before him.\nRewind 10 more years and you'll find Mike Watt, probably banging around some chords in the clubs of Los Angeles with best friend and bandmate D. Boon. Watt and Boon formed the center of the early 1980s indie-punk trio Minutemen, and what they created together would become the blueprint for the ethic that guided Cobain and his kind. \nFor those who know, it needs no explanation. For those who don't, this is where it all began. And for those of us who are curious, Watt brings his punk rock history lesson to Bloomington Oct. 1 at the Bluebird Nightclub, 216 N. Walnut St.\nThe year was 1981. Mike Watt, D. Boon and George Hurley (bassist, vocalist/guitarist and drummer) released The Punch Line, their debut full-length record as the Minutemen. On SST Records, the start-up record label of Black Flag's likewise independent-minded Greg Ginn, The Punch Line provided a reference point for do-it-yourself ethic and independent vision for years to come. \nNonstop touring and recording during the next few years led to the band's third and most widely-regarded album, Double Nickels on the Dime, in 1984 and then, shortly after the release of their fifth album a year later, all was put to an end when D. Boon and his girlfriend were killed in a car accident. \nAfter the tragedy, Watt bore his loss with sadness, but didn't stop, continuing to more critical acclaim in Firehose (with five albums and a few EPs) and a solo career seeing collaborations with his admirers on 1995's Ball-Hog or Tugboat? (with Flea, Eddie Vedder, J. Mascis and Thurston Moore among many others) and a punk rock opera, "Contemplating the Engine Room." \nTwo decades on, Watt continues unabated. In reality, not much has changed from those early days.\n"I really do feel I'm still part of my own tradition," says Watt via phone between practice sessions for his current tour. "I haven't changed that much."\nAfter spending February through June being "side mouse" to J. Mascis (formerly of Dinosaur Jr.) on a U.S. and international tour, Mike Watt and the Jom and Terry Show features Watt's distinctive punk rock bass in classic guitar trio format with fellow Californians Tom Watson on guitar and Jerry Trebotic on drums. Watt sees this tour as his time to bone up on his playing in preparation for the recording of a third solo album, and incidentally one that plans to feature the somewhat unusual organ-bass-drums format.\nThe Bloomington performance is one in a series of 52 shows in 54 days where Watt and company will travel from California to New Jersey to Florida and back. And for the 43-year-old Watt, this can't be any easy task.\n"Yeah it's kind of tough," Watt says, shrugging off the notion that such a schedule would be almost unthinkable for many. "But I think anything that you really like and throw yourself into is really tough. Supporting five kids and working in a coal mine is probably much tougher. So everything's kind of relative, you know.\n"A lot of that rock and roll and rock star stuff," he continues. "You know, that pampered kind of shit. I think maybe compared to that, yeah it's really intense. But I've never been part of that kind of reality, anyway."\nFor Watt, the real is something that hits very deep. It's a quality he strives for in his music and one that defies categorization. It's a realness inherent in his steadfast do-it-yourself ethic. And it is that "tradition" of which he speaks -- one that he has cultivated since his early days with SST.\n"Real people make real music," says Greg Ginn, creator of SST Records and founder/guitarist of Black Flag. "(With this realness, people) generally aren't thinking in terms of categories. They're just playing the best music they can."\nEven for a man who has spent the last 11 years on a major record label, Columbia Records, Watt has never compromised his solitary work ethic.\n"Mike Watt's a one-man operation," says a spokesperson for Watt's current label, Columbia Records. "He has no managers, no tour managers, nothing, so we always work directly with Mike. It's more personal that way."\nPerhaps nothing symbolizes this realness better that the way Mike Watt tours. In the old days he termed it "Jam Econo" -- nonstop gigs, no roadies, no hotels. Today, it's the same.\n"Oh yeah," Watt says. "This is my 48th tour, and I tour basically like I did as a Minuteman in the old days. It seemed to work."\nAnd as for the no hotels policy? \n"No," Watt confirms. "I usually ask people at the gig and conk at their pads. That's how we did it in the old days, too. For me, touring isn't just about doing gigs. It's also about learning. We learn the whole 24-7. It's not just about that one hour you're on stage, so I try to make it as much of an experience as I can."\nBut the years haven't always been kind. Less than a year and a half ago, Watt was sidelined with a life threatening internal inflammation of the perineum, from which he survived a long and torturous convalescence. And then in June, his tour with J. Mascis came to a close with a van wreck in Sweden, one that left Mascis with a couple of cracked vertebrae in his back. As much as his free and independent lifestyle might deny it, Watt is getting older. And with this comes loss, the first and foremost still being the one person to which Watt seems to feel he owes something, his best friend and musical companion D. Boon.\n"I've had to make changes to go on and live without him," Watt says. "Losing my father, losing my cat. The thing about getting older is that you lose people. But then you bring in new people."\n"You know," Watt continues, introspectively, "it's strange for me, maybe compared to a lot of people's lives, because I've never had a family of my own. The kids who come to my shows are my family and they are the new people who come on board."\nThe upcoming year for Watt will see the completion of a tour, the recording of an album, another tour, the release of a book with his Minutemen lyrics and a diary of their time on tour with Black Flag. It will see a release by the Wylde Rattz, Watt's side project with Ron Ashton of The Stooges and one by DOS, his two-bass project with Kira Roessler (former Black Flag bassist). And even with the bit of publicity surrounding the new book, Our Band Could be Your Life, by Michael Azerrad which details the early 1980s independent scene out of which Watt came and that which mapped the way to Nirvana's uprising, Watt seems unchanged and as real as ever.\n"At least I can feel a little secure in that. This thing that me and D. Boon and all those cats in the old days got going, I still feel very true to those (ideals). I miss them very much," he says. "I wish they were here. Sometimes I don't feel worthy, in a way. But in another way, at least I don't feel I'm letting them down on an ethic level, on a values level. I'm still living up to those promises we made"