Mike Watt, bassist for the legendary punk band The Minutemen, has toured and played with numerous other bands (The Stooges included) but he is also a serious photographer. In 2010, a Santa Monica gallery showed a exhibit of his photos ‘Mike Watt: Eye-Gifts from Pedro’, which made the curator Laurie Steelink say: ‘He has this knack for finding the early morning sweet spots when venturing out alone on his bike or kayak. The resulting photographs never seem to dry: light, flight, salt, rust, and tide commingle in fiery sunrises, endless heavens, roiling waves and fog.’
Mike has just released a new book, ‘Mike Watt: On and Off Bass’, which fully exposes his vision as a photographer since the book contains not only photos but also Watt’s poetry and snapshots of his life selected from 10 years of his diaries.
The pictures feature of course San Pedro, the city by the port he loves, and many of them were taken from his kayak, beautifully capturing scenes of everyday wild life.
‘You cannot set up these shots’ he declared to the LA Weekly, ‘These shots are given to you. It's like winning the lottery. They're beautiful. It's a trippy thing. You have to be there to capture that moment.’
There are a lot of pelicans, seals and other sea fauna, with the ocean as center stage: ’You got the ocean, you got the docks, you got the cliffs, It's a fucking angelscape,’ but there are also a lot of scenes about the rising sun, which seems to be his favorite moment: ‘Think about the sunrise. It's potential. What is to be done today?’
So how did a bassist become such a passionate photographer? There is actually a connection between both arts, as he explained: ‘It's not more notes, it's the right notes. Pictures are like that, too. There's a sensitivity to it. We're all on our own roads. How generous of whatever to make it happen.’
And in case you were wondering about Watt’s obsessive fixation with San Pedro, he has the answer: ‘Why do I love pedro? I love her geography. all my music history’s here – this is where I met d. boon… his ma put me on bass. I was a changed man! I love my town. we have nature, we have geography, we have some history. mr bukowski’s planted here – you know? I wanna be buried at sea.’
You can order 'Mike Watt: On and Off Bass’ here
