mike watt + the secondmen play a night of music in San Pedro

Mike Watt and DAVE WIDOW Play a Night Of Music in San Pedro

Melina Paris, Assistant Editor

San Pedro is having a night of music July 1, with the perfect musician to set the night off right: Mike Watt + the secondmen will perform live at 6 p.m. on the corner of 6th Street and Mesa along with Dave Widow & the Line Up in the first of six performances to occur in downtown San Pedro within the next several weeks

Watt, known as one of the best bassists of all time, said, music is life for him.

“I’ve recorded every ... day,” he said. “I have it well set up here. The Internet’s not all bad, you can decide to spread BS or you can trade files with people and you don’t even have to be in the same room.”

Luckily, Watt had already been doing that for 20 years. He said it’s just like being in a band when you have to be in the room with the cats, but it’s still a way of making music. Making music never stopped for him through the pandemic. In fact, it increased. He also has a weekly show on the Internet called The Watt from Pedro Show. He did one show a week except when he was touring. Since November, he’s started doing five shows a week. When I remarked that’s almost a full-time job he said it’s not so much a job but a payback for the movement.

“Up in Hollywood, back in the day, there was a scene where they would actually let you get on stage and play and we got involved in the movement,” Watt said. “People were open-minded, musically. It was a rare time … Why can’t them ethics survive?”

By getting that kind of exposure on the stage, trying out and using music as a form of expression, Watt said his way to pay back is with a music show.

He plays music that’s not being played elsewhere, and listens to people’s personal journeys. He said maybe other people hear that and get inspired thinking, “If he did it, I can.” The bassist noted that that worked for him many times. “Remember the days of the mixtape?” he asked. “Your friend gave you a cassette that had all the shit you never heard before. That’s how you got turned onto [See Watt and Widow, p. 15] Real People, Real News, Really Effective