# Mike Watt on The Stooges, The Minutemen, and Why Bass is Actually a Drum

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Podcast: [Beat Motel Zine](https://stenobird.com/podcast/beat-motel-zine-6243765)
Published: 2025-12-22T05:39:00+00:00
Episode link: https://79ad4ef5-01b9-414c-ad55-3885df5be3cc.libsyn.com/mike-watt-on-the-stooges-the-minutemen-and-why-bass-is-actually-a-drum
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/79ad4ef5-01b9-414c-ad55-3885df5be3cc/mike_watt_FINAL_CUT_audio.mp3?dest-id=5201900
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Duration seconds: 4331

## Resource

If you've ever wondered why some bassists look like they're having a conversation with a ghost or why your favorite punk record sounds like it was recorded in a cupboard, Mike Watt is here to explain it all. We sat down with the Minutemen and Stooges legend to talk about everything from the physics of why playing too many notes makes you "smaller" to the absolute bigotry drummers face in the industry. Watt walks us through his "third opera," why he wrote an entire album on a Telecaster instead of a bass just to spite himself, and how he ended up playing with the Stooges for 125 months. We also get into the weeds on the early Hollywood punk scene, the "autonomy" of major labels (or lack thereof), and why the internet is basically just a tool for collaborating with people in Peru. It's rambling, it's philosophical, and it's probably the most intellectual we've ever been on this show. Don't get used to it.

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## Transcript

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