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If you don鈥檛 know the bassist Mike Watt as the cofounder of the legendary West Coast punk bands Minutemen or fIREHOSE, or for playing with The Stooges for 10 years, you might know him from Fred Armisen鈥檚 鈥淥ld Punks鈥� segment on John Mulaney鈥檚 2024 series 鈥淓verybody鈥檚 in L.A.鈥�

Watt, a founding figure of the early 1980s hardcore punk scene, doesn鈥檛 fully accept the 鈥減unk鈥� label. He was equally influenced by jazz and funk, and his current post-genre power trio mssv, with Mike Baggetta and Stephen Hodges, defies all categorizations. But he still embraces the do-it-yourself ethos of West Coast punk as a way of life.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 outgrown that,鈥� Watt said.

鈥淭he main thing we were against was arena rock 鈥� that Nuremberg rally s---,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen I look back, punk wasn鈥檛 so much about a style. It was about being artistic and trying to keep it small and personal.鈥�

Mssv keeps things as small and personal as can be. They don鈥檛 use booking agents, drivers or roadies. They鈥檙e literally just three guys in a van.

鈥淚 do all the driving, because I got a bad knee, so I can鈥檛 really schlep the gear,鈥� Watt said.

The lead singer and composer, Baggetta, books all the gigs.

鈥淲e are a total DIY band, so it鈥檚 really fun to play more DIY local venues,鈥� Baggetta said.

On Monday, March 17, mssv will come to Whiskey Creek Z贸calo in Silver City. Then, on Tuesday, March 18, and Wednesday, March 19, they will play Guild Cinema in sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Nob Hill neighborhood.

鈥淚 always dug sa国际传媒官网网页入口,鈥� Watt said. 鈥淭he first time I played sa国际传媒官网网页入口 (with Minutemen in 1984), it was someplace called Club Wreck or something. It was just a garage in somebody鈥檚 backyard.鈥�

Their opening acts in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 this time include local poet Mark Weber both nights, plus A Hawk and a Hacksaw on Tuesday night and Eric Mingus on Wednesday night. The band said they鈥檙e always excited to support local talent wherever they go.

鈥淲e鈥檝e gotten to work with Mark Weber out there before. He鈥檚 a great poet,鈥� Baggetta said. 鈥淎 Hawk and a Hacksaw is a great sa国际传媒官网网页入口 band, and Eric Mingus, who鈥檚 one of Charles Mingus鈥� kids, is an amazing musician in his own right.鈥�

鈥淏eing able to help out and support smaller local run venues with a band that I consider to be a smaller local run band is really important to me,鈥� Baggetta said. 鈥淭hese kind of places have to be around to foster communityand to introduce the next generation to the way things can be done without having to depend on corporate models.鈥�

The band鈥檚 drummer, Hodges, has had a long and storied career of his own, performing with everyone from Tom Waits to Mavis Staples to Bo Diddley to the Smashing Pumpkins, and contributing to classic David Lynch and Wim Wenders soundtracks.

At 73, Hodges is the oldest member of the trio, but he still loves the adventure of hitting the road with Baggetta and Watt, playing obscure venues in remote places and crashing on people鈥檚 sofas.

鈥淚 know, it鈥檚 so 鈥�20-year-old鈥� in its way,鈥� Hodges said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 the only way to actually pull off something like this, so we can bring home as much money as possible rather than spending it all on Airbnb鈥檚 or what-have-you.鈥�

Mssv may be Baggetta鈥檚 baby, but when it comes to daily logistics, Hodges says Watt is their captain, and he runs a tight ship.

鈥淓arly in the morning, Watt is already in a comfortable chair with his laptop, writing, and he starts saying 鈥�60 minutes鈥�, 鈥�47 minutes鈥�, 鈥�15 minutes鈥� 鈥� like, get your a-- in that van or you鈥檙e gonna hear about it,鈥� Hodges said.

Watt鈥檚 father was a machinist鈥檚 mate in the Navy, and for all of Watt鈥檚 rebellion in his youth, he never seems to have shed himself of his father鈥檚 military-style punctuality.

Mssv鈥檚 low-budget, by-their-bootstraps approach to touring has had some unintended consequences. For instance, Hodges said he had spent weeks putting together the perfect drum kit to go with Baggetta鈥檚 latest songs for this tour.

鈥淭urns out, with the new van we have, none of that was gonna fit. So, I had to bring my Camco drums 鈥� an 18-inch bass drum and small toms,鈥� Hodges said. 鈥淏ut it was the best thing that could鈥檝e happened, because it鈥檚 so musical. With the dynamic range that we play, it鈥檚 much better to have a basic jazz drum set.鈥�

Mssv has been experimenting a lot with dynamics 鈥� going from soft to loud and back again.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like there鈥檚 hell on earth, and then there鈥檚 a whisper, and then there鈥檚 hell on earth,鈥� Hodges said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 many songs where we do that.鈥�

Those experiments developed partly out of necessity.

鈥淥n our last tour, we were still kind of loud, and Baggetta was like, 鈥業 don鈥檛 think I can sing the whole tour.鈥� And I go, 鈥楬ey, B.B. King turns his guitar all the way off when he sings sometimes.鈥� When he鈥檚 done, he turns his guitar volume back up, and it鈥檚 like a dragster at a race. You can hear the wattage. Everybody鈥檚 hair blows back, and they鈥檙e like, 鈥極h my God, what just happened?鈥� All he did was use dynamics.鈥�

Baggetta, Hodges and Watt all coax extraordinary sounds out of their instruments. And Baggetta credits his teacher, the guitarist Ted Dunbar, for inspiring him to experiment.

鈥淗e used to always say, you bought the whole guitar, so you should play the whole thing. Get your money鈥檚 worth out of it. It was kind of a joke but kind of serious, so I started to think, yeah, what else can I do with it? Then I discovered different techniques like 鈥榩repared guitar,鈥� after John Cage鈥檚 prepared piano, and I put all kinds of things between the strings, like twist ties and chopsticks.鈥�

Baggetta experiments with different vocal techniques, too, picking up bits and pieces from singers and poets as different as Kim Gordon, Jack Kerouac and Sly Stone.

鈥淚鈥檓 not gonna limit myself to one kind of singing, the same way I鈥檓 not gonna limit myself on guitar,鈥� Baggetta said.

If there鈥檚 one thing that unites Baggetta, Hodges and Watt, it鈥檚 their musical adventurousness.

鈥淲e say we鈥檙e post-genre, but what we are is just guys who listen to a lot of different music, whether it鈥檚 John Coltrane, Cuban conga, reggae, Brazilian or punk rock,鈥� Hodges said.

The trio鈥檚 musical adventurousness is equalled only by their adventurousness as road warriors.

Hodges told a particularly harrowing story about flipping a van over in 2001 while en route to record an album at Tom Waits鈥� house. He managed to get to the session on time with an undamaged drum kit, but his driver鈥檚 side window was completely smashed.

鈥淔or a couple of months, I just drove around to gigs with a tarp over my window,鈥� he said.

Fortunately, on the current tour, Watt is driving.

Post-genre power trio mssv to play Silver City and sa国际传媒官网网页入口

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