Mike Watt and the Secondmen is the punk rock trio formed by former

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

and Firehose bassist

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

to perform and record his third solo album, ''

The Secondman's Middle Stand ''The Secondman's Middle Stand'' was Mike Watt's third solo album and the first full-length recording that he had made under his own name since the release of '' Contemplating The Engine Room'' in 1997. The storyline for the nine-track album par ...

''. Formed in 2002 in Watt's hometown of San Pedro,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, the band first consisted of organist

Pete Mazich Peter Mazich (born October 25, 1964) is an American punk rock organist best known for his work with Mike Watt And The Secondmen. A classically trained pianist, Mazich became interested in playing the organ after hearing the classic Deep Pur ...

and drummer

Jerry Trebotic Jerry Trebotic is an American drummer, best known for his longtime association with veteran punk bassist/songwriter Mike Watt, with whom he has toured in the project bands The Jom and Terry Show and The Secondmen. As part of the Secondmen, he p ...

, both of whom had played with Watt in a side project, The Madonnabes, that was devoted to reinterpreting the works of

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

; the three musicians had also previously recorded a song for a

Doctors Without Borders Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

benefit album under the name Mike Watt & Masina in 1998, with Mazich's wife Ljil on vocals. The Secondmen did three tours of the United States and Canada wherein they played early versions of some of the songs that were to be on the album, along with songs from Watt's back catalog and hand-picked cover versions rearranged for organ. Mazich's day job commitments forced him to tour as much as his earned vacation time (five weeks for the spring 2002 tour; seven weeks for the spring 2003 tour) would allow. For the remainder of the 2002 tour, guitarist Tom Watson took Mazich's place, and the Secondmen finished the tour as

The Jom and Terry Show The Jom and Terry Show was the backup band led by American punk legend Mike Watt (formerly of The Minutemen and Firehose) for tours of the US and Canada in 2001 and 2002. The band, in addition to Watt on vocals and bass, included Tom Watson ( ...

; the spring 2003 tour saw former Screamers and Twisted Roots keyboardist

Paul Roessler Paul Roessler (born August 27, 1958) is an American musician and record producer. Roessler was a prominent member of the L.A. punk scene during the late 1970s and 1980s. He played keyboards in bands such as The Screamers, Twisted Roots, 45 Gra ...

(who is also Watt's former brother-in-law) sub for Mazich during the last three weeks of the tour. By October 2003 Mazich decided to quit the day job in order to be able to concentrate on music while working as a freelance, "casual", longshoreman in between Watt tours. In January 2004, the band recorded ''The Secondman's Middle Stand'' along with former that dog. vocalist

Petra Haden Petra Haden (born October 11, 1971) is an American musician and singer. She is the daughter of the jazz bassist Charlie Haden, and is the triplet sister of bassist Rachel Haden (her bandmate in That Dog) and cellist Tanya Haden (married to ...

in a San Pedro recording studio. The group initially intended to start promoting the album during the 2004

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

festival, but the cancellation of the festival led to the band not touring behind the album until September of that year. At one point, neither Trebotic nor Mazich could join Watt so they were temporarily replaced by

Raul Morales Raul Morales, sometimes known as just "Rawl", has been one of San Pedro's most prolific drummers from the 1990s to present. He is currently the drummer for Killer Dreamer as well as Mike Watt of the Minutemen fame's current projects.Lundstrom, ...

and Tom Watson with the new combination named

The Missingmen The Missingmen are a punk rock trio fronted by Minutemen/ Firehose/ Stooges bassist Mike Watt. The band features Watt, guitarist Tom Watson ( Slovenly, The Pair Of Pliers, The Jom And Terry Show, Red Krayola), and drummer Raul Morales ( FYP ...

. In 2005, personal commitments similar to Trebotic's forced Mazich to sit out a European tour behind ''Middle Stand''; Paul Roessler played in his stead a second time. (Maintaining a sense of humor, Watt nicknamed the Roessler/Morales lineup "The Second-string Men".) The original lineup, however, did regroup to film a trilogy of three videos from ''The Secondman's Middle Stand'' with director Mike Muscarella. A regrouping of the original Secondmen lineup of Watt, Mazich and Trebotic played the Festival Periferias in

Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on October 29, 2005, and a

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

for the San Pedro Skateboard Association on November 5, 2005. After the success of those gigs, the Secondmen were scheduled to play two more Los Angeles-area shows, including a December 3 opening slot with reunited punk legends and longtime heroes of Watt's, the Germs. The original lineup continues to play on occasion in the Los Angeles area, and has also played as a five-piece with Watson and Morales as The Secondmissingmen; this hybrid lineup debuted on Watt's 57th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mike Watt and the Secondmen Mike Watt Punk rock groups from California