Story of the Ghost: The Wide Reaching Influence of Mike Watt and the Minutemen

We begin with a funny story that took place over the week following the 4th of July. My wife and I headed out to Caifornia to celebrate our good friends’ wedding in Pasadena and subsequently rented a car to drive up the PCH hitting Joshua Tree, Big Sur, Monterrey, Sonoma and San Francisco along the way. Midway through the week, we were in Big Sur eating at a random coffee shop with a backyard that looks like the Ewok Village when we experienced what appeared to be an all-time classic celebrity sighting.

As we sit there eating our lunch, none other than Flea walks in with his buddy and stands right beside us, momentarily perplexed as to whether or not the kitchen was still open or if they closed down for the slow period between lunch and dinner - siesta if you will. Not being the kind of person who attempts to chat it up with celebrities, I kinda just sat there dumbfounded trying to figure out if it was Flea for sure or not. My wife of course had no clue what was going on whatsoever.

It turned out that the kitchen did in fact close and Flea and his buddy turned around, hopped in his ride (a greenish Mercedes station wagon), and headed off down the windy coastal highway. I heard his voice briefly and that too sounded exactly like Flea’s, so I was pretty sure it was him, but still could not confirm it to myself nor my wife. It seemed too random.

READ ON for more of Ryan’s tale…

This probably seems like a total stalk job, which it is, but let me explain. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have always been a huge fascination amongst my high school friends and I, in large part because they are great but also because one of my best friends is Anthony Kiedis’ cousin. Hence, there are a lot of classic stories of idiotic mishaps such as the time my buddy asked Anthony, “Are those the same black jeans you wore in the Under the Bridge video?” Or once, we all saw Kiedis at the mall one time in our home town in Michigan, so we ran up and he introduced us. Anthony asked , “Are those your brothas?” obviously implying “Are those your friends.” And my buddy replied, “No these are just my friends.” You get the idea.

So anyway, this came as a big surprise. I tried to think of a way to affirm or disaffirm the sighting when it dawned on me; he had a Minutemen tattoo on his arm. Bingo. So, we of course proceeded to scour the internet trying to confirm if in fact Flea did possess this tattoo. No luck. I could not find any pictures of this tattoo anywhere.

However, after doing some more digging, we found a clue; it turned out that the Red Hot Chili Peppers breakthrough 12 million copy mega-hit Blood Sugar Sex Magik was actually dedicated to Mike Watt.

Having known Mike Watt more for his recent work as a solo artist, special guest, and Eddie Vedder collaborator, I didn’t realize the connection right way, but eventually we realized… Mike Watt played bass in the Minutemen. It’s official, it must have been Flea.

Naturally, having realized the significance, the natural next step was a deep dive into the Minutemen catalog. The result of which was eye opening. The Minutemen are a fascinating band and Mike Watt are so very clearly THE defining influence for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The Minutemen play concise songs that combine frenetic energy, complex basslines, whimsical lyrics, discordant effects, engaging tension & release, driving beats, shredding guitar solos and a blurring of punk and funk music; pretty much the exact same components that define the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In their career high point endeavor, the Minutemen amazingly released a 43 song album Double Nickels on the Dime, which despite an average song length of about one minute (ah now I get it, the “Minutemen”), contains almost entirely complex and interesting compositions.

All told, this whole saga unfolded in a way that made Mike Watt and the Minutemen seem almost superhuman. This band - with minimal commercial success and a lifespan of just five years - continues to reach people and expand their influence with urgency via even the most random of ways. In listening to their music, if even for the very first time, it becomes quite clear that many bands - and one particularly amazing one in the Red Hot Chili Peppers - owe a lot to these guys. We take this punk rock/funk sound for granted today, but the Minutemen and Mike Watt paved the way.