zoom Mike Watt Bass player Mike Watt greeted the cancellation of the '97 Porno For Pyros world tour with equal parts disappointment and relief. Watt had been a back-up musician with PFP for much of '96. The former Minuteman and leader of fIREHOSE says he learned a lot by not being in charge. PFP asked him to do a world tour and he agreed. Then at the last minute, they canceled. "Which is kinda good," he figures, "'cause I have to work on this."

"This" is his second solo album, Contemplating the Engine Room. Watt, arguably the hardest working man in alternative rock, could have been referring to one of his many musical endeavors. Dos is the dual bass band he maintains with his wife Kira (ex-Black Flag). Banyan is a project that includes Stephen Perkins (Porno), Money Mark Nashita (Beastie Boys), and Nels Cline (Geraldine Fibbers), in which the players improvised while listening to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. That session will be released by the Higher Octave label in April. And The Madonnabes, Watt's ongoing band dedicated to interpreting the work of the Material Girl. Occasionally the man from San Pedro finds himself forced to explain to his bosses at Columbia Records why he seeks so many artists from other labels. It's a matter of finding the right collaborators: "I kinda miss that from the old days," he says, "the sense of experiment and adventure." The old days were the golden years at SST Records, when the label's roster featured Husker Du, Black Flag, Sonic Youth, the Meat Puppets, and the Minutemen. The Minutemen - Watt, guitarist D. Boon, and drummer George Hurley - combined punk's urgency with elements of jazz and funk in a manner that was utterly unique in the underground. After Boon died in car accident in 1985, Watt and Hurley continued under the name fIREHOSE with Minuteman fan Ed from Ohio. So great is the respect for the Watt among musicians that even alterna-stars like Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins, J. Mascis and Dave Grohl lined up to contribute to his 1995 solo debut, Ball-Hog or Tugboat? (Columbia). For Contemplating the Engine Room, Watt is returning to the trio format, with Nels Cline on guitar and Steve Hodges (ex-Tom Waits) on drums. The bassist semi-jokingly refers to the album as "a punk rock opera." It's an intensely personal effort revolving around Watt's own experiences as well as his father's - a 20 year Navy man. "There were no punk bands yet," says Watt, "and he had to get out and joined the Navy." He explains that there are a lot of parallels between his first 10 years as a punk rocker and his father's life as a sailor. Still, he cautions that Contemplating the Engine Room is "a metaphor, not really a documentary on Navy life." Watt hesitates to say much more about the album, which he'll record in April for a September release. "I really want people to hear it without making opinions first." Ball-Hog or Tugboat? got hyped too much, he figures. That overexposure kept a lot of people from listening to it unless they were total fans of the stars involved. With a mixture of pride and humility, Watt declares: "This is the record I've had to make since the Minutemen, but I was never ready. I'm ready now." Though he's on the verge of releasing what may be his most challenging work ever, Watt sees no point in resting on his laurels. "I'm an older guy - I can't just market a band image," he asserts "Music is sounds and rhythms and ideas... I am curious!" - Chris Nelson