Stefano Pilia, Mike Watt and Andrea Belfi of the group Il Sogno Del Marinaio
Veteran punk rocker Mike Watt has played bass in bands like the Minutemen and fIREHOSE since the 1980s.
His long tenure in the LA-based music scene has made him something like rock royalty. But, Watt scoffs at the idea. "I've been around, but there's danger in that because you think you know it all," he says.
Regardless, there's no arguing that Watt has made his mark on the LA and punk scene. But recently, he's been reaching beyond that realm.
Watt has teamed up with two Italian musicians 20 years younger to do something new. And that, he says, helps keeps him in "student mode."
He enlisted drummer Andrea Belfi and guitarist Stefano Pilia for his latest project, Il Sogno del Marinaio. That means The Sailor's Dream in Italian.
"A lot of things that happen to me in music is by accident," he says. "But once it gets going then I work at it."
Both Belfi and Pilia fit right in. They were up to the challenge.
As a trio, they experiment with music and remain open-minded about trying new things and learning from each other.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.