WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.819 Imagine, imagine for a second that your entire 00:00:03.819 --> 00:00:07.040 life's work, your passion, your very identity 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:10.279 is suddenly just gone. Yeah, wiped out in an 00:00:10.279 --> 00:00:13.369 absolute instant. just completely erased by a 00:00:13.369 --> 00:00:16.230 tragedy you never saw coming. How do you rebuild 00:00:16.230 --> 00:00:18.969 your life after a devastating loss like that? 00:00:19.390 --> 00:00:21.989 And I mean, maybe more importantly, what role 00:00:21.989 --> 00:00:25.989 does sheer unadulterated audacity play in that 00:00:25.989 --> 00:00:28.289 process of starting over? It is the ultimate 00:00:28.289 --> 00:00:30.730 human question, isn't it? I mean, when the foundation 00:00:30.730 --> 00:00:33.250 completely crumbles beneath your feet. Do you 00:00:33.250 --> 00:00:35.710 walk away forever or do you let someone completely 00:00:35.710 --> 00:00:38.590 unexpected help you lay a new one? Which is exactly 00:00:38.590 --> 00:00:40.829 what we are exploring today on this deep dive. 00:00:41.130 --> 00:00:43.390 We're looking at a stack of historical notes, 00:00:43.630 --> 00:00:46.789 articles, and retrospectives on the alternative 00:00:46.789 --> 00:00:48.670 rock band Firehouse. And look, even if you have 00:00:48.670 --> 00:00:51.210 never listened to a single punk or alt rock album 00:00:51.210 --> 00:00:53.490 in your life, you really need to stick with us 00:00:53.490 --> 00:00:55.390 here. Oh, absolutely, because their story isn't 00:00:55.390 --> 00:00:58.590 just music trivia. It is a masterclass for you 00:00:58.590 --> 00:01:00.829 sitting there right now on persistence. It's 00:01:00.829 --> 00:01:02.810 about building this relentless this blue collar 00:01:02.810 --> 00:01:05.730 work ethic in a creative field. And it is about 00:01:05.730 --> 00:01:08.670 the absolute magic that happens when you ignore 00:01:08.670 --> 00:01:11.469 the odds and just show up. To really understand 00:01:11.469 --> 00:01:13.909 the weight of the story, we have to set the historical 00:01:13.909 --> 00:01:17.650 stage first. So we are looking at the mid 1980s 00:01:17.650 --> 00:01:20.250 alternative rock scene. Right, specifically the 00:01:20.250 --> 00:01:23.269 Southern California park movement. Exactly. And 00:01:23.269 --> 00:01:26.290 our inciting incident is, well, it's deeply tragic. 00:01:26.489 --> 00:01:28.590 The source material centers on the accidental 00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:31.629 death of Dee Boon in December of 1985. Right. 00:01:31.849 --> 00:01:34.810 He was the front man and guitarist for the legendary, 00:01:35.409 --> 00:01:38.170 wildly influential punk band the Minutemen. In 00:01:38.170 --> 00:01:41.409 his death in a van crash, it abruptly ended the 00:01:41.409 --> 00:01:44.510 band and left their bassist, Mike Watt, completely 00:01:44.510 --> 00:01:47.549 shattered. He was deeply mourning the loss of 00:01:47.549 --> 00:01:50.150 his best friend. And as the text note, he had 00:01:50.150 --> 00:01:52.049 lost pretty much all of his desire to ever play 00:01:52.049 --> 00:01:54.420 music again. He was just done. The music had 00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:56.540 stopped for him completely. But, you know, this 00:01:56.540 --> 00:01:58.519 is where the history takes a wild turn. It really 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:00.840 does. We move from the tragic, sudden end of 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:03.640 the Minutemen to this incredibly unlikely catalyst 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:05.659 that pulled Mike Watt back into the world of 00:02:05.659 --> 00:02:07.719 the living. Enter a 21 -year -old Ohio State 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:10.939 student named Ed Crawford. A fan. Basically just 00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:13.919 a kid from Ohio who deeply loved the Minutemen. 00:02:14.030 --> 00:02:16.909 Yeah, and the sequence of events here is almost 00:02:16.909 --> 00:02:20.710 unbelievable. It's crazy. It's early 1986. And 00:02:20.710 --> 00:02:23.590 according to the history, Crawford is in Columbus, 00:02:23.590 --> 00:02:26.189 Ohio, and he ends up hanging out on the roof 00:02:26.189 --> 00:02:29.150 of a van. Of course he is. Right. A van belonging 00:02:29.150 --> 00:02:32.289 to the indie band Camper Van Beethoven. And up 00:02:32.289 --> 00:02:35.289 on this roof, Camper Van Beethoven's Victor Kremenacher 00:02:35.289 --> 00:02:38.530 tells Crawford a rumor. A rumor that changes 00:02:38.530 --> 00:02:41.889 everything. Exactly. He says Mike Watt and drummer 00:02:41.889 --> 00:02:44.949 George Hurley are... auditioning guitarists for 00:02:44.949 --> 00:02:47.189 a new band. Which was just a rumor, a complete 00:02:47.189 --> 00:02:49.710 fabrication. Totally made up. Watt wasn't looking 00:02:49.710 --> 00:02:51.849 for anyone. He was sitting in his apartment in 00:02:51.849 --> 00:02:54.330 San Pedro, grieving. But Crawford doesn't know 00:02:54.330 --> 00:02:56.889 that. Or maybe he just doesn't care. So he goes 00:02:56.889 --> 00:02:59.689 and finds Mike Watt's phone number in a literal 00:02:59.689 --> 00:03:02.229 physical phone book. Which is wild. Think about 00:03:02.229 --> 00:03:05.289 the analog friction of that in 1986. He calls 00:03:05.289 --> 00:03:07.189 him up from across the country and says, I want 00:03:07.189 --> 00:03:08.870 to come out to California and play with you guys. 00:03:09.069 --> 00:03:11.490 And Watt, who is still deep in mourning and thoroughly 00:03:11.490 --> 00:03:13.830 confused, just shoots him down. He tells him 00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:16.090 no. Yeah. And realistically, most people would 00:03:16.090 --> 00:03:18.169 hang up the phone, feel a little embarrassed 00:03:18.169 --> 00:03:20.949 about bothering their grieving hero, and just 00:03:20.949 --> 00:03:23.870 go back to class at Ohio State. But not Ed Crawford. 00:03:24.050 --> 00:03:26.530 His persistence kicks into overdrive. Oh, big 00:03:26.530 --> 00:03:29.270 time. He travels all the way to San Pedro, California, 00:03:29.289 --> 00:03:32.020 and shows up completely unannounced. Wait he 00:03:32.020 --> 00:03:34.039 just showed up. Literally just showed up. He 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:36.500 essentially demands the chance to come over and 00:03:36.500 --> 00:03:39.560 play for Watt and Watt perhaps out of sheer exhaustion 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:42.520 or bewilderment finally caves. He lets him come 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:45.219 over. He does and Crawford auditions for him 00:03:45.219 --> 00:03:48.039 by playing the song I'm One by The Who along 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:50.360 with a few Minutemen tracks. Okay let's unpack 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.520 this for a second. Imagine the audacity here. 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:56.319 Right. It's like walking onto a high stakes construction 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:58.919 site where the foreman just lost his best architect 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:01.520 in a terrible accident and handing him a plastic 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.180 toy hammer and saying, I'm ready to build the 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:06.699 next skyscraper with you. It borders on delusional. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:09.560 It completely borders on delusional. But what's 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:12.919 fascinating here is analyzing exactly why Mike 00:04:12.919 --> 00:04:15.819 Watt and George Hurley actually gave this inexperienced 00:04:15.819 --> 00:04:19.259 kid from Ohio a shot. Yeah, why did they? Well, 00:04:19.259 --> 00:04:21.480 the source material explicitly notes that Watt 00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:23.920 was impressed with Crawford's passion and his 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:27.399 relentless enthusiasm. They agreed to form the 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:31.360 band with him because of that raw energy. And 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:34.160 there is a profound lesson there for any career 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:35.939 or creative pursuit you might be undertaking 00:04:35.939 --> 00:04:39.220 right now. Oh, absolutely. Raw passion, unbridled 00:04:39.220 --> 00:04:42.819 enthusiasm and the audacity to just physically 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:45.259 put yourself in the room. Yeah. Those things 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:48.910 often Trump polished. theoretical expertise. 00:04:49.529 --> 00:04:51.350 Crawford wasn't a seasoned pro with a massive 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:53.649 resume of bands behind him. No, not at all. He 00:04:53.649 --> 00:04:55.449 was just the guy who cared enough to cross the 00:04:55.449 --> 00:04:57.410 country and knock on the door. He forced his 00:04:57.410 --> 00:04:59.750 way into the narrative through sheer willpower. 00:05:00.069 --> 00:05:02.350 And it worked. The band is officially formed 00:05:02.350 --> 00:05:06.009 in the spring of 1986. OK, so Crawford kicks 00:05:06.009 --> 00:05:08.670 the door down and gets the gig. But getting the 00:05:08.670 --> 00:05:10.970 job and doing the job are two entirely different 00:05:10.970 --> 00:05:12.970 things. Very different. How does a 21 -year -old 00:05:12.970 --> 00:05:16.069 kid with barely any experience step into a room 00:05:16.069 --> 00:05:19.410 with two grieving punk legends and actually contribute 00:05:19.410 --> 00:05:22.110 something new? Rather than just becoming a human 00:05:22.110 --> 00:05:25.069 jukebox for Minutemen covers, you mean? Exactly. 00:05:25.269 --> 00:05:27.069 Yeah. I mean, Crawford is sleeping under a desk 00:05:27.069 --> 00:05:29.829 for nine months in Watt's one -bedroom apartment. 00:05:30.189 --> 00:05:32.430 Yeah, the desk. He literally earns the moniker 00:05:32.430 --> 00:05:34.430 Ed from Ohio. Yeah. Because that's all he is 00:05:34.430 --> 00:05:37.439 to the local scene, just the kid from Ohio. How 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:39.720 do they step out of the shadow of these massive 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:43.160 musical giants? They did it by forging a completely 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:46.720 new identity while honoring the past, and it 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:49.620 comes down to the mechanics of their sound. They 00:05:49.620 --> 00:05:51.819 didn't try to replicate the Minutemen. The Minutemen 00:05:51.819 --> 00:05:55.899 were famous for these jagged angular... hyper 00:05:55.899 --> 00:05:58.680 short bursts of music. Right, those 45 second 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:00.519 songs that sounded like political panic attacks. 00:06:00.779 --> 00:06:03.920 Exactly. If Crawford had tried to mimic Dee Boon's 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:07.420 wildly treble heavy frantic guitar style, it 00:06:07.420 --> 00:06:08.740 would have been a disaster. It would have felt 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:11.079 like a cheap imitation. Totally. Instead, they 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:13.560 developed a dynamic synthesis of punk, funk, 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:16.620 and free jazz by letting Crawford be Crawford. 00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:19.000 Meaning he brought a more traditional, almost 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.120 earnest rock and roll phrasing to the table. 00:06:21.420 --> 00:06:24.839 Precisely. Crawford had a meatier, more straightforward 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:27.500 guitar tone, and that actually grounded the band. 00:06:27.579 --> 00:06:29.540 Because of how Watt plays the bass, right? Yeah, 00:06:29.540 --> 00:06:32.040 you have to remember how Mike Watt plays. He 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:34.459 doesn't just keep time in the background. He 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:37.279 plays the bass like a lead instrument, driving 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:39.680 the melody. While George Hurley's drumming is 00:06:40.320 --> 00:06:43.000 incredibly frantic and jazz -influenced. Right, 00:06:43.180 --> 00:06:46.420 so Crawford's solid, earnest rhythm playing became 00:06:46.420 --> 00:06:49.000 the anchor that allowed Watt and Hurley to go 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:51.720 completely wild without the song falling apart. 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.120 They let the songs breathe a bit more than the 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:56.500 Minutemen did. They created their own sonic fingerprint. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:59.459 And even their name reflects that balance of 00:06:59.459 --> 00:07:02.180 humor, humility, and moving forward. The name 00:07:02.180 --> 00:07:04.439 Fire Host comes from a Bob Dylan short film. 00:07:04.569 --> 00:07:07.290 Ah, the famous promo for subterranean homesick 00:07:07.290 --> 00:07:09.329 blues. Yeah, Dylan is dropping those cue cards 00:07:09.329 --> 00:07:11.449 with the lyrics, and Watt thought it was funny 00:07:11.449 --> 00:07:13.410 when Dylan held up a card that just randomly 00:07:13.410 --> 00:07:16.189 said, Firehose. But the stylization of the name 00:07:16.189 --> 00:07:18.750 is where the real meaning lies, though. A lowercase 00:07:18.750 --> 00:07:22.870 f, followed by all caps. Eiderhose. Firehose. 00:07:22.970 --> 00:07:25.050 Right. The source points out this was a deliberate, 00:07:25.350 --> 00:07:27.759 subtle tribute to the Minutemen. whose logo was 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.540 always written in all caps visually that lowercase 00:07:30.540 --> 00:07:33.519 f is doing so much heavy lifting it really is 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:35.720 it's like they were visually telling their audience 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:38.639 we are born from that massive all caps legacy 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:41.660 but we are a little off center We are something 00:07:41.660 --> 00:07:44.399 new, and we are humbled by what came before. 00:07:44.540 --> 00:07:46.560 And part of being something new meant finding 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.540 a new audience. They couldn't just rely on leftover 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:52.279 Minutemen fans. Many of whom were highly skeptical 00:07:52.279 --> 00:07:55.800 of this new kid from Ohio anyway. Exactly. They 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:58.500 aggressively sought out their own crowd, and 00:07:58.500 --> 00:08:02.220 they found a massive, fiercely loyal fan base 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:05.420 in a very specific subculture. Which was the 00:08:05.420 --> 00:08:07.300 underground skateboarding scene, right? Skateboarding 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:09.240 crowd, yeah. This is such a cool detail from 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:12.060 the deep dive. Their music became the absolute 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:14.740 soundtrack to a whole generation of skaters. 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:17.439 Oh, completely. By the late 1980s, their early 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:19.860 material was being included in heavily circulated 00:08:19.860 --> 00:08:22.779 skateboarding videos. Tracks like Brave Captain 00:08:22.779 --> 00:08:26.459 from their 1986 debut album on SST Records, raging 00:08:26.459 --> 00:08:29.519 full on. Great record. And their sophomore release 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.940 at Fullman had songs like sometimes Hear Me and 00:08:32.940 --> 00:08:35.580 Windmilling featured prominently in the legendary 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:37.899 Santa Cruz skateboards video series Streets on 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:40.970 Fire. Yeah, that was huge for them. But why them? 00:08:41.769 --> 00:08:44.470 Assuming, you know, the basic ethos of 80s street 00:08:44.470 --> 00:08:46.509 skating, you know, hitting the concrete, pushing 00:08:46.509 --> 00:08:49.389 boundaries outside the mainstream, why with Firehose 00:08:49.389 --> 00:08:52.070 the perfect fit musically? It comes back to those 00:08:52.070 --> 00:08:53.929 time signatures and rhythms we were just talking 00:08:53.929 --> 00:08:56.889 about. OK, how so? Well, standard 44 punk rock 00:08:56.889 --> 00:09:00.690 is fast, but it's very predictable. Firehose 00:09:00.690 --> 00:09:02.809 played with odd time signatures, maybe dropping 00:09:02.809 --> 00:09:06.210 into 78 time with sudden stops, starts and funky 00:09:06.210 --> 00:09:10.100 bouncing bass lines. Right. Musically, that actually 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:12.539 mimics the physical rhythm of street skating. 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:15.220 Think about setting up a trick. The sudden snap 00:09:15.220 --> 00:09:17.600 of an ollie, hitting the concrete, recovering 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:19.940 your balance, and pushing forward again. Oh wow. 00:09:20.139 --> 00:09:23.340 The music wasn't just fast, it was kinetic, unpredictable, 00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:25.940 and rhythmic in a way that perfectly matched 00:09:25.940 --> 00:09:28.299 the physical act of skating. That makes total 00:09:28.299 --> 00:09:31.100 sense. You have a band formed by a kid who threw 00:09:31.100 --> 00:09:33.940 himself across the country on a crazy risk, playing 00:09:33.940 --> 00:09:36.000 music for kids who are throwing themselves down 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.659 concrete staircases on pieces of wood. It's a 00:09:38.659 --> 00:09:41.259 perfect cultural marriage. It really is. And 00:09:41.259 --> 00:09:43.879 that kinetic energy translated directly into 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:46.600 how they approach their actual job as a band. 00:09:47.210 --> 00:09:50.090 This wasn't some delicate, studio -obsessed art 00:09:50.090 --> 00:09:53.090 project. Yo, not at all. This was a blue -collar 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:55.909 creative grind. Let's look at the sheer volume 00:09:55.909 --> 00:09:58.250 of work they produced over just seven and a half 00:09:58.250 --> 00:10:01.590 years. It's staggering. They released five full 00:10:01.590 --> 00:10:03.769 -length studio albums. We're talking Raging, 00:10:04.090 --> 00:10:07.730 Full On, If in Vano, Fly in the Flannel, and 00:10:07.730 --> 00:10:11.210 Mr. Machinery Operator. Plus two EPs. Right, 00:10:11.230 --> 00:10:13.950 sometimes, almost always. And Live Totem Pole. 00:10:14.570 --> 00:10:17.149 They supported Sonic Youth on the Flaming Telepaths 00:10:17.149 --> 00:10:20.570 Tour. And, most mind -blowing of all, they played 00:10:20.570 --> 00:10:23.950 980 gigs before their final show at the Warner 00:10:23.950 --> 00:10:27.710 Grand Theater in San Pedro on February 12, 1994. 00:10:28.149 --> 00:10:30.330 980 gigs in seven and a half years? Wait, hold 00:10:30.330 --> 00:10:32.909 on. A show every two to three days, constantly, 00:10:33.190 --> 00:10:35.820 for almost a decade? Pretty much. I hear that, 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:38.559 and I don't think inspiring work ethic, I think 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:40.960 recipe for complete mental breakdown. It sounds 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.460 exhausting. How do they survive that pace without 00:10:43.460 --> 00:10:46.299 imploding or just hating each other? Especially 00:10:46.299 --> 00:10:48.159 when they made the jump to Columbia Records in 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.419 1991. Right, the major label jump. You have this 00:10:51.419 --> 00:10:55.419 fiercely independent DIY punk band suddenly adapting 00:10:55.419 --> 00:10:59.320 to a major corporate label right as the alternative 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:02.360 rock boom is starting. How did that friction 00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:05.039 not destroy them. Because they never abandoned 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.899 the Jama Kano philosophy. Jama Kano. Yeah, Jama 00:11:07.899 --> 00:11:11.039 Kano was a term coined by the Minutemen, meaning 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:13.559 you do everything as economically as possible. 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:16.120 Keep it cheap. Exactly. You book your own tours. 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:18.179 You sleep in the van. You haul your own gear. 00:11:18.539 --> 00:11:21.980 You don't waste money on fancy hotels or massive 00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:24.419 studio budgets. So even on Columbia, they kept 00:11:24.419 --> 00:11:26.840 that. When Firehouse signed to Columbia, they 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:28.840 didn't suddenly start acting like rock stars. 00:11:29.259 --> 00:11:31.500 They took the major label money and used it to 00:11:31.500 --> 00:11:33.679 fund their endless touring. Oh, that makes sense. 00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:36.659 Their first major label album was literally called 00:11:36.659 --> 00:11:40.059 Fly in the Flannel, a nod to their working class 00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:42.960 flannel wearing aesthetic. They maintained their 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:45.320 survival by treating the band like a blue collar 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:47.799 trade. You wake up, you get in the van, you go 00:11:47.799 --> 00:11:50.200 to the job site, you play the show. Here's where 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:52.220 it gets really interesting, though. There is 00:11:52.220 --> 00:11:54.899 a quote in the source material. from an interview 00:11:54.899 --> 00:11:58.100 Mike Watt gave to Billboard magazine that completely 00:11:58.100 --> 00:12:00.759 reframes this entire work ethic. I love this 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:04.200 quote. Watt declared, most bands tour to promote 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.379 records. We make records to promote tours. It 00:12:07.379 --> 00:12:10.740 is a complete inversion of the traditional music 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:12.879 industry model. It really is. It's like flipping 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:15.080 a modern business model upside down. How do you 00:12:15.080 --> 00:12:17.990 mean? Well, imagine a major software company 00:12:17.990 --> 00:12:20.450 treating their flagship, incredibly expensive 00:12:20.450 --> 00:12:23.789 app as just a giant break -even loss leader, 00:12:24.289 --> 00:12:26.509 just so they can justify sending their developers 00:12:26.509 --> 00:12:29.870 out to deliver incredible face -to -face in -person 00:12:29.870 --> 00:12:33.029 customer service to every single user, every 00:12:33.029 --> 00:12:35.870 single night. That is a brilliant way to conceptualize 00:12:35.870 --> 00:12:38.190 it. Right. The product isn't the plastic disk 00:12:38.190 --> 00:12:41.090 or the digital file you buy. The product is the 00:12:41.090 --> 00:12:43.570 sweat, the volume, and the energy in the room. 00:12:43.659 --> 00:12:46.320 It completely reframes the value of creative 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:48.960 work. For Firehose, it wasn't about the static 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:51.720 product, you know, the vinyl record or the CD 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:53.820 sitting on a shelf. Right. The record was just 00:12:53.820 --> 00:12:56.080 a flyer. An excuse to gather people together. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:00.139 The actual value, the art itself, was the active 00:13:00.139 --> 00:13:02.620 experience of the tour. It was the communion 00:13:02.620 --> 00:13:05.419 between the band and the audience on gig number 00:13:05.419 --> 00:13:08.639 400 or gig number 800. Wow. And I think that 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.580 raises an important question for you listening 00:13:10.580 --> 00:13:13.450 right now. In your own professional life, in 00:13:13.450 --> 00:13:16.409 your own creative pursuits, what is your record 00:13:16.409 --> 00:13:18.629 and what is your tour? That's a great question. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:22.720 Are you obsessing over perfecting a static document, 00:13:23.019 --> 00:13:26.139 like a resume, a report, a portfolio, an Instagram 00:13:26.139 --> 00:13:28.659 post, when you should be using that document 00:13:28.659 --> 00:13:31.179 merely as a ticket to get out there and actually 00:13:31.179 --> 00:13:33.440 interact with the physical world? Are you making 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.159 records to promote tours, or are you just sitting 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:38.460 in the studio endlessly tweaking the record while 00:13:38.460 --> 00:13:40.679 life passes you by? Exactly. The fire hose is 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:42.940 always out on the road. But of course, The human 00:13:42.940 --> 00:13:45.600 body and mind have limits. Yeah, they do. A relentless 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:48.559 pace of nearly a thousand gigs takes a physical 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.159 and emotional toll. It leads inevitably to the 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:55.519 band amicably disbanding in 1994, which brings 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:58.259 us to an incredibly poignant part of this history. 00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:01.559 What happens to that blue collar creative drive 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:05.279 after a massive consuming project finally comes 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:07.559 to an end? Well, the drive doesn't disappear. 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:10.820 It mutates. It scatters into a dozen new directions. 00:14:10.980 --> 00:14:13.240 The post -Firehose landscape is incredibly busy 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:15.899 for all three of them. Ugh. Mike Watt goes on 00:14:15.899 --> 00:14:19.340 an absolute tear. Oh, yeah. He releases four 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:22.620 solo albums, including his famous Ball Hog or 00:14:22.620 --> 00:14:25.220 Tug Boat record, which featured pretty much everyone 00:14:25.220 --> 00:14:27.919 in Alternative Rock. Everyone. He gets involved 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:31.360 in a dizzying array of collaborations. The dual 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:34.759 bass project Dose. with his ex -wife Kira Rustler, 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:37.080 fitted with Wires Graham Lewis playing with Jay 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:39.259 Mashi's In the Fog. And officially joining the 00:14:39.259 --> 00:14:41.799 Stooges to play bass for Iggy Pod. Right. And 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:43.879 even hosting his own internet radio show, The 00:14:43.879 --> 00:14:45.960 Watt from Pedro Show, all while still living 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:47.620 in San Pedro, where he's been anchored since 00:14:47.620 --> 00:14:50.500 1967. And George Hurley didn't stop either. He 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:52.440 stayed in the San Pedro scene as well, lending 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:55.159 his frantic drum style to bands like Vida, Red 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:57.779 Crayola, Tripod. And eventually reuniting with 00:14:57.779 --> 00:15:00.279 Watt in an improvisational group called the Unknown 00:15:00.279 --> 00:15:03.779 Instructors. Right. Even Ed Crawford, our audacious 00:15:03.779 --> 00:15:06.700 kid from Ohio, keeps moving. He relocates to 00:15:06.700 --> 00:15:08.980 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He fronts the trio 00:15:08.980 --> 00:15:11.440 Grand National, plays guitar, and tours with 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:13.659 Ryan Adams in the alt -country band Whiskey Town, 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:16.480 and fronts the alt -rock trio Effude. They all 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:18.279 keep their heads down, they keep their flannel 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:21.440 on, and they keep working. But then... 18 years 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:24.779 later, in early 2012, we get a massive surprise. 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:28.360 The rumor mill, fittingly, starts up again, just 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:31.340 like it did back in 1986 on that van roof. A 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:33.379 tip goes to Verbicide magazine about a secret 00:15:33.379 --> 00:15:35.480 announcement made at a venue called Harlow's 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.379 in Sacramento. And soon after, the rumors are 00:15:38.379 --> 00:15:41.500 confirmed. Firehose reunites. Which was huge. 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:44.019 They launch a small West Coast tour, playfully 00:15:44.019 --> 00:15:46.519 christened Smokin' on the Old Pink Pole. It kicks 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:49.059 off at Harlow's, covers 14 dates, and includes 00:15:49.059 --> 00:15:52.100 two massive, highly publicized stops at the Coachella 00:15:52.100 --> 00:15:54.360 Valley Music and Arts Festival. Think about the 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:57.580 contrast there. Right. From 1980s dive bars smelling 00:15:57.580 --> 00:16:00.299 of stale beer to the main stage at a massive 00:16:00.299 --> 00:16:02.820 modern desert festival. And to coincide with 00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:07.740 this, they release Lo Felus, the Columbia Anthology, 00:16:08.179 --> 00:16:10.980 which formerly chronicles their major label years. 00:16:11.129 --> 00:16:13.289 So they are back in the room together, the three 00:16:13.289 --> 00:16:15.570 guys who formed a band out of devastating grief 00:16:15.570 --> 00:16:18.990 and a wild leap of faith back on stage playing 00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:21.750 the songs that soundtracked a generation of skaters. 00:16:21.970 --> 00:16:24.110 But naturally, as soon as they reunite, the press 00:16:24.110 --> 00:16:26.929 wants to know what's next. A reporter for Rolling 00:16:26.929 --> 00:16:29.350 Stone asks Mike Watt if they were planning to 00:16:29.350 --> 00:16:31.750 hit the studio and make a new album. And Watt 00:16:31.750 --> 00:16:35.090 gives this very coy, measured response. Yeah, 00:16:35.090 --> 00:16:37.330 he notes that Ed Crawford was asking about doing 00:16:37.330 --> 00:16:39.710 new gigs and mentioning that he'd been writing 00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:42.429 songs for his band, Food. But for the reunion, 00:16:42.450 --> 00:16:44.529 Watt says, we're just going to try and play some 00:16:44.529 --> 00:16:46.049 of the old ones. So I don't know, maybe down 00:16:46.049 --> 00:16:48.210 the road. So what does this all mean? They have 00:16:48.210 --> 00:16:51.009 this triumphant return at Coachella. They prove 00:16:51.009 --> 00:16:53.769 they can still play the complex music. But there's 00:16:53.769 --> 00:16:56.559 no grand promise of of a new era, just maybe 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:58.700 down the road. If we connect this to the bigger 00:16:58.700 --> 00:17:01.000 picture, I think it shows a profound maturity. 00:17:01.139 --> 00:17:03.700 It is the wisdom of letting a project breathe. 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:05.480 That makes sense. When they were young, they 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:08.559 played 980 shows at breakneck speed because they 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:11.240 had to. They were out running grief. They were 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:13.259 proving themselves to a skeptical punk scene. 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:15.640 And they were literally paying their rent through 00:17:15.640 --> 00:17:17.759 sheer volume. Right, they had something to prove. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.220 But 18 years later, they don't have to force 00:17:20.220 --> 00:17:23.339 it. It highlights a beautiful truth about creative 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:26.440 partnerships. True collaborations never really 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:29.259 die. They just enter periods of dormancy. I love 00:17:29.259 --> 00:17:32.500 that. This 2012 reunion wasn't some desperate 00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:35.680 corporate cash grab or a frantic attempt to recapture 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:38.720 their youth. It was just a joyful reconnection. 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:42.059 They showed up to play the songs, feel the kinetic 00:17:42.059 --> 00:17:44.599 energy of the room again, and leave the future 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:47.430 wide open. They showed up. That really is the 00:17:47.430 --> 00:17:49.269 through line of everything we've synthesized 00:17:49.269 --> 00:17:51.349 today from these historical sources. It always 00:17:51.349 --> 00:17:53.650 comes back to the physical act of showing up. 00:17:53.849 --> 00:17:57.089 Yeah, it's Ed Crawford, a 21 -year -old kid facing 00:17:57.089 --> 00:17:59.670 rejection from his absolute hero, but having 00:17:59.670 --> 00:18:02.490 the unbelievable persistence to cross the country, 00:18:02.789 --> 00:18:04.910 pick up a phone book, and put himself physically 00:18:04.910 --> 00:18:08.309 in the room. Or, more accurately, to put himself 00:18:08.309 --> 00:18:10.930 physically under a desk for nine months while 00:18:10.930 --> 00:18:13.670 he earned his keep. Yeah, exactly. It is the 00:18:13.670 --> 00:18:16.809 ultimate testament to the power of physical presence 00:18:16.809 --> 00:18:20.410 and undeniable earnest effort. And as Mike wants 00:18:20.410 --> 00:18:23.970 entire philosophy of creation, refusing to view 00:18:23.970 --> 00:18:27.769 the art as a precious fragile thing to be protected 00:18:27.769 --> 00:18:30.990 in a studio, but instead making products merely 00:18:30.990 --> 00:18:34.250 to fuel the live experience. Right. Making records 00:18:34.250 --> 00:18:36.369 just so you have an excuse to get out on tour, 00:18:36.789 --> 00:18:38.930 load the gear and sweat it out with the people 00:18:38.930 --> 00:18:40.900 who are actually listening to you. which leaves 00:18:40.900 --> 00:18:43.500 us with a final, fascinating parallel to consider 00:18:43.500 --> 00:18:46.680 for our modern lives. Think about this. Firehose 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:49.819 existed entirely in an era before digital permanence. 00:18:49.900 --> 00:18:52.000 Oh, that's true. They played nearly a thousand 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:53.720 live shows and most of those nights are just 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:56.359 gone. Evaporated into the sweaty air of tiny 00:18:56.359 --> 00:18:58.660 clubs living only in the memories of the skaters 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:00.440 and punks who were lucky enough to be there. 00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:03.339 Today we live in a world obsessed with creating 00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:06.039 permanent digital content. We want every thought, 00:19:06.180 --> 00:19:08.559 every project, every moment recorded, perfected 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.500 and uploaded to build a static legacy. Right. 00:19:11.579 --> 00:19:13.519 Everything has to last forever. What would happen 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:15.980 if you adopted the fire host mentality instead? 00:19:16.339 --> 00:19:18.319 What if you stopped viewing your daily work as 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:21.079 a final record to be judged by the internet forever 00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:23.880 and started treating it merely as an excuse to 00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:26.680 get out there and experience the messy, unpredictable 00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:30.579 tour of your own life? That is a phenomenal takeaway. 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:34.240 Treat your life like the tour. But let me leave 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:36.380 you with one more thought to chew on, something 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:38.660 that struck me when reviewing all these sources. 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.990 We've talked so much about hustle, touring, and 00:19:41.990 --> 00:19:44.730 Crawford's audacity. But think about the deeply 00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:48.650 tragic catalyst of all this, grief. Watt was 00:19:48.650 --> 00:19:51.289 broken, completely dismantled by the loss of 00:19:51.289 --> 00:19:54.690 his best friend. But what if devastating loss 00:19:54.690 --> 00:19:56.950 is sometimes the only thing that strips away 00:19:56.950 --> 00:19:59.470 our creative ego enough to let a complete stranger 00:19:59.470 --> 00:20:03.049 in? If D -Boon hadn't passed, if the Minutemen 00:20:03.049 --> 00:20:05.329 were still riding high, would Mike Watt have 00:20:05.329 --> 00:20:08.029 ever given an amateur kid from Ohio with a thick 00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:11.440 acoustic guitar and a crazy dream a chance? Probably 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:14.420 not. Probably not. Sometimes the destruction 00:20:14.420 --> 00:20:16.700 of our old foundation is the only thing that 00:20:16.700 --> 00:20:19.420 leaves us vulnerable enough to accept the exact 00:20:19.420 --> 00:20:22.039 weird unexpected help we need to build the next 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:25.279 one. That's incredibly powerful. Thank you so 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.940 much for joining us on this deep dive. Stay curious, 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.079 keep exploring, and we'll catch you next time.