Biography
Two distinctive musicians committed to an independent creative process, Samuel Locke Ward and Mike Watt, joined forces under the name SLW cc Watt to produce pop songs through a jagged, low-fidelity method and an exploratory punk sensibility. Working entirely apart, the pair exchanged material digitally, with Ward composing his melodic and whimsically offbeat pieces before forwarding rough versions to Watt, who supplied his signature elastic bass parts and intermittent spoken segments while additional contributors added occasional elements. Their first round of exchanges yielded the project’s debut album, Real Manic Time, issued in 2021 and containing thirty tracks across thirty-five minutes; the follow-up full-length, Purple Pie Plow, arrived in 2023 and featured denser arrangements along with several selections exceeding three minutes.
Originating from Iowa City, Iowa, Samuel Locke Ward participated in multiple garage groups before turning to home recording after sustaining injuries in a 2004 car crash during a Miracles of God tour. Confined to a hospital bed during recovery, he captured the rudimentary set Boombox by Bedside, later released on cassette through the independent Unread label. He then focused more intently on self-recorded material, releasing eight albums between 2005 and 2010, primarily as CD-Rs or digital files, followed by a surge that brought seventeen more releases between 2012 and 2016. Those efforts encompassed live documents, informal sketches, a complete re-creation of Nirvana’s In Utero, and a collection of parodic Misfits numbers issued under the name Admiral Cadaver & the New Pricks. Ward also exchanged home-studio tracks with fellow recording enthusiast R. Stevie Moore, Half Japanese frontman Jad Fair, and songwriter Simon Joyner.
Ward contacted San Pedro bassist and songwriter Mike Watt, who co-founded the Minutemen and fIREHOSE, performed and recorded with the reunited Stooges, appeared on sessions ranging from J Mascis to Kelly Clarkson, and issued several solo albums, most of them thematic concept works he labeled “operas.” Watt consented to the collaboration, resulting in 2021’s Real Manic Time under the SLW cc Watt banner, which alternated brief song fragments with fuller pieces and credited Ward with vocals, guitar, keyboards, and drums while Watt handled bass and spoken passages. The duo demonstrated their combined output with the subsequent Let’s Build a Logjam EP, which compressed forty-five songs into under nineteen minutes. A third effort, Purple Pie Plow, surfaced in July 2023 and merged pop, rock, and glam elements across twenty-four tracks totaling forty minutes; the album also incorporated drumming from Dean Clean, guitar from Joe Jack Talcum—both of the Dead Milkmen—and saxophone from Bob Bucko, Jr., who had previously recorded the 2021 album Discount Sacrifice at the Altar of Bargains with Ward.
Originating from Iowa City, Iowa, Samuel Locke Ward participated in multiple garage groups before turning to home recording after sustaining injuries in a 2004 car crash during a Miracles of God tour. Confined to a hospital bed during recovery, he captured the rudimentary set Boombox by Bedside, later released on cassette through the independent Unread label. He then focused more intently on self-recorded material, releasing eight albums between 2005 and 2010, primarily as CD-Rs or digital files, followed by a surge that brought seventeen more releases between 2012 and 2016. Those efforts encompassed live documents, informal sketches, a complete re-creation of Nirvana’s In Utero, and a collection of parodic Misfits numbers issued under the name Admiral Cadaver & the New Pricks. Ward also exchanged home-studio tracks with fellow recording enthusiast R. Stevie Moore, Half Japanese frontman Jad Fair, and songwriter Simon Joyner.
Ward contacted San Pedro bassist and songwriter Mike Watt, who co-founded the Minutemen and fIREHOSE, performed and recorded with the reunited Stooges, appeared on sessions ranging from J Mascis to Kelly Clarkson, and issued several solo albums, most of them thematic concept works he labeled “operas.” Watt consented to the collaboration, resulting in 2021’s Real Manic Time under the SLW cc Watt banner, which alternated brief song fragments with fuller pieces and credited Ward with vocals, guitar, keyboards, and drums while Watt handled bass and spoken passages. The duo demonstrated their combined output with the subsequent Let’s Build a Logjam EP, which compressed forty-five songs into under nineteen minutes. A third effort, Purple Pie Plow, surfaced in July 2023 and merged pop, rock, and glam elements across twenty-four tracks totaling forty minutes; the album also incorporated drumming from Dean Clean, guitar from Joe Jack Talcum—both of the Dead Milkmen—and saxophone from Bob Bucko, Jr., who had previously recorded the 2021 album Discount Sacrifice at the Altar of Bargains with Ward.
Albums
Singles
