Stooges Writing New Music, Mike Watt Says

The Stooges are working on their first new material since 2007's 'The Weirdness,' bassist Mike Watt tells Rolling Stone. That said, Watt doesn't know what the new tunes are for and isn't sure if they mean a new album is in the works.

"I'll tell you this: James Williamson a few months ago had me put bass on nine songs that he gave to Ig [singer Iggy Pop] and Ig is writing up words," says Watt. "So I just know there are new tunes and in fact in November he wants me to do some more. I don't know about some album or whatever or what the plan is with that stuff, but very interesting."

If they do record a new album, it will be the first to feature Williamson since 1973's 'Raw Power.' Williamson played with the Stooges in the early '70s, before they disbanded in 1974 due to internal strife and Pop's heroin addiction. The Stooges reformed in 2003, but Williamson didn't rejoin the group until 2009, following the death of guitarist Ron Asheton. That was two years after the release of their long-awaited comeback album, 'The Weirdness.'

Regardless of where the new tunes turn up, Watt, for one, is excited to have Williamson back in the recording studio. "The 'Raw Power' stuff, for me, is always different than the first two albums, they're just different kinds of musicians, James Williamson and Ron Asheton," he says. "This sounds more like James Williamson, more like the guy who's playing guitar on 'Raw Power' than the guy [Asheton] who's playing on [the Stooges' 1970 album] 'Fun House.' "