As musicians, the Minutemen defied convention. They played minute-long blasts of punk music. Their songs raged with radically absurd political provocation — If Reagan Played Disco, I Feel Like a Gringo, Swing to the Right. I was privileged to see the Minutemen play live on three or four occasions, but was too young to fully grasp the importance of the experience. Thankfully the documentary We Jam Econo: The Story Of The Minutemen now pays fitting tribute to the most influential punk band you’ve never heard of.

From the outset, the Minutemen made for reluctant rock heroes. The quirky trio — the rotund guitarist/vocalist Dennes Dale “D” Boon, goofy bassist Mike Watt and gonzo drummer George Hurley — were working-class kids from San Pedro, California, 30 miles south of the glitter of Hollywood.

They rose through the early 1980s US hardcore punk scene, toured with Black Flag and recorded for the Flag’s SST Records. One of the most influential punk labels, SST launched Hüsker Dü, Meat Puppets and Dinosaur, Jr. Kurt Cobain’s dream was to one day record for SST.

During their six-year career the trio played at least a thousand dates and recorded more than 150 songs. Their recording triumph was 1984’s double album, the 46-song opus Double Nickles on the Dimes.

They amassed an army of fans, especially after the national tour on which they opened for REM. In We Jam Econo Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sonic Youth and Fugazi credit the Minutemen’s unforgiving style as a big influence.

But the story ended on December 22, 1985, when Boon died in a one-car accident en route to a Christmas chill-out in the Arizona desert.

Tim Irwin and Keith Schieron were too young to have experienced the Minutemen at first hand — they first heard Double Nickles at high school in 1989. But the album had a profound influence on the young friends, and soon their ambition was to make a celluloid tribute to the objects of their adoration.

Fifteen years later, We Jam Econo offers a moving insight into the group’s DIY ethos.

“The Minutemen were inspiring to regular kids like us,” says Irwin, who got his start in film-making directing BMX and wakeboarding videos. “Our goal was to get other people to also feel the incredible freedom and confidence that we got from listening to the Minutemen. With this film we’ve become caretakers to the band’s legacy.”

The term “we jam econo” is Southern California dude-speak invented by Watt to describe a fierce do-it-yourself spirit, manifested in thousand-mile tours in a beaten-up Ford van.

Irwin best sums up the vibe: “To me, we jam econo means doing it on your own terms, doing it low-budget and totally going for something just because you love it.”

The film appeals to more than doctrinaire punk rock know-it-alls, though. Twenty years later, Watt is still devastated by Boon’s death, and still refers to his old pal in the present tense. Although Watt approved the film, he was unable to watch it for months after its completion until his mother Jean coaxed him into sitting down and watching the story of his own band.

In my interview with Watt he avoided mention of Boon for more than haf an hour. Then, when he did refer to him it was only in the context of the film. “Well, it’s a weird thing. I don’t want people to forget him, and with this film he lives on. He’s still out there playing for everybody, and can still speak for himself.”

Now 48 years old, Watt may be the hardest-working man in showbiz. He still tours for more than 200 days a year as bassist for Iggy Pop’s reformed Stooges. He also performs the instrumental group Banyan; in DOS with his ex-wife Kira Roessler, the former bass player for Black Flag, and with his current outfit, called Mike Watt and the Missingmen.

“For me, it’s not just an old, cobwebbed museum,” Watt explains. “I’m livin’ it here. What I learned from all this work is that this music is an amazing way to find your way, to find your sound, to find your voice.”

Steven Blush is the author of American Hardcore: A Tribal History

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