In January 2015, just eight months on from the May 2014 release of their self-titled debut album, Los Angeles 'power trio' California Breed announced that they were splitting up. Original drummer Jason Bonham had exited the band in June 2014, and although vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes and guitarist Andrew Watt recruited ex-Queens of the Stone Age drummer Joey Castillo to replace Bonham for live shows, former Deep Purple legend Hughes decided that the project had run its course. At the time, the least-well known member of the band, Andrew Watt made it clear that he didn't want the band to break up, and pledged to "continue the quest to bring rock n roll back to the people that are hungry for it."
Eleven years on, it's fair to say Watt has over-delivered on that promise. In the last year alone, the 35-year-old New Yorker has produced albums for The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney, performed alongside Guns N' Roses duo Slash and Duff McKagan as a tribute to his friend Ozzy Osbourne at the Grammys, played in Eddie Vedder's backing band at his Ohana festival, and appeared on US TV alongside Michael Stipe (ex-R.E.M.). Dig a little further back, and he's also produced albums for Iggy Pop (2023's Every Loser), Pearl Jam (2024's Dark Matter), and Elton John and Brandi Carlile (2025's Who Believes in Angels?). Oh, and he also co-wrote and produced a couple of songs on the new Madonna album, Confessions II: chances are that he's not pining too much for the days when California Breed supported Alter Bridge. Not that working with legends comes without a different type of pressure.
"If I make the shittiest Rolling Stones album of all time, it’s on me," Watts admits in a new interview with The Times newspaper. "It’s not on them because they can play You Can’t Always Get What You Want for the rest of their lives. I put myself on the line to potentially get the shit kicked out of me."
Watt reveals that he was working with pop star Dua Lipa when he got an invitation to tea with Mick Jagger, as a prelude to working with The Rolling Stones.
"If you talk to anyone who’s worked with the Stones, they’ll say the same thing: there’s always a point where it’s informal, but Mick is interviewing you," Watt says. "We were chatting, listening to music, and suddenly Mick was grilling me: what my process was, what I would do with the band. I thought we were just having a cup of tea and some biscuits."
Asked if the Stones are willing to be bossed around in the studio by a 35-year-old, Watt says, "I’m a New Yorker. I say what’s on my mind. I am here to produce, to give my opinion -otherwise what the fuck am I doing? So I do. On everything. And these guys were gracious enough to come down to my level and listen. They might not agree with me, though."
In the interview, Watt also pays tribute to Paul McCartney's tireless energy.
“Paul McCartney has more energy than you and I combined" he tells interview Will Hodgkinson. "Paul is playing two-and-a-half-hour shows each night, he gets on the bus with his boys afterwards, a margarita is poured for him - he’s unbelievable."
