I ran into Mike Watt backstage at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Monday night. Watt is an old friend (and one of my all-time heroes) and he'd just come off stage with the Stooges after killing on covers of Madonna's "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light." Watt's got deep history with Madonna — back in '86 he covered "Burnin' Up" with the Sonic Youth side project Ciccone Youth, and in the '90s he fronted a band called the Madonnabes. But black-tie is not Watt's style (he was decked out in a blue mechanic's jumpsuit) and he told me he felt "weird and out of place" at the swanky Waldorf-Astoria event. Watt skipped the dinner and cocktails to stay in his room at the Waldorf (which he renamed the "Waldork") working on a new song for Funanori, his awesome, trippy collaboration with Go Team! guitarist Kaori Tsuchida. In an email the next day, Watt filled me in on his multiple other new projects, including a new Black Gang album with guitarist Nels Cline, a Stooges tour this Spring and a collaboration with Tobacco from Black Moth Super Rainbow. "He's into synths and electronics mostly, stuff that's really new me," Watt wrote. "It's teaching much — which I think is important for a fifty year old punk rocker!" For anyone in L.A., Watt's got a gig tonight at Safari Sam's with his stellar trio the Missingmen. His only regret about the Hall of Fame night? "I found out later I might've been able to meet John Fogerty," he wrote, "which would've been incredible for someone like me." I asked if he got to meet Madonna. "I was too afraid to talk w/her," Watt wrote, "but she shook my hand."