In 2009, musicians Stefano Pilia and Andrew Belfi invited Mike Watt to collaborate on a music project without having played together before. Mike met Stefano during previous European tours. Stefano and Andrew have extensive backgrounds in punk and electroacoustic music. Mike went to Italy to write, perform and record "La Busta Gialla". Mike named the group "Il Sogno Del Marinaio" (The Sailor's Dream). It is his first collaboration with Italian musicians. His mother is of Italian descent and his father was a sailor. In Mike's words, " It's a voyage back home, a sailor's dream of discovery through connections that baffle linear thinking..that is part of the magical ocean of music I dearly believe in". Il Sogno will tour Europe on Feb/March 2013.