The Secondman's Middle Stand was Mike Watt's third solo album and the first full-length recording that he had made under his own name since the release of Contemplating The Engine Room in 1997.

The storyline for the nine-track album parallel's Watt's real-life January 2000 bout with a near-fatal infection in his perineum with one of his favorite pieces of literature, Dante's The Divine Comedy.

Watt augmented the basic sound of the Secondmen in the studio with tympani and other percussion borrowed from Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros, Banyan), backing vocals by alt-rock chanteuse Petra Haden, and an extensive array of effect pedals that Watt played his bass through in order to help convey some of the emotions and ideas behind the album.

In the winter of 2005, another Pedro native, director Mike Muscarella, filmed a trilogy of videos involving the original Secondmen lineup (Trebotic had to forego touring with the band because of family-related constraints, replaced on the road by Raul Morales) plus Ms. Haden, for the songs "Burstedman", "Beltsandedman", and "Pelicanman".

The cover is reminiscent of John Coltrane's album Interstellar Space, of which Watt is a fan.