Lazy Dog (1998–2003) In 1998 Watt established the London
deep house Sunday club night and compilation series
Lazy Dog with Jay Hannan. The club night – where both Watt and Hannan DJ'd in a tag-team style – was hosted twice-monthly at the
Notting Hill Arts Club in west London, and later every two months at The End in central London. Success led to appearances at the
Miami Winter Music Conference and several tours of the United States. Watt produced a string of dance remixes for
Sade,
Sunshine Anderson,
Zero 7,
Maxwell,
Meshell Ndegeocello and
Sandy Rivera. Lazy Dog ended on 16 May 2003 with a farewell closing party at
The End in central London. Two mix compilations –
Lazy Dog Vol. 1 and
Lazy Dog Vol. 2 were released by Virgin Records in 2000 and 2001 respectively.
Neighbourhood and Cherry Jam (2002–2005) For three years between 2002 and 2005, Watt was a co-owner/founder of the West London nightclubs
Neighbourhood and
Cherry Jam. Under Watt's creative direction Cherry Jam hosted underground club nights, art exhibitions, the inaugural events for the long-running
spoken word night
Book Slam and
The Libertines' official debut show. At Neighbourhood, Watt brought in artists such as
Groove Armada and many international DJs to perform at his own in-house club nights. Watt also hosted the 25th Anniversary of the
Rough Trade Records music label and the inaugural
House Music Awards ceremony.
Buzzin' Fly Records (2003–present) In April 2003, Watt launched his own independent
deep house and techno record label Buzzin' Fly Records (named after the
Tim Buckley song). The label proceeded to foster the careers of young and emerging producers/DJs such as Justin Martin, Mademoiselle Caro & Franck Garcia, and Rodamaal. The label hosted Watt's own club productions as well as work from remixers such as Ame, Radio Slave,
Charles Webster and
John Tejada. Between 2003 and 2007 Watt also compiled and mixed four compilation albums, Buzzin' Fly Volumes 1–4, mixing tracks from the label with tracks from other artists. Buzzin' Fly won Best Breakthrough Label at the
House Music Awards in 2004, In April 2013, on the label's tenth anniversary, Watt announced he was scaling back the label's activities to focus more fully on his own creative work. After a period of relative inactivity in 2017 Buzzin' Fly took control of the majority of the Everything But The Girl back catalogue, previously held by Warner Music. The transfer of rights was the result of Warner Music's obligation to release assets into the independent sector as part of the conditions surrounding its acquisition of EMI assets from Universal Music. A licensing deal with
Chrysalis Records was simultaneously arranged for the shared curation of the catalogue. A new Buzzin' Fly website was launched the same year presenting a new home for all three labels within the Buzzin' Fly group – Buzzin' Fly, Strange Feeling and Unmade Road.
DJ After several years of mostly London residencies, Watt performed as a DJ on the festival circuit in 2005, appearing at the
Good Vibrations Festival in Australia, Homelands and Lovebox in the UK, Coachella in the US, and Ireland's Electric Picnic. In 2008 he opened the Sonar Festival in Barcelona, appeared at the
Exit Festival the same year and was a resident DJ from 2007 to 2009 at
We Love Sundays on the
Space Terrace in Ibiza.
Giant Step promoted his three-year residency at Cielo in New York, and he played on the main stage at the inaugural
Electric Zoo Festival on New York City's Randall's Island in 2009. He was nominated four years running (2008–2011) as
Best Deep House DJ at the global
DJ Awards held in Ibiza, and for Outstanding Contribution to Dance Music at the
DJ Magazine Best of British Awards 2009.
Strange Feeling Records (2007–present) Building upon the foundation of Buzzin' Fly, Watt launched Strange Feeling Records in 2007 as a sister label that would release alternative/indie music. The critically acclaimed Copenhagen band
Figurines and the Hungarian trio
The Unbending Trees were early signings of Strange Feeling. The label globally released and distributed the third solo album
Love and Its Opposite by Watt's wife
Tracey Thorn on 17 May 2010; the album was the label's fifth release. This was followed by her alternative Christmas album,
Tinsel and Lights, in 2012. 2015 saw the release of Thorn's original soundtrack to
The Falling – the debut feature film by British film director Carol Morley.
Unmade Road (2014–present) In 2014, Watt launched Unmade Road, a new label and production company to act as a vehicle for his return to recording and touring as a singer-songwriter. He secured a licensing deal for the label with Caroline International. The label released Watt's albums
Hendra in 2014 and
Fever Dream in 2016. ==Radio presenter==