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MUSIC INTERVIEW: Don Letts
Don Letts, 54, is a DJ, film maker and former member of the band Big Audio Dynamite.
A contemporary of The Clash and the Sex Pistols, he made one of the key documentaries about the UK punk movement, The Punk Rock Movie, as well as videos for a range of artists including Bob Marley, Elvis Costello, Franz Ferdinand and Musical Youth.
He has also published an autobiography, Culture Clash: Dread Meets Punk Rockers.
Tomorrow he DJs at the Eclectic Avenue clubnight – created by Galaxy DJ Jacob Kelly – at The Rock Bar Ibiza Leeds.
Your Culture Clash Radio show on BBC 6Music is renowned for its eclectic playlist. Can we look forward to a similarly varied set when you DJ in Leeds?
Absolutely not! When I play out it's in the spirit of my days at The Roxy. We're talking the legacy of Jamaican bass culture, in other words old and new school reggae.
Was your first meeting with Bob Marley in 1976 what inspired you to become involved in music?
Where I come from music isn't just something kids do, it's an inherent part of our culture. Consequently it was all around me growing up. Hell, my dad had a sound-system: Duke Letts Supersonic Sound.
How did you first fall into DJ-ing at punk club The Roxy in 1977?
In the mid-70s I used to run a shop on the Kings Road, Chelsea called Acme Attraction where I played dub reggae all day long. The owner saw the response from the customers and when he opened The Roxy he offered me the gig. This was so early in the scene that there weren't any punk records to play so what am I gonna do but play what I liked and that was hardcore dub reggae. Out of this mix was born the punky reggae party.
When did you decide to take up a Super-8 camera and start shooting the first movie about punk rock?
When punk rock kicked off everyone was picking up guitars and I wanted to pick up something too. My weapon of choice was a movie and the bands were my first inspiration.
Do you think your connections with people like The Clash, the Sex Pistols and the Slits helped give you a unique perspective on the scene?
I was lucky to know all the major punk players, as opposed the the tabloid versions that would soon emerge. And, through mutual respect, I got an insider's view.
Do you see the spirit of punk living on, despite the music and fashion industries' attempts to commodify it?
The current cultural climate feels like punk never happened. But, lucky enough, I get to travel a bit and see manifestations of it in the most unlikely places. Punk attitude is like the force in Star Wars – you can't stop it.
What do you remember most from the trip you made to Jamaica with John Lydon and Richard Branson after the break-up of the Sex Pistols?
Being in Lee Perry studios while he did reggae versions of Sex Pistols tunes.
In the 1980s Mick Jones invited you to become a member of Big Audio Dynamite. Were you surprised, given that you had no background as a musician? What was your main role in the band?
Mick reminded me that Paul Simonon started with stickers on his bass to show him what to play. Difference was that I never took my stickers off my keyboard! I did co-write nearly all the Big Audio Dynamite tunes, as well as taking care of the samples and movie dialogue. E=MC2 was the first tune I ever wrote.
B.A.D.'s first album is soon to be re-released. How do you look back on their legacy?
Don't really have time to look back but I do know that the elements that created B.A.D.'s sound, i.e. Jamaican bass line, New York beats combined with Mick's rock'n'roll guitar and an English sensibility are still the main ingredients of all the things that still excite me today.
Finally, what do you make of the threatened closure of 6 Music?
Culture Clash Radio is the most honest things I've ever done because it doesn't play into the perceptions of what people think I'm about. I'm not at home playing reggae 24/7, I only do that when I'm playing out!
Mar 12, The Rock Bar Ibiza Leeds, 52 Call Lane, Leeds, 8pm, free admission. Tel: 0113 246 8232, www.therockbar.co.uk
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