Don Letts Interview - Exclusive
STUART MCLEAN (SM) FOR MY REVIEWER: When you started shooting did you have any formal training?
DON LETTS (DL): I picked up a Super 8 Movie Camera inspired by the whole punk DIY ethos. When the punk thing kicked off the energy was so infectious, you wanted to get involved. It wasn't a spectator sport; all my mates were picking up guitars and I wanted to pick up something too. By this time the stage was full up so I picked up a Super 8 Camera and started filming the bands that I liked. Basically, I taught myself as I went along. I didn't go to film school, didn't even read the instructions that came with the movie camera.
SM: What drove you to start shooting in the first place?
DL: The energy of the punk rock movement; it wasn't a spectator sport. It was about audience participation. If you had a good idea, you could be part of this thing too. It broke down that forth wall that said, 'we're the stars and you're the audience.' You could be part of this thing too. So, it was the punk explosion that got me to re-invent myself as a filmmaker.
SM: Who paid for all the stock, development and so on?
DL: Around the time of the punk explosion I was running a shop on the King's Road, Chelsea called Acne Attractions. I used to knick the money from the till and used that to pay for the stock, which I might add, was really expensive back in those days. Super 8 cartridges ran for about 3 minutes, and each 3 minutes including processing cost of about £15, which was really good for discipline. It really made you focus on what you were doing.
SM: How do you cover the audio recording and then sync the 2 together?
DL: The Canon camera that I was using at the time, had a facility for a mic attachment, and there's a magnetic audio stripe on the Super 8 film. It went directly on the film and the sync took care of itself.
SM: Do you think you successfully captured the moment?
DL: I guess you wouldn't be talking to me if I didn't. Even if I didn't successfully capture it, the point is my film isn't about punk rock, it is punk rock. I was the only person there at ground zero with a movie camera. So did I successfully capture the moment? Yes!
SM: If you had access to the sort of equipment you used today, would you have done it differently?
DL:Yeah it wouldn't have been as good for the very reason I just stated, that Super 8 film was so expensive that you had to be very focused and you were really shooting at a ratio of 1 to 1. With the advent of affordable technology you can kind of hose things down which isn't a very discipline way for filmmaking. When I pressed record, every shot, every second had to count. The downside of affordable technology mediocrity just that you can afford it, you can do it. Ultimately you need a good idea.
SM: Which bands did you admire the most and why?
DL: The bands I admired the most are all in the Punk Rock Movie. Predictably Pistols, Clash, Slits, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Subway Sect, Buzzcocks, Johnny Moped, X-Ray Spex and a few others. The truth of the matter is, that for every one great punk rock band there was 50 s***ty ones. People do tend to forget that.
SM: Did your material really get transferred to 35m, what did it feel like watching it on the big screen for the first time?
DL: Yes it did get transferred to 35m, and when I first saw it blown up on the big screen I was horrified. The grain was blown up to the size of golf balls and it kind of blew it out of context. The size of the screen really wasn't important; what was important was the content, so I wasn't bowled over the 35m blow up, which was really done for commercial reasons.
SM: Can you comment on the state of the music industry today?
DL: I could but why should I? Joking aside. Obviously the advent of the Internet is causing the record industry major headaches. But if you're into music as a business you've got problems, but if you're into music as a form of expression and an art form, then the world is a big and beautiful place with really exciting possibilities. The advent of technology is good for some, bad for others.
SM: Which of the bands you recorded still sound good when you listen to their stuff today?
DL: The Clash, The Pistols, and The Slits.
SM: . The marriage between reggae and punk was an unlikely one. Why do you think it worked?
DL: Interesting question. John Savage the author put it to me besides the fact that young working white kids were gravitating towards black music for their rebellious fix anyway. One of the most interesting things about the reggae I was playing at The Roxy, is that it was such a welcoming relief after hearing most of the crappy punk bands that were on stage. It has to be said before that for every… I am exaggerating… great punk band there was 10 s*** ones. So hearing a bit of Augusto Pablo dubbed in between these crappy sets was like a welcoming relief. The other way to look at it, the punks picked up on music repertoire quality of reggae. The songs were about something like how are we going to live. Obviously they like the rebel stance of the music, they loved the bass line and they didn't mind the weed either.
SM: What are you listening to at the moment?
DL: Nothing that's on MTV, and nothing that's on the Top 40. I picked up an album by a group called Dengue Fever, a really interesting Cambodian, psychedelic rock band. I'm interested in a lot of things operating underneath the radar. The minute you kind of broaden your worldly views and embrace what's going on around this planet; there is a lot of interesting things going on but not so much coming out of the west. Western culture is becoming increasingly conservative; it almost feels like punk never happened. So, I'm looking to the amateur and naïve for interesting ideas.
SM:. What's your all time favorite movies/DVDS?
DL: I don't know what to tell you about that. I like that DVD documentary, the one that's about the Dandy Warhol's and Brian Jones's Massacre. Times I forgot that it was a documentary, it felt like it was cast and scripted at some point, I don't pick favorites, why should I? It changes on day-to-day basis.
SM: What are you working on at the moment?
DL: Interesting question. When your left out of the centre, life's a bit of a hustle and as Orson Welms once said, 'film making is like 10%, film making 90% hustling. A creative hustle, but a hustle never the less. So I never know what I'm up to, although at the moment I'm in a middle of project with Richard Horley and Tony Christie believe it or not. Richard Horley's producing an album for Tony Christie with contributions from Jarvis Cocker and the Artic Monkeys. I'm a big fan of Richard Horley in particular, so that's what I'm into at the moment, other than my radio show which is on 6 music and DJ-ing nationally and internationally.
SM: Do you have a myspace site, or websites that readers can link to?
DL: I do have a myspace site; http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=65223957
I don't know how to use it. It's basically there so that if someone wants to find me they can. I do reply to requests and questions people send. It's not a very interesting looking site but if people want to reach me they can, and if they want to give me a job, even better!
SM: Many thanks Don.
DON LETTS (DL): I picked up a Super 8 Movie Camera inspired by the whole punk DIY ethos. When the punk thing kicked off the energy was so infectious, you wanted to get involved. It wasn't a spectator sport; all my mates were picking up guitars and I wanted to pick up something too. By this time the stage was full up so I picked up a Super 8 Camera and started filming the bands that I liked. Basically, I taught myself as I went along. I didn't go to film school, didn't even read the instructions that came with the movie camera.
SM: What drove you to start shooting in the first place?
DL: The energy of the punk rock movement; it wasn't a spectator sport. It was about audience participation. If you had a good idea, you could be part of this thing too. It broke down that forth wall that said, 'we're the stars and you're the audience.' You could be part of this thing too. So, it was the punk explosion that got me to re-invent myself as a filmmaker.
SM: Who paid for all the stock, development and so on?
DL: Around the time of the punk explosion I was running a shop on the King's Road, Chelsea called Acne Attractions. I used to knick the money from the till and used that to pay for the stock, which I might add, was really expensive back in those days. Super 8 cartridges ran for about 3 minutes, and each 3 minutes including processing cost of about £15, which was really good for discipline. It really made you focus on what you were doing.
SM: How do you cover the audio recording and then sync the 2 together?
DL: The Canon camera that I was using at the time, had a facility for a mic attachment, and there's a magnetic audio stripe on the Super 8 film. It went directly on the film and the sync took care of itself.
SM: Do you think you successfully captured the moment?
DL: I guess you wouldn't be talking to me if I didn't. Even if I didn't successfully capture it, the point is my film isn't about punk rock, it is punk rock. I was the only person there at ground zero with a movie camera. So did I successfully capture the moment? Yes!
SM: If you had access to the sort of equipment you used today, would you have done it differently?
DL:Yeah it wouldn't have been as good for the very reason I just stated, that Super 8 film was so expensive that you had to be very focused and you were really shooting at a ratio of 1 to 1. With the advent of affordable technology you can kind of hose things down which isn't a very discipline way for filmmaking. When I pressed record, every shot, every second had to count. The downside of affordable technology mediocrity just that you can afford it, you can do it. Ultimately you need a good idea.
SM: Which bands did you admire the most and why?
DL: The bands I admired the most are all in the Punk Rock Movie. Predictably Pistols, Clash, Slits, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Subway Sect, Buzzcocks, Johnny Moped, X-Ray Spex and a few others. The truth of the matter is, that for every one great punk rock band there was 50 s***ty ones. People do tend to forget that.
SM: Did your material really get transferred to 35m, what did it feel like watching it on the big screen for the first time?
DL: Yes it did get transferred to 35m, and when I first saw it blown up on the big screen I was horrified. The grain was blown up to the size of golf balls and it kind of blew it out of context. The size of the screen really wasn't important; what was important was the content, so I wasn't bowled over the 35m blow up, which was really done for commercial reasons.
SM: Can you comment on the state of the music industry today?
DL: I could but why should I? Joking aside. Obviously the advent of the Internet is causing the record industry major headaches. But if you're into music as a business you've got problems, but if you're into music as a form of expression and an art form, then the world is a big and beautiful place with really exciting possibilities. The advent of technology is good for some, bad for others.
SM: Which of the bands you recorded still sound good when you listen to their stuff today?
DL: The Clash, The Pistols, and The Slits.
SM: . The marriage between reggae and punk was an unlikely one. Why do you think it worked?
DL: Interesting question. John Savage the author put it to me besides the fact that young working white kids were gravitating towards black music for their rebellious fix anyway. One of the most interesting things about the reggae I was playing at The Roxy, is that it was such a welcoming relief after hearing most of the crappy punk bands that were on stage. It has to be said before that for every… I am exaggerating… great punk band there was 10 s*** ones. So hearing a bit of Augusto Pablo dubbed in between these crappy sets was like a welcoming relief. The other way to look at it, the punks picked up on music repertoire quality of reggae. The songs were about something like how are we going to live. Obviously they like the rebel stance of the music, they loved the bass line and they didn't mind the weed either.
SM: What are you listening to at the moment?
DL: Nothing that's on MTV, and nothing that's on the Top 40. I picked up an album by a group called Dengue Fever, a really interesting Cambodian, psychedelic rock band. I'm interested in a lot of things operating underneath the radar. The minute you kind of broaden your worldly views and embrace what's going on around this planet; there is a lot of interesting things going on but not so much coming out of the west. Western culture is becoming increasingly conservative; it almost feels like punk never happened. So, I'm looking to the amateur and naïve for interesting ideas.
SM:. What's your all time favorite movies/DVDS?
DL: I don't know what to tell you about that. I like that DVD documentary, the one that's about the Dandy Warhol's and Brian Jones's Massacre. Times I forgot that it was a documentary, it felt like it was cast and scripted at some point, I don't pick favorites, why should I? It changes on day-to-day basis.
SM: What are you working on at the moment?
DL: Interesting question. When your left out of the centre, life's a bit of a hustle and as Orson Welms once said, 'film making is like 10%, film making 90% hustling. A creative hustle, but a hustle never the less. So I never know what I'm up to, although at the moment I'm in a middle of project with Richard Horley and Tony Christie believe it or not. Richard Horley's producing an album for Tony Christie with contributions from Jarvis Cocker and the Artic Monkeys. I'm a big fan of Richard Horley in particular, so that's what I'm into at the moment, other than my radio show which is on 6 music and DJ-ing nationally and internationally.
SM: Do you have a myspace site, or websites that readers can link to?
DL: I do have a myspace site; http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=65223957
I don't know how to use it. It's basically there so that if someone wants to find me they can. I do reply to requests and questions people send. It's not a very interesting looking site but if people want to reach me they can, and if they want to give me a job, even better!
SM: Many thanks Don.
Your Opinions and Comments
Be the first to post a comment!