Don Letts, the film director, DJ, musician, and scenester, is known for his pacing nature. He constantly walks back and forth in his studio shed at the bottom of his London home’s garden. Decorated with mementos from his diverse and active artistic life, Letts is always on the move. At 67 years old, he explains, “I can’t sit still, literally.” A large print mock-up of a vinyl single by The Clash hangs on the wall behind him, a reminder of his work with the punk band. Letts worked as a filmmaker with The Clash, and he is even featured on the cover of another one of their records, “Black Market Clash.” Additionally, there is a picture of Letts with Bob Marley nearby. As the child of Jamaican immigrants, Letts befriended Marley during the reggae star’s visits to the UK. Letts and Marley even had an argument about Letts’s bondage trousers, which later led to Marley recording the song “Punky Reggae Party.”
Letts’s role as a cultural “conduit” is evident throughout his studio shed, with film posters, framed gold records, flyers, books, and a close-up photograph of a boombox. Stacks of cassettes, including one labeled BAD, represent Big Audio Dynamite, the band Letts formed with The Clash’s Mick Jones in 1984. And at the front of a row of vinyl records sits his latest musical venture, his debut solo album called “Outta Sync.”
Letts describes the album as the true representation of who he is. It is a culmination of his recent retrospection, including a memoir titled “There and Black Again,” published in 2021, and a documentary film about his life called “Rebel Dread,” released last year. This seeming contradiction to Letts’s statement in his earlier book, “Culture Clash,” where he admitted preferring to stay in the shadows, is addressed by Letts himself. He states that in the oversaturated world we live in today, it is necessary to make oneself known. He adds with a smile, “There’s so much of everything that nothing means anything. That’s a lyric on my album, by the way.”
The creation of “Outta Sync” was a happy accident during the pandemic. It started with producer Martin “Youth” Glover giving Letts several basslines, which Letts loves. This collaboration led to Letts working with another producer, Daniele Gaudi, and eventually resulted in a diverse album that incorporates various styles of music, from reggae to pop and rock.
The album’s title track explores the duality of Letts’s musical identity, being raised on pop and bass. Born in 1956, the year Elvis Presley released “Heartbreak Hotel,” Letts considers himself as old as rock and roll. His parents were among the Windrush generation of Caribbean immigrants who settled in the UK. Letts acknowledges that it took a long time for black and British to mean something, but for him, a turning point was Musical Youth’s 1982 hit “Pass the Dutchie,” a major cultural totem for black British people.
Based in Kensal Rise, Letts grew up in Brixton, where his father ran an amateur sound system called Duke Letts Superstonic. Following in his father’s footsteps, Letts became the first resident DJ at the Roxy in 1976, where he played roots reggae to the emerging punk scene. Letts believes that the style is the gift that Caribbean immigrants brought to the UK and without them, the cultural landscape would be limited to “Greensleeves” and “fucking Coronation Street.”
Letts’s true talent lies in his ability to curate music. He has been a part of various bands, including a short-lived period with reggae outfit Basement 5. However, Letts considers his gift to be his good taste. He created compilation tapes for punk acts like Blondie and Patti Smith, and even the Beastie Boys credit Letts for changing their approach to making music with his dancehall reggae mixtapes.
Letts’s time in New York is commemorated on “Outta Sync” with the ska tribute “The Doorman,” dedicated to Haoui Montaug, a figure in Manhattan’s nightlife in the 1980s. The album features an eclectic range of guests, including actor John Cusack, singer Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, and Hollie Cook, daughter of Sex Pistols’ drummer Paul Cook. However, Letts had to remove vocal parts recorded by The Specials’ Terry Hall, who passed away last year. Letts declines to discuss the circumstances, stating that it raises the question of who owns the culture.
“Outta Sync” is now available for listeners to enjoy.
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