- Release year: 2010 Running Time: 48min.
- Format: HDV + Super 8 Lenguage: English
ABOUT THE FILM
Don Letts is an unsung hero of British music. "Superstonic Sound: The Rebel Dread" is a documentary about the Letts family legacy that mirrors the history of BASS in the UK from Dub, Reggae and Punk to 80s pop, Hip Hop and Dubstep; a musical, cultural and personal link between past and present.
Don's father was amongst the first Jamaican immigrants to Britain and he brought his sound system with him, introducing London to Jamaican Dub with its heavy BASS accent.
Don grew up in Brixton, immersed in Dub and Reggae. In the context of Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech and KBW – Keep Britain White - grafitied across the walls of London, Don became the lone Rebel Dread crossing musical and cultural boundaries between black and white. He became DJ at the first Punk club, the legendary "Roxy" where in between live Punk sets, he played hard core Dub-Reggae and fortunately for him...
"The Punk kids liked it. They liked the obvious anti-establishment vibe, they liked the BASS lines and they didn't mind the weed either."
His son Jet, now 24, is trying to make it as a DJ and producer of Dubstep – the latest sound in British music and a direct descendant of Dub, Reggae and Hip Hop. If Reggae was black music and Punk was white guys influenced by Jamaican music, Dubstep is perhaps the first true combination of black and white musical and cultural traditions in today's post-racial London.
Three generations of DJ; the Letts family has been an integral part of British music for over 50 years. Their story IS the story of BASS in British music.
ABOUT DON LETTS
Don Letts' reputation has been firmly established in both the film and music world by a substantial body of work, from the late 70's through the 80's, 90's and well into the millennium. His work has been exhibited in The Kitchen N.Y.C, The Institute of Contemporary Art, The N.F.T in London and was honoured at Brooklyn's BAM festival. In March 2003 he won a Grammy for his documentary 'Westway To The World'.
He came to notoriety in the late 70's as the DJ that single handedly turned a whole generation of punks onto reggae. It was whilst DJing at the first punk club 'The Roxy' in 1977, that Don adopted the punk D.I.Y ethic and began to make his first film 'The Punk Rock Movie'. Shot on Super-8mm, it is the only documentary on the U.K punk scene featuring The Sex Pistols, The Clash and many others. This led to a period directing over 300 music videos for a diverse range of artists, including The Clash, Bob Marley, Elvis Costello and Beenie Man.
From the days of Punk Rock to the present, he has always been drawn towards musical projects. He created the band Basement Five, released a single with members of John Lydon's P.I.L, managed The Slits and collaborated with members of Trouble Funk.
In the mid 80's he formed the group 'Big Audio Dynamite' with Mick Jones (ex-Clash). He went on to perform and co-write four albums with B.A.D, achieving several hits on both sides of the Atlantic including the hit "E=Mc2".
As the 'Dub Cartel Sound System' he has performed DJ sets for The Rough Trade 25th Anniversary, Jarvis Cocker's Desperate Sound System, Trojan, Lee Perry's Meltdown, Glastonbury 2003/4 and Stussy's 25th anniversary.
His credits as a director include a variety of films and documentaries, including 'Dancehall Queen', 'Westway To The World' and 'PUNK: Attitude'.
Don has also released several compilation albums: 1996's'Time Warp Dub Clash' (Island Records), 2002's 'Dread Meets The Punk Rockers Uptown' (Heavenly Records), 2003's 'Don Letts presents: The Mighty Trojan Sound' (Sanctuary Records) and in 2004 'Dread Meets B-Boy Downtown' (Heavenly Records).
In March 2007, he released his autobiography "Culture Clash: Dread Meets Punk Rockers".
He is currently working as a DJ for BBC Radio 6 and continues to make documentary films – his most recent work "Strummerville" is set to become another hit in a career as varied and distinguished as anyone in British music today.
ABOUT THE CREW
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Raphael Erichsen (director)
A former art director, Brazilian filmmaker Raphael Erichsen left his 9 to 5 job at the biggest South America editorial company in São Paulo to go to Spain and study documentary films in Barcelona. One year later, with a few movies under his belt about social issues in Catalunya, he moved to London to start work on Superstonic Sound. His passion and connection with Jamaican Bass Culture and Punk Rock come from his background in Rio de Janeiro where he used to run his own DIY independent record store, label and distro. This experience together with his strong DIY ethos created an important combination in the making of the film.
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Edward Dallal (co-director/producer)
Edward Dallal is a passionate young documentary maker with drive and vision. In little over a year he has directed and produced three major documentaries as well as a number of shorts and promotional videos. Having graduated in Social and Political Science from Cambridge University, Edward spent several years working abroad. He began his creative career as a photographer but soon his interest developed into documentary, to tell the stories behind the pictures. In 2007 he moved to Barcelona where he took a Master's in documentary film. He has spent a year working as a professional film maker in London and his documentaries deal with a wide variety of topics from terminal illness to Jamaican bass in British music, Japanese traditional theatre and beyond.
