Lee “Scratch” Perry’s guide to the cosmos: the master’s religion of dub
Production staff are rarely given the credit they deserve within the world of music. Although they are utterly essential to the final product, it is often the musical artists themselves who are lauded with all the praise. If any one producer could combat this state of affairs, it was Lee “Scratch” Perry. An essential figure in the development of ska, dub, and reggae music in Jamaica, Perry’s pioneering production techniques soon made him a globally renowned name, attracting the attention of countless different artists desperate to work with him.
In the early days of ska and reggae music, during the 1950s, Perry got involved in this blossoming scene by working alongside Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd on a soundsystem. Eventually, this would lead to a position within Coxsone’s legendary recording facility, Studio One, which produced a wealth of early reggae and ska anthems that helped to establish the national sound of Jamaica during the period of independence from the British Empire. Eventually, Perry formed his own label, Upsetter Records, in 1968, which is when his production genius rose to the forefront.
Particularly after Perry constructed the Black Ark studio in the early 1970s, a plethora of iconic artists would seek him out for his innovative production techniques. Working with everybody from Bob Marley to The Clash, the Jamaican producer soon became a colossal and globally renowned figure within the world of music production, and that reputation followed him around for the rest of his life.
Although many have tried, nobody could quite replicate the distinctive sounds of a Lee “Scratch” Perry production. So, what was his secret? Perry was always pretty open about his techniques and motivations, the majority of which were linked closely to his spiritual character. Perry was a staunch supporter of the Rastafari movement and religion, which regularly drew from the world of spiritualism and mysticism.
Of course, these beliefs soon became ingrained in Perry’s work, using his belief and spiritualism to open his mind to new possibilities and production techniques. In many ways, Perry saw himself merely as a vehicle through which higher powers could bring their music to Earth.
Some of these techniques included burying reels of tape underground, filling his Black Ark studio with candles and burning incense, and even blessing his recording equipment prior to use. Perry always tried to be at one with his equipment and studio, viewing the Black Ark as an organism in its own right. The producer himself once shared, “The studio must be like a living thing, a life itself. The machine must be live and intelligent. Then I put my mind into the machine and the machine perform reality.”
“Invisible thought waves,” he continued, detailing the spiritual nature of his work, “You put them into the machine by sending them through the controls and the knobs or you jack it into the jack panel. The jack panel is the brain itself, so you got to patch up the brain and make the brain a living man, that the brain can take what you sending into it and live.”
More often than not, Perry opened himself up to this mystical way of working using marijuana, which is likely the root inspiration for many of his innovations. He would often fill the studio with smoke, even blowing marijuana smoke directly onto the tapes, imbuing the music contained within with an air of that Rastafari spirituality. Although these techniques and innovations conjured up by Lee “Scratch” Perry were never in danger of becoming the norm for music producers, the strength and enduring quality of the material he produced largely speaks for itself.
Throughout musical history, few other producers could match Perry’s pioneering style or the various classic records he worked on. Perhaps more musicians and producers should embrace the cosmos in their work.
