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Casting spells on his studio and recording with Bob Marley – the iconic producer led a life like no other
Music production is sometimes perceived as a largely technical exercise, a practice grounded in science and rationality. But for many of the most gifted producers, their relationship with the recording studio and its tools derives from a more enigmatic source; a place that the least cynical of us might describe as spiritual. For Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, both the recording studio and the music-making process held such an elevated significance. “I see the studio must be like a living thing, a life itself,” Perry once said. “The machine must be live and intelligent. Then I put my mind into the machine and the machine perform reality.”
Perry’s visionary approach to music-making led him to become one of the most influential producers to operate on either side of the millennium. His work in roots reggae with Bob Marley, Junior Murvin, Delroy Wilson and Max Romeo propelled the genre onto the global stage, while his experiments in dub production boldly pioneered a sound and a methodology that has echoed through decades to inspire artists working in hip-hop, post-punk, dubstep and techno. Perry’s iconic dress sense, unpredictable behaviour and his lofty, often mystical way with words combined to create a proudly eccentric character that singled him out as a true original.
Rude boy
Born in 1930s Jamaica, Perry’s entrance into the music industry came with an apprenticeship at Studio One, a renowned record label and studio run by Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd, working as a talent scout, songwriter, drummer and vocalist. It was here that Perry began to experiment with recording his own music, penning Chicken Scratch, the debut release that would earn him his nickname.
As the ’60s progressed, Perry’s style would evolve from ska and rocksteady into the nascent sound of reggae, as evidenced in his 1968 hit People Funny Boy. Featuring a sample of a wailing baby that was intended to taunt a former collaborator, the track was, in typical Perry fashion, miles ahead of its time.
After leaving Studio One, Perry set up shop on his own, assembling an ensemble named The Upsetters to record solo instrumental tracks like Return of Django that would hit the charts in the UK, before the band linked up with Bob Marley to record, under Perry’s direction, some of the best-loved songs in Marley and The Wailers’ catalogue. These formative experiences compelled Perry to set up his own studio in 1974 and take complete creative control of his work; located at his home in Kingston, the Black Ark studio became the stage for Perry’s early adventures into sonic experimentation.
It was here that Perry began to explore extraordinary production techniques that verged on
