British born Don Letts is the director of the new IFC documentary, Punk: Attitude, about the history and future of punk rock. Letts get his punk cred from being an integral player in the original punk rock scene. Hes played music with former Clash member Mick Jones in Big Audio Dynamite, directed music videos for Jimmy Cliff and made documentaries on Bob Marley and The Clash.
Punk: Attitude documents the revolution in pop music, film, and fashion that punk rock caused and features interviews with Henry Rollins, Chryssie Hynde, and many more.
Punk: Attitude airs Saturday July 9 at 10pm ET/11pm PT on IFC
Daniel Robert Epstein: I interviewed Julian Temple not long ago because they just released The Great Rock and Roll swindle on DVD. When was the last time you saw that?
Don Letts: I cant remember but what I did see recently that blew me away was Sid and Nancy. I saw it the first time around and I hated it because it was only a couple of years after Sid had died. I saw it the other day and I had to keep reminding myself no, thats not Sid thats Gary Oldman. God what an incredible job he did.
DRE: Whose idea was it to do Punk: Attitude?
DL: All I know is that somebody came to me and said do you want to do a documentary on punk rock? and I was like Give me a fucking break. In the UK every other year everyone talks about a punk revival. Then being a freelance film director you go away and you look at your bank account and you look at the job prospective. I thought why do people keep coming back to this? What is it about punk rock? What were really talking about here is counterculture and then it occurred to me that the overemphasis on the late 70s incarnation of counterculture did the idea a disservice because if you understand that its part of an ongoing dynamic, which means that it can happen again. A lot of these programs tend to have this nostalgic look back on this weird thing that happened in the late 70s with the mohawks and the safety pins which it was never about. That was just a media contrived thing. I approached it with the idea of showing it in the context of an ongoing dynamic early in the age of counterculture that didnt start with punk rock and it doesnt end with punk rock.
DRE: Did anyone make a suggestion of not doing it in the style that you did, the talking heads style, which seems to be out of vogue right now?
DL: With the budgets that they give you for these things there was no other way. Youre not going to get better than footage of Iggy [Pop] doing his thing or the MC5. I wanted to talk to the people that made this thing and I wanted to show what it was that we were talking about. For this particular project, talking to the major participants and showing the relevant archives worked for me.
DRE: Where did all that great footage come from?
DL: You play, you pay man. Its expensive shit. Put it this way, theres one particular clip in there and its less than 30 seconds and it cost 7000 pounds. Whats funny after doing this project is that it occurred to me about who owns the culture. I dont want to get into particular names but if an artist performs on TV for people and then years later I want to kind of show it in a documentary, I have to pay the TV station. Within the program I wanted to show some surrealistic art but I couldnt show a picture in the program of because I had to pay somebody to be able to use the image and it doesnt make sense. Im trying to turn people onto something.
DRE: I remember when Chris Rock said something about how Shaquille ONeal isnt wealthy hes rich. The people who pay him are wealthy. Why isnt there a special channel that just airs the MC5 concerts all day.
DL: Im paying fucking TV stations that had nothing to do with it. Ive just done a documentary on Sun Ra. I paid something like $5000 for a clip that was on one of the major stations. Is Sun Ra or any of his family going to get any of that money? Who gets that money and whoever gets that money do they need the fucking money?
DRE: Was it difficult getting to a lot of the people you interviewed?
DL: No, I think what gets to these people is an interesting idea. If Id have gone to them and said look I want to do a documentary on punk rock, i.e. some nostalgic look, they would have told me go fuck myself. What I did was write up my treatment, my theory on how this was an ongoing dynamic that had started way back. Jerry Lee Lewis for instance jumping on a piano or Chuck Berry or whatever and the idea that if it happened back then it can happen again. I think thats why they said yes, its as simple as that, they were attracted to the idea. They thought it was a different approach.
The reason why youre sitting here talking to me is because I was inspired by punk rock. Instead of buying a Clash poster and putting it on my wall, I picked up a Super 8 camera. The ultimate idea behind my film is to remind people that they can empower themselves because when you look around today man, its like punk rock never fucking happened.
DRE: What are some of these guys doing now?
DL: The MC5 still out there. Theyre doing it man.
DRE: I couldnt imagine them living off of it.
DL: No they probably aint, but I dont think any of these guys got into this to be rich. They got into it as a means of expressing how they felt and maybe just live as opposed to being rich. Im not a rich person but thats really not my desire. My desire is to be able to express myself and if I can make a living out of that then I am rich.
DRE: How much did making this movie change how you saw it all. What did you learn?
DL: I didnt learn shit. Im coming from Jamaican culture where the DIY ethic, the whole anti-establishment thing, using music as a means of communicating ideas. It was interesting in the late 70s to see my white friends having to come up with their own sound track because it was all that recession, unemployment, lots of strikes and the general theme was, as the Pistols said, no future. But theres always been a kind of punk DIY ethic in the third world anyway. We didnt look at it as an artform, we just looked at it as a mode of survival. I saw how I could use this attitude to not just survive but maybe to get to somewhere else. Im a direct product of punk rock. But Im being flippant. Ill tell you what I learned, I learned how fucking great Minor Threat and Fugazi are.
DRE: When did you see your first show?
DL: The first punk show I ever saw was either the Sex Pistols at Nashville in London in 1976 or it would have been The Clash at the Roxy. The whole punk thing in the UK happened over a very short period of time like a couple of years before it all got pretty stupid and then tabloid punk rock was created. Then the people who were an integral part of the whole process moved on.
DRE: Are you doing an extended cut for the DVD?
DL: There is an extended thing happening but I unfortunately am not involved. Im really worried about that but it has the potential to be really good.
DRE: Was there anyone who turned you down flat and said no way?
DL: Yes a couple of people. Iggy, Im very sad about. Obviously Mr. Lou Reed is not in my film. Richard Hell I would have loved, but what I would have had to do was get other people to talk about his part, because he was obviously integral to the whole thing. When you look at his style of playing and his image and then you look at Johnny Rotten, I dont want to say too much but do you know what I mean.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Punk: Attitude documents the revolution in pop music, film, and fashion that punk rock caused and features interviews with Henry Rollins, Chryssie Hynde, and many more.
Punk: Attitude airs Saturday July 9 at 10pm ET/11pm PT on IFC
Daniel Robert Epstein: I interviewed Julian Temple not long ago because they just released The Great Rock and Roll swindle on DVD. When was the last time you saw that?
Don Letts: I cant remember but what I did see recently that blew me away was Sid and Nancy. I saw it the first time around and I hated it because it was only a couple of years after Sid had died. I saw it the other day and I had to keep reminding myself no, thats not Sid thats Gary Oldman. God what an incredible job he did.
DRE: Whose idea was it to do Punk: Attitude?
DL: All I know is that somebody came to me and said do you want to do a documentary on punk rock? and I was like Give me a fucking break. In the UK every other year everyone talks about a punk revival. Then being a freelance film director you go away and you look at your bank account and you look at the job prospective. I thought why do people keep coming back to this? What is it about punk rock? What were really talking about here is counterculture and then it occurred to me that the overemphasis on the late 70s incarnation of counterculture did the idea a disservice because if you understand that its part of an ongoing dynamic, which means that it can happen again. A lot of these programs tend to have this nostalgic look back on this weird thing that happened in the late 70s with the mohawks and the safety pins which it was never about. That was just a media contrived thing. I approached it with the idea of showing it in the context of an ongoing dynamic early in the age of counterculture that didnt start with punk rock and it doesnt end with punk rock.
DRE: Did anyone make a suggestion of not doing it in the style that you did, the talking heads style, which seems to be out of vogue right now?
DL: With the budgets that they give you for these things there was no other way. Youre not going to get better than footage of Iggy [Pop] doing his thing or the MC5. I wanted to talk to the people that made this thing and I wanted to show what it was that we were talking about. For this particular project, talking to the major participants and showing the relevant archives worked for me.
DRE: Where did all that great footage come from?
DL: You play, you pay man. Its expensive shit. Put it this way, theres one particular clip in there and its less than 30 seconds and it cost 7000 pounds. Whats funny after doing this project is that it occurred to me about who owns the culture. I dont want to get into particular names but if an artist performs on TV for people and then years later I want to kind of show it in a documentary, I have to pay the TV station. Within the program I wanted to show some surrealistic art but I couldnt show a picture in the program of because I had to pay somebody to be able to use the image and it doesnt make sense. Im trying to turn people onto something.
DRE: I remember when Chris Rock said something about how Shaquille ONeal isnt wealthy hes rich. The people who pay him are wealthy. Why isnt there a special channel that just airs the MC5 concerts all day.
DL: Im paying fucking TV stations that had nothing to do with it. Ive just done a documentary on Sun Ra. I paid something like $5000 for a clip that was on one of the major stations. Is Sun Ra or any of his family going to get any of that money? Who gets that money and whoever gets that money do they need the fucking money?
DRE: Was it difficult getting to a lot of the people you interviewed?
DL: No, I think what gets to these people is an interesting idea. If Id have gone to them and said look I want to do a documentary on punk rock, i.e. some nostalgic look, they would have told me go fuck myself. What I did was write up my treatment, my theory on how this was an ongoing dynamic that had started way back. Jerry Lee Lewis for instance jumping on a piano or Chuck Berry or whatever and the idea that if it happened back then it can happen again. I think thats why they said yes, its as simple as that, they were attracted to the idea. They thought it was a different approach.
The reason why youre sitting here talking to me is because I was inspired by punk rock. Instead of buying a Clash poster and putting it on my wall, I picked up a Super 8 camera. The ultimate idea behind my film is to remind people that they can empower themselves because when you look around today man, its like punk rock never fucking happened.
DRE: What are some of these guys doing now?
DL: The MC5 still out there. Theyre doing it man.
DRE: I couldnt imagine them living off of it.
DL: No they probably aint, but I dont think any of these guys got into this to be rich. They got into it as a means of expressing how they felt and maybe just live as opposed to being rich. Im not a rich person but thats really not my desire. My desire is to be able to express myself and if I can make a living out of that then I am rich.
DRE: How much did making this movie change how you saw it all. What did you learn?
DL: I didnt learn shit. Im coming from Jamaican culture where the DIY ethic, the whole anti-establishment thing, using music as a means of communicating ideas. It was interesting in the late 70s to see my white friends having to come up with their own sound track because it was all that recession, unemployment, lots of strikes and the general theme was, as the Pistols said, no future. But theres always been a kind of punk DIY ethic in the third world anyway. We didnt look at it as an artform, we just looked at it as a mode of survival. I saw how I could use this attitude to not just survive but maybe to get to somewhere else. Im a direct product of punk rock. But Im being flippant. Ill tell you what I learned, I learned how fucking great Minor Threat and Fugazi are.
DRE: When did you see your first show?
DL: The first punk show I ever saw was either the Sex Pistols at Nashville in London in 1976 or it would have been The Clash at the Roxy. The whole punk thing in the UK happened over a very short period of time like a couple of years before it all got pretty stupid and then tabloid punk rock was created. Then the people who were an integral part of the whole process moved on.
DRE: Are you doing an extended cut for the DVD?
DL: There is an extended thing happening but I unfortunately am not involved. Im really worried about that but it has the potential to be really good.
DRE: Was there anyone who turned you down flat and said no way?
DL: Yes a couple of people. Iggy, Im very sad about. Obviously Mr. Lou Reed is not in my film. Richard Hell I would have loved, but what I would have had to do was get other people to talk about his part, because he was obviously integral to the whole thing. When you look at his style of playing and his image and then you look at Johnny Rotten, I dont want to say too much but do you know what I mean.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 9 of 9 COMMENTS
i had never heard of the screamers before i saw it, but god, i am obsessed with them now. just from those 2 clips. shame they never recorded
Koenigsegg said:
i tivo'd it last night
i had never heard of the screamers before i saw it, but god, i am obsessed with them now. just from those 2 clips. shame they never recorded
Actually there are some Screamers boots out there (the mostly easily available being the 2-CD retrospective "In a Better World") as well as a legit live DVD featuring a live show (originally released by Target Video) and some extras released by MVD. Very cool beans indeed.
Oh yeah, the show was good as well.
[Edited on Jul 11, 2005 by otaku]