Grammy-award winning filmmaker Don Letts talks about “Strummerville,” the documentary focusing on the charity that rose up in the aftermath of the death of Clash singer / guitarist Joe Strummer, during the film’s World Premiere at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival. Letts also talks about his work as the first house DJ at the Roxy in London, which helped influence the Ska and Punk movements producing bands like the Clash and the Sex Pistols.
SXSW: Don Letts (’Strummerville’) from Devin Pike on Vimeo.
[via Red Carpet Clash]
STRUMMERVILLE’S FIRST U.S OUTING
What do Billy Bragg, The Foo Fighters, The British Music Embassy, the Strummerville family and legendary British filmmaker Don Letts have in common? All of these tastemakers in film and music will be celebrating Strummerville’s debut at this year’s SXSW Music and Film Festival.
Strummerville is a proactive charity, set up by family and friends in the wake of Joe Strummer’s death in 2002. Since then it has built a strong community network - offering otherwise unfunded bands and solo performers the chance to record, rehearse and play live. A regular feature at Festivals in the British Summer season, Strummerville’s work goes on all year internationally. Offering mentoring services, a magic bus on loan for gigs and tours, partnering with projects from Belfast to Bogota and a range of charities including The Amber Trust (helping blind and partially sited children enjoy music) and Jail Guitar Doors (helping prisoners gain access to guitars) Strummerville insures the spirit of the man who inspired its creation lives on in the most practical manner.
March 2010 marks Strummervilles’ debut at the internationally renowned SXSW Music and Film festival:
On the evening of Monday 15th March Strummerville will takeover the British Music Embassy. Hosted by Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters the night will feature performances from the infamous ‘National Treasure’ Billy Bragg in addition to some of Strummerville’s finest bands: Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Smokey Angle Shades, Beans on Toast, Nat Jenkins, The Good The Bad, and The Supernovas.
STRUMMERVILLE SXSW 2010 BRITISH MUSIC EMBASSY SHOWCASE RSVP CLICK HERE
Get Cape Wear Cape Fly aka the introspective Sam Duckworth received critical acclaim for his debut album ‘Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager’. A cross cultural line-up of Northern Irish, German, English and Italian members The Smokey Angle Shades take their name from a flying moth and create a world where the bar room rave ups of The Faces meet joyful country capers, spiced with psychedelic whimsy. Beans On Toast, a topical Troubadour, in the style of his East London (The) Clash inspired forbearer Billy Bragg, is a regular MC at Strummerville events with songs that are a jostling blend of humourous aside and a hardnosed invective. Nat Jenkins - Intense Richie Havens flare ups, finely plucked emotional landscapes; rock swagger and pop nous indicate a singer songwriter for all seasons. The Supernovas, a young band from Holloway North London with a sound influenced by the political attitudes of Castro and Chavez, combined with the wry irony of Morrissey, and the cutting observational skills of Lennon. And The Good The Bad bringing the finest New School Surf and Flamenco to the masses. On Wednesday 17th March Strummerville will kick off proceedings on the official opening night of the SXSW Music Festival by holding a second showcase at the renowned Prague. Wayne Kramer, singer, songwriter, producer and esteemed guitarist, will join the line-up for this special occasion.
On Friday 19th March ‘Strummerville – a film by Don Letts’ will premier at the Paramount. The film, directed by the London born, Grammy award winning filmmaker and artist Don Letts, captures the very essence of Strummerville. The film journeys through the past six months of the diverse Strummerville calendar, including interviews with the bourgeoning talents and the friends and family of Joe who work hard to keep the charity going. The documentary also includes unseen footage of Joe Strummer taken from Don’s personal archive. On the film Don says, “In a cultural climate that feels like punk never happened Strummerville (the film) serves as a timely reminder of a way forward. It worked back then and it can work again – and man it needs to!”
Don Letts was the first in-house DJ at London nightclub Roxy, playing a mix of punk rock, dub and reggae. Letts’ music choice influenced Joe Strummer and The Clash; he is credited as the DJ that single-handedly turned a whole generation of punks onto reggae. He became a close friend of Joe’s and is pictured on the cover sleeve of the 1980 release, ‘Black Market Clash’. His first film The Punk Rock Movie (1978) catalogued the Punk movement in the UK. He has directed many documentaries and music videos since and in 2003 his film Westway to the World featuring The Clash won a Grammy for ‘Best Long-form Music Video’
For more information please contact:
Kate Head: kate@stokedpr.com
Zoe Stafford: zoe@stokedpr.com 020 7841 4875
From the 1976 jukebox at The Clash’s Rehearsal Rehearsals HQ, through his own music to his turn-of-the-century radio show, Joe Strummer never stopped loving reggae music and its culture. As Chris Salewicz’s sleevenotes state on this heart-felt project organised by Canada’s Prince Blanco, “Strummer lived on the dub side of life.” In other words, with Joe, anything was possible. He would have revelled in these new versions of Clash classics by a cast of contributors hailing from both Canada and the UK.
A few chills are spilled when the set kicks off with Dubmatix, joined by former Big Audio Dynamite members Don Letts and Dan Donovan, bringing London’s Calling into the 21st Century on a rolling dubscape, with bleakly majestic spirit intact. Each track’s a riot of its own, delivered with a mixture of celebration and suitable recklessness, other highlights including Creation Rockers’ sinuous Complete Control, Infantry Rockers’ haunting Rebel Waltz and John Brown’s Body’s feisty Bankrobber. The fact that proceeds go to the Strummerville charity is just another reason why no one who’s ever been touched by Joe or The Clash should be without this marvellous tribute. For more info, visit www.shatterthehotel.com.
Synopsis
Joe Strummer’s untimely death in December 2002 sent shockwaves around the world of music and beyond. Yet friends and family were determined that his spirit would live on.
In this documentary, Grammy award-winning filmmaker Don Letts shows how Joe’s unique contribution to the music world is manifesting itself through a charity set up in his memory - Strummerville.
The film features performance footage and interviews with exciting Strummerville artists such as Riff Raff and Smokey Angle Shades. There are also contributions from supporters and founders of the charity, including Billy Bragg and Damien Hirst, plus wonderful footage of Strummer himself.
Director Bio
An award-winning filmmaker and music-maverick, Don is a cult figure in the world of arts. In 1978 he made The Punk Rock Movie and went on to direct over 300 music videos for the likes of Bob Marley, The Clash and Elvis Costello. Don’s films include the acclaimed Dancehall Queen, PUNK: Attitude and The Clash: Westway to the World, for which he won a Grammy in 2003.
Thanks to everybody who contributed to this project and great night at Inn On The Green on Friday 5th to mark the release of the Shatter The Hotel Album.
Special thanks to Prince Blanco without whom none of this would have happened … we salute and thank you sir.
Tune in to a great live podcast recorded on the night from Pete Colgle’s Podcast Factory. Listen to interviews with Prince Blanco, Mighty Howard, Dubmatix and Citizen Sound and tracks taken from the Shatter The Hotel album and our Strummerville Winter Sessions album (this podcast is also available for free download).
Shatter The Hotel 14 track album/CD is available to buy from our online shop or download now from iTunes.
Pictures from the night - courtesy of Edward Bishop
To celebrate the UK release a launch event will take place on 5th February 2010 in the heart of Clash-land at Inn on the Green, tucked under the Westway between Portobello Road and Ladbroke Grove. Scheduled to appear on the night are: Dubmatix, DubCats, Wrongtom, Citizen Sound, Chomsky Allstars and Don Letts along with special guests.
In the spirit of Joe Strummer’s connection with Reggae and Dub, Shatter The Hotel explores what he once described as the “rasta - punk interface”. The energy of punk fused with the rebellious sound of dub and reggae.
This collection of songs brings together some of (his) Joe’s friends, and collaborators as well as artists and producers that have been touched and inspired by his music and message. Tracks selected from the Joe Strummer and Mick Jones catalogue have been re-interpreted by artists that come from the UK, Jamaica, Canada and the USA.
Don Letts is credited as the DJ that single-handedly turned a whole generation of punks onto reggae. A friend of Joe’s, he is pictured on the cover sleeve of the 1980 release, ‘Black Market Clash’. He opens and closes this compilation alongside Dubmatix and former Big Audio Dynamite band-mate Dan Donovan with their take on London Calling, the track that propelled The Clash’s influence across the pond to the USA. Dubmatix (aka Jesse King) has toured North America and Europe extensively, collaborating with legendary reggae heavyweights such as Sugar Minott, Michael Rose, and Alton Ellis. Shatter The Hotel’s associate producer names London Calling as one of his favourite albums of all-time so reinterpreting the title track with Dan and Don( )was in his words ‘a labour of love’.
Dubmatix - London Calling (Album Version) [feat. Don Letts & Dan Donovan]
The compilation ranges from straight-up roots dub to contemporary reggae sounds to dubbed out punk and dub-house styles including Lost In the Supermarket by South London producer, Wrongtom (Hard-Fi’s tour DJ and remixer), Creation Rockers’ interpretation of Four Horseman and Rock the Casbah by Nate Wize from Toronto who has DJ’d or performed alongside the likes of MIA, Blondie and Roots Manuva. His version features Jamaican vocalist Ammoye.
Joe Strummer’s friend and biographer Chris Salewicz has provided the sleeve-notes for Shatter the Hotel along with renowned photographer, Adrian Boot who has provided the images of Joe.
Proceeds from the sale of this release will benefit Strummerville: The Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music, a registered charity set up by the friends and family of Joe Strummer the year after his death that seeks to reflect Joe’s unique contribution to the music world by offering support, resources and performance opportunities to artists who would not normally have access to them.
For more information please contact:
Mark Matthews (aka Prince Blanco)
Email: shatterthehotel@gmail.com
Web: www.shatterthehotel.com
On Sunday 20th Dec Don Letts presented a Joe Strummer related show filled with an hour of tunes from Joe Strummer plus songs from The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers and Dubmatix ft. Don Letts and Dan Donovan with their version of London Calling…
“Ever since I saw ‘Play Misty For Me’, I dreamed of being a radio DJ. But how to get around the damn playlists and corporate interference? Then I got a call. In 2007, BBC 6 Music asked if I’d like to join the team and I jumped at the chance. Contrary to popular opinion, I’m not at home cranking dub reggae 24/7. That’s just in my DNA. With ‘Culture Clash Radio’ I hope to make some new friends and broaden people’s perception of me, by playing tunes I can certify.
For the moment it’s just 60 minutes of all killer, no filler sounds, that cross time, space and genres. For the most part I’m gonna let the music do the talking. So, in the mean time and in between time I’ll gladly take your e-mailed thoughts and suggestions. Enjoy the ride…” Don Letts
Continuing their series of cultural tours of the capital, Guardian music editor Tim Jonze meets Trish at the Strummerville yard, Don Letts, & Jon Savage. Who’d have thought Notting Hill’s well-heeled streets gave birth to some of punk’s defining moments? Tim tracks down the people and places where the legacy lives on…
Award-winning filmmaker Don Letts and his production company Brassneck TV are making a documentary about Strummerville. The film will feature performance footage and interviews with artists, supporters and founders.
He’s looking for footage shot at past Strummerville events, so if you think you can help please get in touch!
Don Letts is credited as the man who through his DJing at clubs like The Roxy brought together punk and reggae music.
Follow Brassneck TV on Twitter