Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry: An outside look at reggae’s godfather

Guitarist and producer Emch never imagined he would play with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry; he didn’t even know whether the storied producer was still alive. Perry is a musical figure so strikingly influential, universally pervasive, and oft-imitated that he seems too mythical to be the stuff of reality. In 1999, decades after Perry pioneered sampling, defined DJ culture, and introduced Bob Marley to a then-revolutionary musical genre known as reggae, Emch reimagined his influence in a New York City dub collective known as Subatomic Sound System. Emch was initially emulating the communal creativity of Perry’s famed Black Ark Studios, but 10 years later he found himself entrenched in the enigmatic world of Scratch himself. “I never would’ve thought that I would be playing with Perry,” Emch says. “Most people weren’t even sure where on Earth he was.”

Years before dubstep imploded, the Sound System was integrating electronics with makeshift reggae recording techniques perfected by producers such as Perry and the late King Tubby. Thanks to the computer boom of the 21st century, professional recording technology was made cheaper and more accessible to the layperson. Emch and his fellow musicians spent the early aughts using home studios to furiously churn out music. “Perry was one of the first famous people who created a home studio,” he says. “He made so much world-renowned music from his backyard.”

In 2007, Vienna-based dub outfit Dubblestandart took notice and tapped Subatomic for a remix of a Perry-featuring track, “Iron Devil.” Two years later Emch was backing Perry with Dubblestandart for a sold-out show at Central Park, and since then he’s been touring the world with the shadowy idol he once thought dead.

Even though Perry recently turned 79 years old, his backing band’s biggest challenge is keeping pace with his forward-thinking vision. “We’re actually the ones who have to push Perry to play classic material because he wants to make new music,” he says.

Emch doesn’t speak of Perry as some dated figurehead, confined to documentaries and historical anecdotes. Instead, he appears as a Yodalike figure, constantly giving obscured wisdom that may seem like the ramblings of a ganja-addled mind, but his cryptic words are laced with glimmers of genius. Once, before a show, Perry instructed the bass player to “play a major scale up and down, like a monster walking in space.” Anyone familiar with the space-age boom of dub bass can recognize how apt the imagery is. “When he communicates his musical ideas he does it in metaphors, which I think can be so much more inspiring to people,” Emch says. “You understand the feeling, and you create something from that feeling.”

Perry’s murky metaphors are especially crucial to help his band re-create the phased-out, stripped-down, low-end psychedelia that defined his Black Ark Studios, where musicians from around the world came to capitalize on his expertise. “That very analog sound gets lost by a regular band,” Emch says. “One of the most important things was trying to capture that sound.”

Subatomic Sound System’s electronic prowess proved to be Perry’s biggest asset in fulfilling his renewed vision. His recent shows have incorporated the live band feel of a traditional reggae band with updated electronic touches typical of dubstep sets. While dubstep can seem like a dirty word thanks to an onslaught of spring break anthems, Emch is quick to point out that their version of the genre actually retains the “dub.” The link between Perry and massively popular DJs such as Rusko is so important to Emch that he teaches the connection to his students at DubSpot, an electronic music school.

“It’s like a mission for me to expose people to Perry,” he says. “In America, I felt like dubstep got super popular with lots of producers who didn’t know it was drawn from reggae roots.”

Even for musicians outside dubstep, the connection is not a minor footnote. Perry was one of the first producers to explore sampling and remixing, and to put himself on the cover of his albums, a space usually reserved for musicians. He helped elevate DJs from the fine print to the rock-star status that producers such as Pharrell and Deadmau5 currently enjoy. His influence even transcends the electronic realm. Beastie Boys, Bad Brains, and even Andrew W.K. have all professed their admiration for dub’s godfather.

“Beyond music, Perry has influenced my whole life,” Emch says. After 79 years, when so many other so-called legends have lost relevance, Perry is still inspiring new generations of musicians.