Credit: Found On Internet

Can you imagine being Lee “Scratch” Perry? Even Lee “Scratch” Perry seems barely able to imagine it. He’s 70, you know, and he’s widely credited with inventing reggae, dub and the remix, pioneering four-track studio production and sampling, and launching the careers of Bob Marley, Max Romeo and countless others. That’s not bad, is it? Someone should write an article about him.

Born in Jamaica in 1936 but residing in Switzerland since 1989, Perry is an eccentric chap. He burned down his famed Black Ark studio in 1979, five years after it opened, to appease a God in whom he believes fiercely. His music is spiritual and reverent, while his humour is sharp and cryptic. He currently plays with Swiss musicians White Belly Rats, who will release “Panic In Babylon” soon, and is the subject of a documentary movie, “The Upsetter”, due out next year.

Hello Lee! You’re quite a religious chap, all told...
“Well, I believe in the Bible, and certain human beings don’t believe in the Bible. I am believing in some Genesis, which is the first, before human being was here, only trees and plants and flowers and roses and animals. But the things that I believe in, not everyone believe in. I thought I was a human being but I discovered that not all people here are human being. They don’t believe in the word of God. If all the people on the planet believe in the word of God you wouldn’t have so much problem, so much suffering, so much tribulation, because God don’t make mistake, and if the people follow God then God would provide for them. Because if you believe in nature then you will find God.”

Is it hard to be a musician and uphold your beliefs?
“When we used to do recording, I thought I was being holy but I was committing sin. That’s why I had to burn down my studio, because righteousness and sin don’t work together. I was mixing up the energy; that was not what God wanted, God said that it wasn’t righteous. He command me to burn it down, so I burn it down.”