Lee “Scratch” Perry is the Dub Organizer

Lee 'Scratch' Perry is the dub organizer

🔥 “Fiyah! Fiyah, fiyah! Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry is the dub organizer!” That’s the anthem.

Click this link to listen & love on all digital services the new 4/19/23 release from Lee “Scratch” Perry, Subatomic Sound System, & Screechy Dan.

Across the USA & Europe this summer, Subatomic is live with Stephen Marley & Jack Johnson.

August 5 @ Mateel in Redway, CA Subatomic performs a Lee Scratch Perry memorial set.

Hear the new song live with help from the crowds in Hamburg, Cologne, and Amsterdam. Also KEXP had us perform the song in the studio. Check the full session & interview as well…

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March 2024 Lee “Scratch” Perry Memorial B-day Shows

3/26 in San Francisco3/27 in Seattle3/29 in Ellensburg3/30 in Portland. Check the full list of shows as tour dates are added in the upcoming tour dates Events page

After the August 2021 passing of the legendary Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jamaica’s reggae & dub pioneer, Subatomic Sound System & Screechy Dan, who were Scratch’s band for over a decade, arranged a handful of memorial shows to honor Scratch’s legacy by performing his music and incorporating sampled audio and video of their past work with Scratch.  For Scratch’s birthday in March 2024, Subatomic will do a limited run of memorial shows in some of his favorite cities that weren’t reached on the initial tour due to COVID restrictions.

The Smithsonian Museum’s current Afro-Futurism exhibit in Washington DC includes interview and performance footage of Lee “Scratch” Perry & Subatomic Sound System as well as one of Scratch’s tape machine’s from his burnt out Black Ark studio. Exhibit also includes Parliament Funkadelic, Jimi Hendrix, Sun Ra, Nona Hendryx, Outkast, Janelle Monae,

No Bloodshed video premiere 11/8/23 Subatomic Sound System + Don Husky

Premiering 1pm Jamaica time. The link has a trailer until then. Although the completion of this video was significantly delayed, it seems to be arriving just on time for a world overrun with bloodshed and a lack of hope for the youth. Don Husky & Subatomic Sound System “NO BLOODSHED” video was shot in Tivoli Gardens, Kingston, Jamaica, directed by Tizzy Tokyo with a special cameo from legendary sound system builder Uncle Ronnie, builder of the system in the video as well as Kingston Dub Club and many others. YES to LOVE. NO to HATE. MORE LIFE!

No Bloodshed in Kingston, JA or anywhere in the world! Single song and dubstrumental out on SpotifyApple Music, Bandcamp (best spot for hi-rez and wave files) and all digital platforms. Don Husky on the mic. Produced by Subatomic Sound System for Yard Birdz Records.

Cali! 9/2 LA & 9/3 Long Beach Subatomic Dub Sets

Subatomic solo dub sets by Emch on proper sound system stacks:

Saturday night 9/2 at Left Method space in Los Angeles

Sunday afternoon 9/3 in Long Beach, 1-6pm, at Bamboo Club outdoors.

August 3-5 California tour Subatomic + Screechy Dan

Subatomic & Screechy Dan tour dates in California, August 3, 4, & 5.

8/3 Santa Cruz CA @ The Catalyst | w/ Ancestree
8/4 Mill Valley CA @ Sweetwater Music Hall | w/ DJ Sep
8/5 Redway CA @ Mateel Community Center | w/ Blvk H3ro
Lee “Scratch” Perry memorial set

7/17-23 + 7/30 Stephen Marley “Babylon By Bus” tour with Subatomic Sound System

7/17-23 + 7/30 Stephen Marley "Babylon By Bus" tour with Subatomic Sound System

Across the USA! 7/17-23 in the midwest + 7/30 in Brooklyn and 7/20 in Chicago at the after show celebration only.

Stephen Marley “Babylon By Bus” tour” with Subatomic Sound System on these select dates

Click city name for tix! Venue names are Instagram accounts.

7/17 Wichita KS @WaveICT
7/18 Memphis TN @MinglewoodHall
7/20 Chicago IL (Subatomic after show party performance only) @WildHareMusic
7/21 St. Louis MO The Big Top @kranzbergarts
7/22 Cincinnati OH @RiverFrontLiveCincy
7/23 Kalamazoo MI @BellsEccentricCafe
7/30 Brooklyn NY @BrooklynSteel 

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Jack Johnson + Lee “Scratch” Perry + Subatomic Sound System “Traffic in the Sky” single

New single out now! Subatomic will be on tour with Jack in Europe, June 11-16. Listen on all platforms. From Emch: “Been working on this for awhile. Single out with two dubs from Lee Scratch Perry & Subatomic Sound System and a full album that I’m mastering right now with more dub remixes from us as well as Scientist, Mad Professor, Dennis Bovell, Nightmares on Wax and more. Lookout for upcoming summer tour dates with Jack Johnson & Subatomic in support of the album!” At the 2/18/23 Cali Vibes Festival after party Subatomic met and performed for the first time with Jack Johnson and his band and joined them again during Jack’s headlining set at the festival the following night — after Subatomic performed their own Lee Scratch Perry memorial set on the main stage earlier that day featuring special guests Mykal Rose & Blakkamoore on the mic.

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“No Bloodshed” Don Husky + Subatomic Sound System

No Bloodshed in Kingston, JA! New single song and dubstrumental out today on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp (best spot for hi-rez & wave files) and all digital platforms. Don Husky on the mic. Produced by Subatomic Sound System for Yard Birdz Records. Video shot in Tivoli Gardens and directed by Tizzy Tokyo premiers Nov 8, 2023 at 1pm!

Mykal Rose & Subatomic Sound System @ CaliVibes 2/19, Red Rocks 4/20, Cali Roots Festival 5/25

The mighty Mykal Rose + Subatomic Sound System debut at several massive festivals in 2023! Cali Vibes, Sunday 2/19/2023,

Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Thursday 4/20/2023 with The Marley Brothers & Steel Pulse,

Cali Roots Festival , Thursday, 5/25/2023 in Monterey, California.

Performances will include Mykal’s tunes from his Grammy winning run with Sly & Robbie in Black Uhuru. Subatomic will include selections from their decade of work for dub legend Lee “Scratch” Perry. Stay tuned for announcements in the next weeks about the upcoming album and more tour dates in 2023.

Subatomic & Screechy Dan shows in Washington state
(click venue names for tickets)

Fri 4/21 Ellensburg @ Pounders,

Sat 4/22 Seattle @ Clock-Out Lounge

Lee “Scratch” Perry, the Super Ape, RIP 1936-2021

Lee Scratch Perry & Subatomic Sound System at KEXP

UPDATE: Subatomic Sound System + Screechy Dan had a tour scheduled Oct 9-15 in the USA and Nov 6 in Brooklyn. By request, these shows will be musical memorials for Scratch, in light of the demand to celebrate the life of Scratch and the restrictions in Jamaica barring large crowds at the funeral.

Several people have asked about music released by Lee “Scratch” Perry & Subatomic Sound System to play in tributes:

2017’s acclaimed “Super Ape Returns To Conquer” album captures the 40th anniversary of “Super Ape” live tour and features versions of some of Scratch’s biggest productions “Chase the Devil”, “War Ina Babylon”, “Zion’s Blood”, “Dread Lion” and more. Live video of the song “Dread Lion” from Bumbershoot festival

2016 release “Black Ark Vampires” was Scratch’s closing song on almost every show since its release and is Scratch’s explanation for burning down the Black Ark studio in 1983. Live video from KEXP studio session.

2018 “A Me (The Dub Organizer)” was released on Bandcamp exclusively as a promo for the 45th anniversary of “Blackboard Jungle Dub” allbum tour.

Playlist of Releases: Below is a Spotify playlist of Scratch & Subatomic that includes all the above releases plus additional remixes we did in 2007 (some vinyl & some digital as described in this documentary) and second playlist of some of Scratch’s personal favorite productions.

Live videos are compiled in this YouTube playlist of Scratch & Subatomic shows from 2009-2020 primarily in the USA, Canada, & Europe, but the last tours included Mexico and the final band show 2019 was in Dubai and final US festival show was Feb 2020 with Scratch & Emch.

Statement from Emch of Subatomic Sound System: Lee “Scratch” Perry. Boundless creativity and inspiration, the curiosity of a child and the soul of a prophet, unleashed on the earth for the past 85 years 💔 The spirit, the magic, and the soul fire 🔥Super Ape will live on forever. Inspiration is the greatest gift, one which you gave us so freely, unlocking pathways to self-discovery in us and the people you interacted with on a daily basis throughout your life, a creative miracle worker. You changed our lives, our perspective, our way of doing things, our understanding of what was possible. In shock to hear today that this earthly presence has come to an end, closing this decade long chapter of working, traveling, & laughing together. To anyone reading this who has crossed paths on this journey, please share a comment on our IG or Facebook of some time you remember and what it meant to you. It would mean a lot to us in this time. Scratch always said “I conquer death” and those memories and that energy is how death is conquered

Conga player Larry McDonald does an extensive interview about Scratch here.

Live in Brooklyn at Elsewhere for the 45th anniversary of “Blackboard Jungle Dub” tour, the world’s first dub album performed live for the first time. The video was also shot in 3D VR here if you have a headset.

Scratch & Subatomic at Coachella 2013

Zion’s Blood was the opening song for nearly every live show until the late 2017. This is a 360 VR recording from a show in North Carolina. According to Emch “the vibes were great that night but sadly the first row was clogged with press photographers at the start of the show which initially blunted the otherwise vibrant energy of the sold out sweaty room.”

After hearing the rough mix, Scratch requested that the new opening song for shows be changed to the updated version of Dub Organizer titled “A Me” which Emch recorded with Scratch in Jamaica during the sessions for the “Super Ape Returns to Conquer” album in 2017. This led to a discussion about doing 45th anniversary of “Blackboard Jungle Dub” which began in 2018.

Spotify playlist of digital releases from Lee “Scratch” Perry & Subatomic Sound System

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