This is Don Letts, over and out.

I've been DJing nationally and internationally for the last 20 years. It's my way of having a cultural conversations and keeping a contemporary ear to the ground. I do love to nice up the place with some heavyweight bass as my sets are very much in the spirit of my days as DJ at the legendary Roxy club. Catch me if you can.

This cultural appropriation thing doesn't really stand up to any serious analysis. It seems to me that a certain amount of creativity and inspiration comes from a culture exchange. But there's a big difference between inspiration and imitation.

Well it has been recognised by me - see my film Two Sevens Clash, because that's what it's all about. A more approach to creativity and not necessarily just those two genres per se.

I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for punk rock. And as I said before, it can work for you too.

Attention to detail and style.

What's with this either/or thing? It's a very 21st century thing that you're either into this or that. The great thing is that both exist. And you can have it all.

I'm a great believer that every generation needs its own soundtrack. So the answer to that question for you, is no. The answer to that question for someone that might not have heard of any of those bands, is yes.

The youth culture that will have the greatest effect is the one that you were involved with.

Dub has become part of the fabric of popular music. A lot of contemporary sounds owe a great debt to Jamaica and its gift to the world - bass.

It's true, when I performed with Big Audio Dynamite I did have coloured stickers on my keyboard as I couldn't play a musical instrument. Still can't. But that was my strength. Mick got me involved because my ideas came from other places. Where do you think all the samples and dialogue came from? You know, Paul Simonon actually learned to play by placing stickers on the fret of his bass. The difference between me and Paul is, he eventually removed the stickers. PS the coloured lights story is true, as is Spinal Tap

Clever as they are, at the end of the day I have to say I'm a Studio Ghibli fan.

Refer to the question below, and I suggest my podcasts are worth getting over your fear of technology for. It's only a couple of clicks for christ's sake.

Without sounding like a dick, I do have to flag up my recent podcasts for Turtle Bay, which look at my lifelong passion for reggae. And consequently feature handpicked tunes that have captured my imagination over the years. Also, to sound like a dick, I've put together around four or five reggae compilations that come highly recommended.

Five.

Both. Lennon was relevant for his generation, and Strummer was relevant for mine. In both cases warts and all. You know, it's important that we keep these people real, because then it becomes something we can aspire to. It's important that we don't put them on pedestals and make them unreal.

Re grime: I think a lot of the new expressions in music owe a debt to punk. And all consequent events after the late 70s seem to have benefited from elements of the punk spirit and attitude - well the ones I like.

I actually gave Paul Simonon some cassette tapes of Mikey's Dread At The Controls radio show from Kingston, Jamaica. And it was these tapes that prompted Paul to track Mikey down to work with on Sandinista. Mikey became a good friend of us all and with regards to how recognised he is, I think those that are supposed to know, know.

Nothing. I've got nothing tucked away. It's about passing it on, man, nothing is supposed to be secret. My latest film "Two Sevens Clash" which looks at the myth and the reality of the punky reggae party does include a lot of unseen material however.

They both have a place and a purpose - but White Man will always have the edge for me as I was lucky enough to be the person to take Strummer to the Hammersmith Palais on the night that inspired the record. And he really was the only white man in Hammersmith Palais.

I got the gig DJing at the Roxy by accident. And fortunately or unfortunately only one deck worked. That was great for me as I'd never DJ'd in my life. Luckily, in soundsystem tradition there was only one deck anyway. And the gaps between the records were crucial because you could gauge the vibe of the room and the people. In fact those gaps in between tracks were also instrumental in the creation of rap, but that's another story.

The back to Africa school of thought - changed to forward to Africa by Rastafari by the way - was really about overcoming Eurocentric values and aspirations. It was about looking to the history and culture of Africa to enlighten and liberate the people, and realise that our history did not begin with slavery.

Funny you should ask as I've just put together a series of podcasts, somewhat prompted by the association of music and food. I guess they're both forms of nourishment. And if you go to Notting Hill carnival, I'm sure you'll find a lot of people who will agree.

Listen, I've got a tribe of kids. And somehow I've always had to get up with them. So basically I get up at 8am on average, even if I go to bed at 4am. I've heard it said that the morning is a very creative part of the day. The Don concurs. Having said that, you do realise that the morning starts after midnight - so it could equally be said that late night sessions are just as relevant.

You know, a lot of what we did in the late 70s happened because of how little we had, not how much we had. The old adage that necessity is the mother of invention comes to mind. Here we are in the 21st century when the digital age and affordable technology has given the youth the means to express themselves. But it seems to me, Andy Warhol's vision of everyone being famous for 15 minutes has turned into a nightmare of people that can't justify three. Just because you can afford it, don't mean you can do it. And the downside of affordable technology is mediocrity. Having said that, technology ain't the problem. It's the people, man, and how we use it. Look at Facebook for example - in the west, a complete waste of time, people's ugly kids and what they've just had for lunch. In other parts of the world, it's a life saving device. Bottom line is - technology is great, people are shit.

The Don doesn't follow anything. My take on jungle, well it's a child of reggae, and I'm open to anything with a wicked bassline.

I've always seen each element of what I do as part of a whole. Very much in the spirit of how we operate as human beings. Our five senses complement each other. And with a good soundtrack it's even better.

Doesn't matter if it's sustainable, I'm just glad that young people have got off their arses and got involved. Period. It's been a long time coming. I guess prompted by the fact that they realise policies they didn't vote for (not voting - big problem, period) are affecting them directly. Brexit being a prime example. I've had my life so it ain't gonna bother me, it's the young ones I feel for.

... Shit, I didn't know white people had to fill that in too - I thought it was a straight up racist request. Having said that, the soundsystem my father operated would have been very different to the ones you know today. Held in the local church hall, as opposed to a basement with one lightbulb, my father's generation would have been more likely to have been carrying a bible as opposed to a bag of weed. Having said all that ... these gatherings provided a serious social function for strangers in a strange land.

I'm as old as rock'n'roll so to ask me to pick just one song is quite a task. Off the top of my head - haha - I'd say Marvin Gaye's What's Going On comes to mind, Augustus Pablo "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown", Beach Boys "Don't Cry, Put Your Head On My Shoulder" and the Pistols' Anarchy In The UK.

The making of the album ended up very differently to how it started. When Joe Strummer came to the studio one day and never left, it was an honour to see he and Mick creatively fall in love again - although I always hated the title of the album which was a pun on 10 Downing Street. Joe thought it was very funny and I'm sure most people never got. All in all I'm very proud of everything Big Audio Dynamite did.