Posts Tagged ‘Interviews’

What Do you write?

Amor

What crew(s) are you in?

nm, fym

How did you first get into graffiti and what year?

First saw graff when subway art came out quickly followed by seeing style wars on c4.
back in around 84. did a few attempts at pieces then and in following few years,
always wrote on things with a variety of names. 1988 was when I started to take it seriously though

What do you think of the graffiti scene from then until now?

Graff then was raw man, nobody knew anything other than fucking shit up, stealing everything.
style wise graff around Europe which our little island is part of was very similar, all dondi/bando influenced. writers then took no shit off other writers, u went over stuff u got beaten or robbed. and u defiantly got crossed out for it, unlike now were kids don’t seem to have that attitude towards it.
it seems to be all cool etc to be into writing and going over shit seems accepted. the late 90s and the
introduction of writer designed paint had a massive influence on graff. kids could now buy quality paint and caps and start to do nice la di dah pieces and not worry about cans freezing, limited colour ranges or getting arrested for racking it.

it spawned a whole new  generation of writers who saw graff as cool and fashionable.
ive seen it myself were people wont paint unless they got the right brand of paint to do it with, yet same
people complain they cant do enough cause they aint got the money to get cans.

how do they think the old school did so much? we didn’t buy paint………….

as for security and attitudes, they defiantly changed, after councils etc labelled graff as a passing
fad and it got out of control. the measures now employed by police are out of hand. fair enough if your
painting illegally u know the risk. but to be busting people who never painted an illegal thing in there
life at a legal spot is stupid.

security wise in yards, fences and cctv I think lend themselves to a false sense of security to the train
companies who install it. yes it going to deter some, but the determined will and do find ways around this.

What changes have you noticed regards to legal and illegal graffiti?

I think in some places were there’s no illegal graff just legal sites, that the fun element has gone,
the spawn tribes of writers who paint the same shit on the same spot repeatedly.

but those cities with a big scene it can live together side by side with illegal graff, yes the legal heads
will say illegal graff causes them problems cause everyone complains about the tagging, that age old argument of well the colourful stuff is nice but we don’t like the scrawling. tough shit, its all part of the same culture, isn’t the whole idea to get your name up?

that said some of the legal stuff going on is very good techniqually, there is a lot of writers out there who do some amazing artwork, its all a matter of taste. its not all about how many arrows and connections u can put into it. some people who do this type of work, uber wildstyles cant do real nice simple styles. some are using internet image hosting sites to get there egos stroked, self same people that haven’t paint illegal in however long. im not saying its all of them cause theres a lot out there who earned the rights to paint in chilled spots years ago.

Who influences your work? if any…

my influences would have to be nyc…………….. a lot of German writers,
bates mist one kast and my crew. I like nice clean proportioned styles, but that doesn’t say I cant
appreciated stuff that some would label as Europe style, such as Scandinavian styles  the obvious wufc,
dirtee, hook was fresh as fuck, ikarus. they forget we are part of Europe. ive seen nice stuff in a lot of
places around Europe, Prague street styles are so good. Budapest there’s a lot of very fresh writers. I saw tracksides in Germany that are better than hall of fame pieces in this country.

I don’t take that much notice now of who is doing what in this country, even in my own city I don’t
take much notice. I here snippets of stuff here and there but that’s about it.

What does graffiti mean to you?

graffiti has been a huge part of my life for well, 20 plus years, I wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn’t for graff. maybe id be a better person, who could function in the normal world.

Are you a fan of the ‘Art-fag’ generation?

fuck it……… don’t like it, I can see the idea behind it, but too many seem to jump on the bandwagon
with a few little stencils and labelled themselves as ex writers, yet in all reality no writers have heard of
them. hang the cunts or tie them to a railway line. fuckin toys…..

What towns and cities are you really feeling at the moment for the graff scene?

I always liked Sheffield, London and Brighton……  Europe wise, stylistically Paris rocks, Amsterdam always has fresh shit going on, even if some of it is by tourists. Copenhagen… I think most big cities in Europe that have a scene have quality graff

You’ve painted abroad quite abit, tell us what countries you have hit and which country do you really rate for graffiti?

Ive done a few tours. Germany, Austria, Czech republic, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain. France im sick of France been there a few times to do stuff and never had success….. Germany is so hardcore, well Bavaria is……….   Italy chilled as fuck…. Czech is just a mission in itself, run sprint run sprint paint run some more, those who have been will know what I mean…. nice place and people though.. Belgium I love Belgium, met some nice people and made some good friends there

Tell us about one of your worst experiences while writing?

worst experience whilst writing, I find this difficult to answer, ive had the usual experiences any active
writer has had, injuries sustained on missions, being arrested, stitch up court cases, excessive sentencing, long sleepless nights after being chased. but I accept all that is part and parcel of what I do. too many new school fools complain they don’t want arrested or there houses turned over by plod, but they want all the fame and glory that comes with writing. I say fuck them if your not prepared to take chances and put yourself on the line you deserve nothing. all respect to those out there risking it all.

Is there a favourite mission you’ve been on that really sticks in your mind? tell us about it…

They were all good in there own ways, each one was different depending on the country. from ten minute panels to whole cars in 15 minutes… to chill times in Italy, staying in yard for 3 to 4 hours.
seeing Budapest’s commuters fully trashed, lazy stoned days in Amsterdam central spotting or at amstel.

What effect has graffiti had on your life?

Made me paranoid every time theres a knock on the door. that could have been the weed aswell though.
ive met some good friends in other countries, opportunities most people don’t get when they go abroad.
it defiantly made me who I am today.

Where do you see the graffiti scene heading in the future?

God knows, hopefully the fashion heads will fuck off. it looks like the courts are going to keep giving extreme sentences to writers. security will get tighter but there will always be a way round it. who knows. I never thought 20 years ago I would still be painting now….

Anything else you’d like to say while you’re here?

Props go to all those ive met through graff, mistone bout time he started painting again, my crews, some of which need to get in touch with again, the German guys I know thanks for many nights of fun, the guys in Munich for the mad missions, marienplatz for the free clothes, ( shoplifters paradise) those who know will understand those who don’t are missing out. the Belgians, zach, teras, vero, 7up and asem…………….

Belgium rules good scene, shit runs for long time and locals always make u welcome………..
kron and mashone for keeping me supplied with paint during hard times…
every shop ive robbed paint form cheers for allowing me to walk out without stopping me…………
petr and zlo in Prague………….
many fun times there aswell. Milan for being Milan……………………………
figs crew, vp crew, the Dutch guys up in north Holland, more rest in peace. skire, ebzke, sune and the tpn crew, aroe and any one I forgot,  sorry it wasn’t on purpose.

and a big fuck off to bero the clown……………….. one day I will get you alone and batter you, fuckin grass.

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What do you write?

Hello everybody I write sick

Now, something that a lot of people are getting confused with recently is that there are two SICK’s. Two individual writers both writing the tag SICK…what’s going on???

What’s going on is, some cat from somewhere just outside London writes Sick too. It’s fairly easy to tell us apart if you’ve seen both our stuff. For a start I get the impression he takes his walls/productions more seriously, backgrounds, characters and that. He writes with KYS and also Shine/Quest and Skore and does a lot of stuff down lakeside. My stuff is a bit quicker and I always rep NHS in my pieces

What crews are you in?

I’m in NHS, CGO and CBM, which is a bit like being in the one crew really as were all West London, most of us are down with all three.

How did you become NHS, that crew has a lot of history with the ‘old skool’ right?

NHS was Events crew started in the early 80’s I got put down with it by him around 98/99 I think, I started to put it up and next thing I know I was getting lined by Dogz, (who pretty much ran the crew in events absence)  I saw him at a party soon after and we got it sorted amicably and have been good mates since. I’m not too clear on the history before 95/96 I’ve become mates with move and painted with him a few times since and he’s filled in a few gaps and showed me all the old flicks (RIP Major). It got a revamp when it was handed down to Dogz, new writers of the time were put in it and it started to go back up. Now it’s more of a large extended family with a lot of people having been put down with it over the two generations and is being kept alive by new and old members. (RIP thru & hate)

What is your very first memory of Graffiti?

Growing up in Ladbroke Grove its pretty hard to pin down my first memory, I’ve got loads of old flicks from Trelick Towers and The Pit, Acklam, Latimer Road, Westbourne Park, Royal Oak etc. The place was just fucking saturated, I remember the crazy carnival piece and a couple of others round the area, all the street bombing down Portobello rd and I used to go school in Ealing which means id either go from Grove to Paddington and get the fast train to Ealing Broadway, or go Grove to Hammersmith and get the district or on the central line from Holland park, either way I saw a shit load of graff twice a day, and a lot of old stains and ghost panels on the old central line trains. The walls that mainly stood out for me were the two around North Acton and of course the wall and ledge at between Royal Oak and Paddington.

During your early days what writers did you look up to or admire and why?

That’s a hard one, I looked up to people that at the time I perceived as good, which when you’re starting out is pretty much fucking everybody. There are three writers which I hold responsible for getting me hooked and that’s Frez, Amber and craze (KTC). Writers that I distinctly remember from the time are the ones that would paint North Acton , so Key, Kis, Pa34 and Lak stick out in my mind but this is probably because I’d go passed them so many times a week they must be burnt into my memory. If I saw anyone painting there id jump out and go chill with them, usually spoe and kort (rip)

Is there any writers that you admire for what they are doing today?

I admire anyone who is out there killing it, despite all the security and all the buffing, WMB in particular are doing a good job of bringing the underground to its knees despite everything. I rate everyone involved in the x-mas station damage, it was a great big fuck you to the reportedly heightened security at the time. RT of course bring a lot to the game and are mates of mine, and CD of course, desire for dropping some of the illest pieces to date, even if he does always tax me for my beer.

How did you feel when Ladbroke Grove’s ‘The Pit’ with over 20years of graffiti history became illegal just last year, did you see this as the Authorities getting one up on you guys?

Well the pit was never legal but was tolerated (apart from the very odd occasion) It went with the territory. The place used to be a vibrant, interesting, shifty kind of place and graffiti was part of all this. There was a lot of crime in certain areas and graffiti was not high on the council agenda, a bit like Camden or Brixton, it was just part of the whole edgy, interesting atmosphere. But slowly but surely (and with the help of the film Notting Hill) the area has been infested with rich cunts and in my opinion irreparably fucked up for any non-rich cunt who has grown up in the area.
All the rich cunts have raised the property values in the area, which means all the old interesting shops have disappeared because they couldn’t afford the rent and have been replaced by the likes of Starbucks, mobile chains and strange clothes shops with about 10 dresses in them at £10,000 a pop. People have taken advantage of the rising house prices and sold up, freeing up room for more rich cunts, which puts the prices up so ONLY more rich cunts can afford to move to the area. Most of the pubs have been replaced by ‘trendy’ bars and restaurants for all the young rich cunts to hang out and piss, shit and snort away their limitless trust funds and the only toy shop in the area had been turned into a wheat grass organic smoothie joint for all the young, live off hubby’s credit card pampered wives to meet up and hang out with their laptops and pushchairs. Anyway the point I’m getting to is this has generated a lot more money for the council and combined with the rich cunts dislike of tagging in ‘their’ area has pretty much meant the death of graff in Ladbroke grove. There is still the odd thing happening and it takes a pasting at carnival time but that’s about all. There is still a fair bit of grittyness left and I can’t help smiling when I hear about these young spoilt children of rich cunts getting robbed in the area, like Richard and Judy’s daughter recently. Jokes.

Funnily enough on the topic of legal closures, Unigate was recently clarified as Illegal to paint. Can you tell us what happened down there?

Well its pending a charge so better not go into it. Just don’t go down there.

You paint a lot of legal’s these days, has it always been that way for you?

I’ve never really been a writer, done the odd track walk, bombed this and that, dropped the odd dub or piece here and there, got nicked three times (maybe four soon), been to court but never really lived the life

Tell us about one of your worst experiences while writing or maybe one of your most memorable missions?

Well I didn’t actually get a chance to do any graff on the mission but its still pretty funny. Got trapped under the arches outside Hammersmith station in a little random room before I even got a chance to get a tag up, I was pretty drunk and in a black suit and tie-it was one of those occasions where it just had to be done. There were track workers to either side of me up and down the track so both obvious escape routes were blocked. I managed to get on top of the arches unnoticed and then had to shimmy on my back through a gap about a foot high under some sort of bridge, I then managed to fall what felt like about 30ft backwards off the arches into a rose bush in a car park. I can remember lying there winded trying to wiggle my toes to check I hadn’t paralyzed myself from the waist down. After a while I sat up, picked a load of thorns out myself, smoked a fag and realized I was covered head to toe in pigeon shit. I got up and hobbled to the nearest mini cab place to find a    crackhead in there wielding a knife but after that I wasn’t fussed so surprised the crackhead and the terrified driver by walking in and ordering a cab, which must have diffused the situation because the nutter fucked off and I got a ride home.
Going to court was pretty tedious too.

Since you became involved with graffiti, has it opened doors that mite not have been open for you had you not of been a writer?

Its opened a lot of vaginas for me over the years, that’s about it.

When some writers start their aim is to destroy, to get up and for some its every aspect of graff. What are you aims with graffiti?

Just get better at piecing and tagging really, develop my style, meet more writers, make more friends and drink more beer.

What is it about graffiti that you love?

I don’t really go to them any more but squat raves were my favorite part of being a writer, drugs booze drum & bass fat caps markers and warehouses, didn’t get any better than that for me.

What are you doing these days? Any canvases or commission work?

Yeah this and that, I fucking hate painting canvasses but any way to “stack p’s” I guess.

How would you explain your style?

I try to rep a sort of old school London style. I’ve always loved that style with its sharp edges and block 3d. I’m influenced heavily by London’s golden age of graff and still try to fly the flag for it. I don’t really go in for anything too complex, some of my favourite writers use what appear to be simple letters but are just oozing style, you don’t have to go down the wild style road to fucking burn. I’m also into west coast Los Angeles graff, I love all the old English styles they’ve adopted, the shit just looks fucking mean, and their handstyles are the best in the world in my opinion.

What is it that motivates you to paint?

Beats sitting round with a hangover trying to jerk off to the Hollyoaks omnibus.

Today’s up and coming writers seem to have no respect and dogg anything they see.. For the future generation of writers, what advice would you give them?

Imagine when you’re dogging someone that one day you’re going to run into them without your crew,  if you’re going to stand there with a shaky leg trying to worm yourself out of a shoeing don’t bother dogging them in the first place.

Anything else you’d like to say while you’re here!?

Yeah I suppose I ought to big up the nearest and dearest
Big up dogz, hozae, debug, asiue, polio, yush, kaspa, move, mad met, desire, corze, ryt, baps, jano, key, town, choe, introe, Tokyo?, vibes, der, chok, akel, vibes, odisy, amber, ebzke. If ive forgotten anyone its because my lunch hour finished twenty minutes ago and im still writing this.
And buy the nasty habits t-shirt when I finish it.
Peace.

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