"Yeah, for me personally I thought I didn’t have style for the first 10 years of writing. I had good characters and a few good pieces but I had it all backwards. I spent more time developing my characters then my letters. If you write then you know letters come first. So I started over in 96. I really took steps backwards to re-develop my approach and a lot of that was mainly because of Wane COD."
When did you start writing, what does it mean to you and can you please introduce yourself to our readers a bit?
I started writing Persue’ in 1988. I was 17 and in high school. I am a writer from the suburbs of San Diego, Ca who got turned onto it from one of my classmates. Its crazy to think that was over 20 years ago. I haven’t stopped since I became dedicated. For me, I think it was easy to dedicate my time to the art and lifestyle. I have always been creative and there really wasn’t any other way I wanted to live my life. Of course I wanted to be in a Rock n’ Roll band or on T.V even a soccer player. Well, I sort of live my Rock n’ Roll lifestyle. I’ve made a living working in the skateboard industry working with the who’s who of the skateboarding world. I’ve toured with them and painted graffiti along the way. I’ve made business trips and made contact with writers in every city I travel to so we can paint. It’s the beauty of our worldly network.
I have met and experience a lot doing the things I do. It has molded me into the person I am today.
What means a crew to you? What does it mean to you being a part of the SUK?
This is a good question. Because I think it is different for a lot of people but for me it has been a few things. I am apart of a few equally important crews. SUK - I am a long time friend ofCanTwo. He put me down in 1998. We both had mutual admiration for each others work. In my eye’s CanTwo is one of the best all around writers on the planet. So it is an Honor to roll with the dude. SUK has heavy ties with TMD from New Zealand. So it really is a powerhouse with a lot of influential writers in the scene today. Sometimes it’s a little lonely being the only American representative, haha.
COD – Has had the biggest roll in me becoming more of a stylist in the past 13 years. Wane put me in the crew in 1996. COD is a Bronx based crew that was originally started by a music producer/writer named Michelob. COD was one of the last crews really bombing the New York Transit line in the mid to late 80’s. Wane pushed me to develop my letters. I build with him the most. He really is my brother from another mother. We’ve been on some good bombing missions together. COD has some amazing members. Enue, Reas, H.L. ROC, Bates, Jaes, Virus, Doves, Dash, OiL (R.I.P.), Goal, Sabe, Ghost, Crazy Wen and Ket to mention a few. These guys give me the encouragement to keep pushing the movement.
7th Letter – I’ve met Eklips off and on in the 90’s. Whether it be in fashion or graffiti. I remember the first time I met him it was in the AWR motor pit. I was with Quasar my mentor at the time. We were going big and Eklips rolled up to regulate the pit. He asked us who we were and who told us we could paint here? To tell you the truth I was a little nervous. He capped a couple of pieces from writers he didn’t want in the pit and said we were cool cause we were doing top to bottoms. It was 15 years later that I would start running into him at art events. Revok has a lot to do of why I am apart of the 7th. He recognized me as one of the most influential writers that kept it real on the West Coast and put me down with the Exchange project and 7th. 7th Letter is an extension of AWR/MSK but deals more with art, fashion, music, video and skateboarding projects. AWR/MSK are some of the most influential writers in the world today and a huge part of me experimenting with my style.
T.V.C – Is my new family in San Diego. I have known and painted with most of the guys since the crew inception some 17 years ago. These guys have put in a lot of work in and out side of S.D. Dudes like Kyzer, Flynt, Jale, Fokis, Herion, Peng (R.I.P) and Kwest either crushed or crushes it.
But besides the crews and before I was involved with these crews I have had a lot of great experiences and painted with a lot of talented writers regardless of crews and politics. Just for the pure fact of getting up and keeping it fun. All of these people have had influence on me and even if we don’t have the same crew name at the end we have the same struggle and we become bonded. It’s just my perception. It’s the way I’ve chosen to see things. Not everyone will experience this or see it like this. My mate Aroe HA/MSK fame told me once regardless of what crew I was in people would want to see my stuff. It was that relevant to the culture. That was a huge compliment but I feel I wouldn’t be anything with my crews and friends.
You has been around lately, crazy china at example, whats your view on that country and is there a so called graffiti movement? Can you share a little experience with our readers?
I started traveling outside of the States around 95. First place I went was Norway. I met Goal AIO, COD and painted with him. This was before e-mail. I just showed up and the first night I was getting up, so sick! I started traveling to Asia for the footwear around 99. I was going to Korea at first but I really didn’t do much. Just some street tags and a couple of silvers in Pusan. I left that company I worked for at the time and started a new job. I go to China for Vox. Actually the first writer I met in Hong Kong was Redy a girl bomber who knows her shit. Through her I met more writers in HK. So every time I travel out there we paint. Hong Kong is like the Hollywood of Asia. The city never sleeps and it is as dangerous as you make it. Actually Redy, Xeme and Sinic do an Asian graff magazine by the name Invasian. It’s really a great mag. They asked me if I wanted to judge the Wall Lords competition in Shenzen, China in late 2008. They wanted two judges and who better really then Rime. So I asked if he wanted to join me and he was down. Rime and I put a video out documenting our trip. China’s scene has potential especially in the bigger cities. American culture really hits home with the youth. But because if how hard living can be out there the last thing the youth is thinking about is getting up. First I think most of them are thinking of surviving. Paint cost money and if your gonna rack out there you better not get caught because you might just get a limb chopped off. I was just in Shenzen to paint with some friends and I asked how large is the scene in the city of 5 million plus. They told me there are only 20 active writers. There is no beef and no politics. I think what would be dope is if more writers from America and Europe made frequent trips to Asia to collaborate with the artist out there. It would in turn motivate and stimulate the scene. Dezio from France lives and works out there. He kills it, such a great stylist. There is a lot of talented artist in Asia so be on the look out.
Whats the story on the sneakerdesigns you did?
We’ll it all started after High school. I was working in a deli and I was drawing and painting with all my free time. I could have gone out and partied my ass off when I was young but instead I wanted to work on my craft, art. I wasn’t worried about getting girls cause they were always around. I let a couple of good ones go thought. I spent sleepless nights drawing until one day I got noticed from a company named Eightball. They had a great skate team at the time, guys like Danny Way, Sean Sheffy, and Alphonzo Rawls. They wanted some street related art so I gave them a drawing. The t-shirt sold really well. So they wanted more from me so I kept it going. Then they started DC, Dub and Droors. I was there to help concept the look of those companies. From there I met more people because at the time what I was bringing to the table graphically was very fresh and hip. So more opportunities presented them selves. I started to do skateboard graphics cutting rubies. That was a lot of fun and before people were using computers to separate the colors. When people found out there was a lot of money doing footwear, companies started to come out of the woodwork. I launched Osiris in 96 and Circa in 99. I actually named and did the Circa logo.
I got into footwear because I was tired of drawing graphics for boards and with all the board companies the more competition there was you were forced to change graphics faster. It was starting to feel repetitive. So I wanted to learn something new. I started designing skateboard shoes in 99 and kept the drawing more personal. TodayI am President for a hardcore skate brand by the name of Vox. I am in charge of all sorts of stuff. Not only designing the product I have to make sure things around the business run as smooth as possible. In the end if the bottom line isn’t wherethe CEO wants it, it’s my neck. It’s all good though we have a sick program. Check it out on the VOX website. We are doing a great art series with a few members of The 7th Letter. Ewok, Steel, Reyes, Push, Young K and Eklips will have models in stores mid November so be on the look out.
Read the rest of this great interview on: IloveGraffiti.de
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