What do you write, what crews and how long?
Avea and i put up AS (my crew) ,ER, LB,HTB,NHS,CBM,RT, as well as tonnes of other crews but they're the ones i mostly reprasent as theyre mates. I've been writing for about 12 years now.
What or who influenced you and got you started?
Started differently from most. We all used to DJ and go on pirate radio and play at house parties etc so we all had a nickname at that age. Then a few record covers gave me ideas to put our names up differently on the record sleeves. Knew a couple of small time writers and within 1 nights mission we were hooked.
Graff wise Im influenced by those hardcore all out bombers that go all out and destroy everything in site. That and those wildstyle kings. Wont say any names as theres too many good writers out there and none are better than each other. At the end of the day we're all the same in this game, we're just normal people that write on walls.
What do you get out of doing graffiti?
Just love seeing my name everywhere i go, it lets off some steam, its relaxing, and its fun to go bombing when drunk cos im just a man on a mission when i go off on one. Plus its always good to get recognised and to meet new friends all over the world.
Any little stories? Like chase stories? What weird things you've seen while painting?
Oh I've had plenty. Weirdest thing is either bumping into some random guy walking down a bumpkin part of the line on tracks carrying a knife..weirdo., or catching people fucking through their bedroom window. But outside of graff the stories are fucking mad....i've got tooooo many fucked up crazy nights to even start.
Graffwise theres been stuff like sliding off a roof on an icey night, getting a thick live wire getting stuck on my leg before exploding on the wall, getting stuck in a long tunnel with Opek and having two trains enter from both ends leaving us trapped and blinded with only a tiny manhole we found by hand to keep us alive, miss being hit by trains a few times with only a second to act and move and coming back to find your bags shredded, train surfing broad daylight and honking the drivers horn at all the passengers in the station...just terrorising carriages and tracks hard, dubbing a police station and taking out the whole entrance wall, doing trains overseas, getting arrested and having to go on the run abroad....pure fuckeries...i can go on forever.
One chase I stopped the fast train at my stop as it wasn't gonna stop for miles at that time of night. I aint paying a fortune to get home in a cab so i jumped off and started giving abuse to the driver and bombed up the train before it pulled off. Then i done a rooftop on the station and then another dub opposite the platform. Just when i was pressing the click on my flash a torch shines on me from the platform...cops...so i had to sprint down the tracks while he chased on. Ran down some embankment and had to climb this 7 foot fence with razor sharp steel spikes on top. Stood on a tree branch which snapped and i fell onto some burned out motor bike. Then as soon as i got up there was a next torch in my face so sprinted through some pitch black dense wood. Dropped my bag of goods, and had to dash my mums expensive camera and run into the bushes. Now these bushes were thorns and stingy nettles and i only had shorts on. Every metre i ran they got higher and higher til i just had to drop in the middle of them with 1000s of scratches up me. I could hear them all only feet away from me while i layed there for a good 45 minutes...Might have even nodded of for a bit as i was pissed and feeling sick.
Then i had to creep home down some long main roads with no alleys to rundown if they came. Made it back ok but going to a new job the next morning covered in cuts and a broken thumb with little sleep was never good....and i lost all my shit too.
Another mission i was painting with Spars, Reco (RIP), Opek and Smar. We hit a few trains and i done a crew dub...Annihalating Steel or Assaulting Subways or something. Then when we all left i wanted more. Smar slept on the platform and me and Opek went back into the yard. We hit a few tubes and then got chased as i reckon the early morning driver seen us from a distance. Sirens were going off on the station platform and the early morning commuters were sipping their coffee on the platform on the way to work. We had to run straight down the platform and onto a bridge. We then ran down the bridge and through some business. You could hear loadsa police sirens getting closer and closer. As soon as we hit the main road you could see the lights approaching but luckily a nightbus pulled up and we jumped on it while the cops flew past us. Then a couple of miles down the road a police van had a roadblock and stopped the bus......fuckeries...but luckily enough they soon let it go through. Never went back for flicks but that was a mad night.
What other countries have you ran through?
Tonnes, I've bombed and painted in about 22 countries. Done all UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Greece, Canary Islands, Corfu, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Chi-town USA, Dominican Republic, Kenya, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore..as well as a few others. Never smashed everywhere. Some places might only have a couple tags where as others have been badly rinsed to a level where i had to leave the country feeling guilty as i was such a bait cunt.
how do people treat you knowing your English?
Makes no difference what people think. If they're being ignorant then id tell them to go fuck themselves but luckily for me its never been an issue. If anything its been a positive as most people have been welcoming. Londoners are the opposite. They dont take too kindly to outsiders (well most of them) but other cities have a different attitude and are up for new hook ups.
What Do you think about biters and what would you like to say to them?
I dont mind if they admit it and say they were influenced by you. Its flattering because they respect and admire your work. At the end of the day we all bit at one point of time. No one comes out with pure original shit. You have to copy at first to get ideas and then eventually after you learn the basics you can develop your own style.
But those that bite and cuss you is another story. I had one toy that i had beef with his crew. He dogged my dub then done a dub next to it and bit my A exactly...and had the cheek to call me toy hahaha the guy is sooo shit too. Fucking knob needs a good backhander.
Have you ever been hurt doing graffiti?
Errr nothing major. Had a few fights like 6 to 1, a few little falls but the odd scratch or cut aint shit...The only thing thats fucked is when you get nicked and have to go on the run, leave a country or get sentenced. Im very lucky to be alive as i've come close to death many times in the game.
What kind of music do you listen to before or while painting?
I dont listen to music when i paint as i like to listen out. You gotta have your wits about you at all times cos im not looking to get nicked and sent down for a few years.
Outside of that i listen to all shit- Rnb, Hip Hop, Garage, Bassline, Hed Kandi..but love a bit of soul to relax my mind....it works overtime as graff can be a headfuck when you get too into it...that and all the fuckeries of being broke and living in a city full of cunts with a chip on their shoulder.
Any last words or shout outs?
Yeah big up syce and all my crews and everyone i've ever painted with, the fallen soldiers (RIP), all those that have hooked me up in foreign lands. The safe writers that show respect to each other, but fuck those toys that go round robbing people and dogging old school and better writers for no reason. Cant stand all that fake wannabe gangster shit....be yourself and dont be a wanker just to try to impress people...you should be respected out of love not fear or hate. You pricks always get your come uppance. If your looking to stay in this game for years you gotta grow up. Life aint all about graff.....but it does have a serious impact on it.
Safe people....
PS- Don't forget to check: http://www.flickr.com/avearistical_711 or Arrogant Swinez on facebook for just a few of our pics....got faaaaaar too many to upload.
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