Back in like ‘96 I hunted this magazine down just so I can read the NACE interview.  I finally found it in Philly.  I remember it was $5 and that was all I had on me.  It was either get this magazine or a cheese steak. I got the magazine, and I starved for the rest of the night, but it was wort it.  On August 12, 2001 NACE passed away after being hit by a drunk driver in Cincinnati Ohio while attending Scribble Jam.  I though it fitting to post this up.  Hope everyone enjoys.

How long have you been painting freights?

I’ve been bombing/painting since ‘91 or’92, but didn’t get serious until ‘93.

How did you get started?

Well it was around ‘88 or ‘89. I started going up to N.Y.C to see hardcore shows on the L.E.S and that when I really started to take interest in writing. Just seeing dope pieces on subways was enought to spark my interest on this artform, So that is when I started messin with handstyles and drawing pieces.

When did you start painting freights?

I started around ‘93/’94. Summer of ‘94 is when I got busy.

Who got you started painting freights?

Basically myself.  I used to bomb the comuter lines a lot, while on one of my many missions, I stumbled across this yard filled with flats.  I thought it would be cool to bomb these freights, just out of curiosity, wondering where they might end up.

What is the freight scene like where you live?

Well it’s cool because Jersey has a large freight population.  There’s a bunch of layups.  As far as kids getting down and painting them there’s only a few serious heads, teh rest are a bunch of little herbs hitting em’ just because it’s the in thing to do.  They’ll only last a couple of years.

Have you ever been caught or raided?

No, I haven’t been caught, but I’ve been spotted on a number of occasions.  Usually worker are too tierd or lazy to leave their truck.  I’ve been raided before, but I’m sure to get out of the situation as quick as possible.

What ccrews are you down with or paint in?

I’m in a country wide freight crew called network.  I try not to get involved in pushing a bunch of crews, it usually brings trouble. I try to keep solo.

Who are some of your partners you paint with?

I have three main partners. KAWS, ENUE and PRE.

How many freights have you painted?

I’m pushing 80 to 100.

What are you favorite freights to paint?

I like to paint all of em’! If it came down to a specific freight it would be a freshly painted CSX flat boxcar.

What kind of paint do you find to be best on freights?

Any Rusto’s or older Krylon.

How far have you traced your freights?

I’ve traced them as far as Canada to the West Coast.  Most of the freights in my spot end up in the MId West.

What writer’s have you seen on freights from around the country?

I’ve caught SUG and ACT out of New Mexico a number of times.  JET ICR, POWER, PORN, DREAM, out of California, CRISPO and BRAZE out of Philly, and a couple from in between.

What are you thoughts when you see writers dissing eachother on freight’s?

I think it’s wack! There’s tens of thousands of freights to paint on.  If two writers have some kind of problem then take care of it.  Wacking tags or throw ups over each other is a waste of tiem and paint.

What is you out look on the future of the freight scene?

Well I hope ther will be one. These freight comanies are catchin on and buffing pieces.  The kids painting should keep everything in their yards, or lay-ups in check.  Writer need to recognize that painting freights is the last resort for running trains.  Try to preserve the movement, if not in 5 to 10 years were gonna start to see fence’s and camera’s surounding the yards.

Any last words?

Peace to all my partners in crime and thanks for the interview.

It’s amazing what you can do when you remember your password. I’m starting 2011 with all kinds of goodwill and wishes and exercising and eating better and vows to post regularly and to actually enact my harebrained scheme for world domination. So expect another post or two, and then for me to drift back into obscurity and the waiting arms of complacency. Eh…no point in being negative, but still stating the grim reality of so many resolutions and best intentions.

So I’m offering up “Todor & Petru”. (Maybe that should be italicized rather than within quotes, but I’m probably the only one who has a rat’s ass to give around here for that sort of thing. Please note that I probably will not spellcheck this post before publishing. Conundrums rule everything around me.)

So yeah, I’m following up my New Year’s reality check with a bit of unreality in the form of a short film from Wizz. I love the combination of motion graphics and still photography injecting some living colour into what by comparison is a much bleaker world. If only these cartoon creations started to live and breathe in the physical realm, we might need them to stave of the clone armies our military must certainly be working on. Or am I only suggesting that because Cartoon Network had the gall to introduce what looks like Darth Maul 2.0 in a Star Wars: Clone Wars episode, but start it a half hour earlier, and I’ve been denied getting my geek on for the evening.

Bastards.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Surfing on the Street and Scary Ideas for finding this clip. And yeah I’ll be looking for Thunderclaps track, “Judgement Day” that’s featured in the video. Happy New Year.

Let’s start off with where you’re from, where you’ve been, and where you’re at now?

I was born in Atlantic City, NJ, lived in Manahawkin, NJ (really amazing place) until I was 19, then I moved to Arizona for about 9 years. I met my wife in NJ, so I packed up and left Arizona for NJ again. So what got you interested in tattooing? Well besides being a total fuck-up when I was a kid, I used to do stick and pokes (tattoos done with a sewing needle) on my buddies, but I never really thought much of it. When I got into my 20’s I stopped being a fuck-up for the most part and and got interested in doing artwork again. I got my fi rst professional tattoo when I was 21 and that was it – I was hooked.

Outside of the tattoo scene, what have been some of your biggest artistic influences?

14th and 15th century painters, that stuff is amazing. I never made it to college so I don’t know anything about art history, but any museum I go to, that’s all I look at. Like most things from the past, people had so much more passion and time, we live in chaos. But i guess that helps sometimes. What is your all-time favorite album cover? Iron Maiden, Number of the Beast. Actually, I love all the Maiden album cover because the dude that painted them is sick. I forget his name, but I forget EVERYONES name.

What is the most unorthodox place you get inspiration from?

Being 13 years old and watchin’ Friday the 13th part two, and pissin’ my bed that night from a bad dream. Now thats inspiration.

Tell us about the first tattoo you ever gave someone?

It was on my self I was 12 years old and I did a small cross on my ankle bone. I didn’t pay much attention and it wound up looking like an X instead. Tattooing is full of “interesting” characters.

Of all the people you have ever tattooed, who was the weirdest or funniest person?

That’s a tough one, there’s so many, but I do have one that I like to tell. It’s long but here ya go. I was tattooing for maybe a year professionally and the place was crazy, it was on the west side of Phoenix, not the worst place I’ve ever been but not the best either. So it’s a Friday morning and this couple walks in. The guy that looks like Chet from Weird Science when that chick turns him into that creepy little critter. His girl was about 6’6”, maybe 200 pounds and poured into this 1980s, one piece, skin tight, electric blue thing that did nothing to hide her strangeness. Amazing. So she wants to get her pussy tattooed and I’m just the guy for it. She has this little scar she needs to cover, easy as pie I tell her. The skirt comes right up, no undies, bald as a baby and enough piercings in that thing to chip ALL your teeth. Not a bit of shame in this one. So with that, the tattooing begins, and she likes it, A LOT. So meanwhile her creepy little boyfriend is getting real excited that she’s getting excited. He’s sweatin’ and breathin’ real hard and I’m doing everything I can to not kick this retard outta my room. So I reach over to get some more ink for her tattoo and when I look back, she’s knuckle deep in her meat pocket. I screamed, “What the fuck are you doing?” The sound of wet meat and metal burned itself in my brain. So she apologized and said the vibration of the machine was getting her wet. Now in most peoples mind this sounds like a dream job, but when you’ve got a 7 foot 200 pound Amazon in your chair wiping her sloppy wet pussy with a bounty paper towel, while her even more disgusting boyfriend is about to beat off behind her head, it makes you wonder why you got out of bed that day.

Different styles of tattooing have come and gone over the years. What style do you think stands the test of time?

Traditional style tattooing. Whether it’s American traditional or Japanese, it has to have those elements of a strong outline and black shading. Anything after that is just preference. If it’s a black and grey tattoo, you just smooth out the black more or if it’s color, you just pound color right into the black. It doesn’t have to be a huge outline or this really simple clunky tattoo, it just needs black, bottom line. But then again, some people like shitty tattoos, so there ya go.

In your eyes, how do you differentiate between a good tattoo and a shitty tattoo?

I can appreciate a lot of tattoos – everything from a great piece of flash to the sickest design by Mike Rubendall. It’s hard to explain what makes a good one and what makes a bad one. It’s all in the eyes of the beholder.

What are your thoughts on graffiti?

I like it a lot, but I don’t know shit about it. I can’t even read it but every country I’ve gone to I always take pictures of it. I like that you have to be a criminal to do it.

The top three positives to living in New Jersey?

I live close to the ocean.

I don’t live in Arizona anymore.

My wife and baby girl are here with me.

The top three negatives to living in New Jersey?

The Sopranos.

Living so close to the ocean where The Sopranos visit.

Trying to get by in maybe the most corrupt government of any state. $8 dollars to walk on the fuckin’ beach with my daughter, and she gets on free.

What is your favorite place in New Jersey to spend a day off?

The Mall.

Any last words?

If I had to pick the way my life turned out, I would have screwed it up. This has become my everything. Thanks for asking me to be a part of your magazine. I wish you all the best in your endeavors.

Photo by: Joe Dantone

Interview by: Justin Rossi

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What is DJ Nappy up to these days? Coming back hard I assume.

I’m just catching up with what’s been brewing during the past 3+ years in dubstep and sorting out which tracks I’m going to refix. Working some rough mixes and seeing what sounds appealing. Also linking with producers, emcees, singers, and dj’s for collaborations. I need others to properly operate, and the input is way more important than the output. Movement is slow but precise. Been watching old episodes of ‘The Wire’ and Jersey Shore. That Snooki…. she’s so crazy!

Haha the Wire is pretty dope. I actually just started watching it a couple of weeks back. I still have a bunch of seasons to view. I could see you kicking it with snooki… that would be a hilarious tv show! Speaking of jersey, where did you grow up?

A little town called West Windsor, but I spent most of my time in Princeton as a teenager and young adult. It’s the next town over and there was a lot more trouble to get into in Princeton.

” Thugstep works best in clubs in my opinion. I have some r&b and underground hiphop cats on Dubstep beats, and it doesn’t feel right to me. I’d prefer to hear Snoop than Murs with this type of production. The ignorant rap over complex bass and drums and synths seems like the perfect blend, and you can take a shitty Soulja Boy song and make it fun with a dubstep track behind it.”

Yes indeed. Princeton was interesting. That is where I came to meet you scooping ice cream at Thomas Sweet. I remember helping finish the cover art when you dropped the Green Album…those Jay Z remixes. Your style of music has changed music since then. What has contributed to that?

I had a radio show on Princeton University’s WPRB, and it started off as a Drum n Bass show. I started to play a bit of rap and hiphop, and got way more response. Jungle and DNB has always been close to my heart, and dubstep was a logical spin from that. It’s sequenced perfectly for rap refixes, and pretty lovely by itself. I think the Green Album was a representation of my obsession with 80’s music at the time. I was just starting to hit the hipster spots and dive bars with Pandemonium Jones (of Caps and Jones) and the cuts between genres was a revelation to me. The Green Album was the first official

release I came out with. The best beats are the ones Definate did, and the hardest part was mixing it down. I had new studio monitors and a vision. Keep in mind this was nearly 10 years ago. It’s still nice to listen to, though I hear dozens of small rookie mistakes. I don’t think my taste has drastically changed

though. I still listen to a lot of the stuff I was listening to then.

I loved that album. I was listening it to it a couple of days back on your website. Its sweet you have all of your tracks set up to stream in live time. I’m a big fan. A ton of artists have been remixed by you. Everybody from Lil Jon to Fergie. Even Aesop Rock lol.. but which artists have influenced you the most recently?

Producers like Benga, Skream, Joker, Deadly Habit, Nero, Distance, D1, Starkey, Giant, Foreign Beggars, Fused Forces, Borgore, Funtcase, Loetech, MRK1, and Emalkay are heavy in rotation. I could go on and on. There is a lot of fantastic beat makers that release a steady stream of phenomenal music, and these guys probablydon’t know how deep I’m into their catalogs. I fuck with songs more than artists. It’s always been my policy to download everything so I don’t miss hidden gems. You might find an unknown producer that made one banger that’s useful, or a track from somebody that you don’t really fuck with that can be used in a set or mix. These grime emcees are on some real next level shit. There’s a lot more quality stuff to choose from than when I was feeling Dizzee Rascal and Roots Manuva. Or maybe its just more accessible? That down south trap music has always been fantastic to me too.

You are releasing and remixing a lot of dubstep, which is big in the UK. Do you think it has a place here in the states?

It’s growing in popularity, but who knows when the trend will slow or stop? If you asked me 10 years ago if Roni Size and DJ SS and LTJ Bukem would still be popular, I wouldn’t have seen reason to say no. The Magnetic Man sampler is major to me though. It seems like there could be a couple really successful records that cross over into our markets, and that John Legend track off of there is particularly special. I’ve always been into dubstep though. This isn’t a new infatuation that will pass. Will it have a place? Sure. I can’t tell you how significant that place will become or how long it’ll last for though. You have to understand my friendship with Khal and his involvement in the drum n bass scene in the 90’s to understand where my head is at. Me and Khal were sparking dutches and playing Goldeneye 007 and listening to ‘The Case’ by Dope Skillz 10 years ago. This isn’t a bandwagon for me to hop on and off of.

Fair enough. It seems like there will be a whole new generation gravitating towards it. When I hear your remixes I think, the future is now. Are the states more ready for Thugstep compared to Dubstep?

I think so. When you give Americans something new and something they understand at the same time, it makes a bit more sense to them. The UK scene has always embraced electronic music in general, and our response has been patchy until recently. Look at what’s on the billboard top 40. Do you really think raw beats will find a way on the pop charts in the next few years? It’s not accessible to the 14 year old girl in Idaho. A Katy B or Warrior Queen or JME or Baby Blue track is more likely to blow, don’t you think ?

No, you make a point. Although no one is really listening to the radio that much anymore. You can make it big now in days by having presence on the web and touring. I mean look at the underground hip hop scene in the late 1990s and early 2000’s. They thrived off of the internet. I think the web will have a huge influence in the driving thugstep here as well and translating those listeners to club goers etc. What do you think?

There’s really no other outlet.  Like you said, people really don’t listen to the radio anymore.  The market is so much more competitive than it used to be.  It’s hard for people to sell albums because every genre is overly saturated.  I have seen one dubstep video being played on MTV, and that’s really the extent of mainstream media pushing the vision.

How did you get involved in the “Thugstep scene”?

I created the thugstep scene. I think I sent my manager Khal Dan Donovan’s remix of ‘Step It Up’ and said ‘I need more of this’. The first refixes I did came mostly from the pack of beats I got from him, and the ‘Act A Fool’ refix with Coki and Lil Jon might have been the first track I sent back to Khal. Coki recently spun the track out on an essential mix. The rest is history. It’s my term for refixed dubstep though. It’s funny going back into the dubstep forum archives and seeing how much they hated the idea 4 years ago, and how they embrace the style now. A bit hypocritical, but whatever.

You just released new refixes on hoodlummusic.com. How did that collaboration come about?

I’ve been ghost for quite a minute, but there were over 100 refixes of mine that Khal had his hands on, and he was careful in placing those tracks. DJ Cable is a 3x DMC champ, and he blessed the world with the ‘Fuck Thugstep’ mix, which was a huge hit. DJ Hipnotikk released tons of refixes and several ‘Dirty

South Thugstep’ mixes, and it only seemed right that the 3 of us link together for some releases. It just happened. Khris stayed connected with these guys, and they’re genuinely cool dudes that believe in the movement.

When did you link up to create Hoodlum Music?

The idea really only sparked a couple months ago. Dj Hipnotikk knocked the web design out in a weekend, and we’ve been posting daily thugstep mixes, official releases, and extra goodies for ‘Thugstep Thursdays’. Releases are done, and we are plotting on some pretty serious mayhem. I think all of the people involved do quality work and expect results. They constantly remind me that I have to step up.

What was the premise behind it?

We aren’t the only ones doing what we’re doing, but we are the most relevant. Cable has London in his hands, and Hipnotikk is the rookie of the year in Atlanta. This is a platform to release tracks that we like. That’s all. You won’t find any house, pop, or electro. We love all types of music, but Hoodlum

Music is a place for thugstep. All of our catalogs will slowly be archived there. It’s a place to get one thing. One feeling. One style. Stuff we do individually, group releases, and items that we would actually spin that other artists and producers and DJ’s are creating will all find a home there. I still rep RockTheDub to the fullest though. I would be nowhere without that platform.

Mainstream Hip Hop and pop is currently full of electronic beats. I would describe it as club and dance influenced. Do you think there is a place for thugstep in this arena?

Thugstep works best in clubs in my opinion. I have some r&b and underground hiphop cats on Dubstep beats, and it doesn’t feel right to me. I’d prefer to hear Snoop than Murs with this type of production. The ignorant rap over complex bass and drums and synths seems like the perfect blend, and you can take a shitty Soulja Boy song and make it fun with a dubstep track behind it. 2 step and rap have been flirting for years though. I’m well aware of what came before me.

You used to DJ a lot of house parties etc… The music was much different back then. How do you feel

about what is being released today?

I don’t think music is that different. Jeezy and Weezy and Kanye are still relevant. What’s new? Lady Gaga? Justin Bieber? La Roux? There’s always been good shit, and I will always find it. You can’t put me in the category of popular trends. It’s never been my vision to be widely accepted.

I hear you on that. You attract a niche when it comes to your remixes. I used to attend the house parties you had out in New Brunswick. They were gully back then. New Brunswick is also where some say Thugstep was birthed by you. What roll did New Brunswick and NJ play in your growth as an artist currently?

That was the closest spot where we could fit 400 people in a house with 15 kegs of beer and 60 gallons of jungle juice without too much police involvement. From ages 18 to 21, we had a place to drink unlimited beer for $5 and push up on girls. Then we turn 21, and going to the bar was $5 per drink. It

was just as cheap to go to Williamsburg or Philly, and the music was infinitely better. I don’t think I ever spun records at a club in New Brunswick, and that place wasn’t overly inspirational. What I do never meshed with the mainstream. People came out because they liked me and they loved to have a good time and they knew I wasn’t ever going to play anything you would hear on pop radio.

What was the New Brunswick scene like back then?

It was a regular college town. I would love to say I was a part of something significant, but Rutgers is a large school. There were lots of kids that liked to have a good time. I’m sure you could find the same scene in 1000 other college towns on a weekend evening.

Makes sense… I consistency run into people that attended Rutgers and for some reason your basements parties continue to come up when they recount prior experiences. Do you remember the first show / Party you played? Any highlights?

Wow. The first paid gig was probably at Princeton University. I remember one of the first times I played out for college kids at an eating club on campus, and I got wasted, played some great hiphop, plucked a nerd chick at the end, and they paid me $500 for 4 hours. It didn’t make sense. I was 15 or 16 and had my dad pick me up after I was done. It was heaven.

HAHA! Was there a point where the house party djing stopped died and the remixing strictly picked

up?

For me? I really never stopped doing house parties. They were the perfect spot to test refixes and see response. I cater to house parties. Young ignorance in an alcohol fueled sweat box. Basements would hit 100 degrees with cellar doors open in the dead of winter. So many pictures came out foggy because of the humidity. You can get away with playing some left field shit though.

Hilarious, they were. I guess you are just that skilled where you can commit to both as an artist. lol. Do you find yourself busy these days?

What’s your definition of busy? I’m used to sleeping 4 hours a day, fielding a hundred phone calls, thousands of texts and instant messages, dozens of emails, and several gigs of music. Everyday. My archive is crazy, and the contact list overwhelming. I’m on relax mode right now. You’ll know when I’m

busy.

Yea sleeping four hours a day is rough though. I will then assume you will be turning out some dope releases. Are there going to be some upcoming releases we should be on the lookout for? Where should we be going to access them?

More things from HoodlumMusic, and some solo work. I’m going to do a bunch of mixes as well. I have about 20 projects planned in my head, but they’re pointless to talk about until they are done. My next release is a Bun B tape, and Hoodlum has a Rude Kid compilation halfway done. I will overwhelm the

market in the spring though. Tracks, original production, video work, art installations, etc. I miss the grind.

Any plans for touring in the near future?

A couple dates are lined up for the spring. www.rockthedub.com and www.discjockeynappy.com will have dates as they become available.

I can’t wait for that!

It will be mayhem.  I can’t wait either

Any last words?

Fuck Thugstep. Many thanks to my family for keeping my head straight. My hoodlums Cable and Hipnotikk are my musical inspiration. I appreciate all of the kind words from beautiful people when the internet tried to assassinate my character. Hera and Dub-U and Cosmin TRG and Coki for the love and

support. And if you have the rare opportunity to speak to Khal, thank him. This wouldn’t have started or lasted without him.

The Art of Storytelling has recently interviewed Disc Jockey Nappy. We are also lucky to bring you EXCLUSIVE NEW Disc Jockey Nappy Tracks. ENJOY!

EXCLUSIVE NEW RELEASES!

____________________________________________________________

Oldies from Disc Jockey Nappy

Big Kuntry King – Old School Ft. Mike Jones And Young Dro (Disc Jockey Nappy Vs. Benga Thugstep Mix)

Lil Jon – Act A Fool Ft. Three 6 Mafia (Disc Jockey Nappy Vs. Coki Thugstep Mix)

LISTEN TO DISC JOCKEY NAPPY AND DOWNLOAD HIS ENTIRE ARCHIVE FREE AT

DISCJOCKEYNAPPY.COM

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www.Hoodlummusic.com

www.twitter.com/djnappy

www.soundcloud.com/djnappy

www.facebook.com/discjockeynappy

www.rockthedub.com

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE ART OF STORYTELLING MAGAZINE ISSUE #1

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So where did your interest in Bigfoot come from and why did you decide to startpainting Bigfoot characters?

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It’s been about 14 years now since I decided to start writing Bigfoot. I realized the symbolism of Bigfoot was the culmination of all things I was into portraying, nature, magic and an opposition to the modern human world.

“If I stayed in Jersey I would definitely be making art but wouldn’t have started writing Bigfoot and would’ve ended up doing hard time for like 2 grams of weed.”

Graffiti artists have the luxury of hiding behind their artwork. I have met tons of graffiti artists and there are a lot of dorks, social idiots and loners in the graffiti game myself included. But they have a unique talent, graffiti is illegal, above the law, the act of graffiti has street credibility, so for a lot of people it serves as an alter ego. Is this the case for you as well?

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Yeah I’m definitely all those things above for sure. I have been a loner my whole life. When I started to write it was something I just wanted to do for myself and then I started to feel better as a person as I accomplished stuff and got some recognition. It makes sense that the people who start doing graffiti are outcasts from society and don’t do normal square stuff. You don’t hear about people that play football in the daytime and then go out and write. Above all it’s a big F.U. to society in general. I feel the need to transcend normal human life and represent
the Bigfoot spiritual world of spirits and dimensions, being a human isn’t all that.

Many depictions of Bigfoot are of a mean and violent being. Your paintings, at least in my opinion, don’t convey that. Even when you do a Bigfoot painting with an angry face it doesn’t come off too threatening. Is that intentional? Do you think the big guy has a soft side?

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Yeah I think it’s true for the Bigfoot’s out there that they aren’t completely mean or else they would be terrorizing humans all the time, which they are capable of. They are more into being undiscovered than attacking. There are so many natural places to hide still that they don’t have to attack people. But yeah they defi nitely have a soft side. They are part Buddhist. I do try to have the faces I draw have a lot of different emotion. Ranging from angry to understanding.

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Some of your Bigfoot characters are painted Green. Why? That seems like an unlikely color.

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Well they all aren’t dark brown or black, because I believe there’s many Bigfoot’s in different stages. The green ones are still in the plant kingdom dimension traveling through earth. The Paterson fi lm…..Fact or Fiction? I don’t think its real because a Bigfoot would know better than to get caught on fi lm like that.

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Has your commercial artwork been as fulfilling as your street work? Do you like one over the other?

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The commercial stuff is more fulfilling as far as survival, the amount of content and detail, but the street stuff is more fulfi lling to me when I need a release. Stuff comes out better sometimes when I’m giving it away to the world. I’ve been real addicted to freights lately. They both reach different people and have completely different purposes.

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Musically you seem to be into old school bands, you have long hair and dress a little bit on the 80’s rocker tip. It seems like you draw a lot inspiration from the past vs. the present why?

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That’s pretty much what I know, what I grew up with. When I was 12 and it was 1986 I was really into skateboarding and my mom wouldn’t let me grow my hair as long as I wanted so I settled on a Tony Hawk style. Long bangs to one side haircut. Now I am older and can do whatever the hell I want. I have a lot of nostalgia for the past. I wish I coulda been 18 in 1986 or 18 in 1976. To me It’s about everything that I think is the ultimate from the 70’s and 80’s. The music, art, and everything visual was just the best to me. Nothing from today really gets me excited. These little kids don’t know how to play rock and roll today.

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You are really into KISS, Iron Maiden and a lot of throwback bands from the 70’s and 80’s. Have they influenced you creatively?

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Yeah big influence. I had this best friend in 7th grade, Marcus LaRock. He drew Eddie over and over. Through him drawing Eddie it subconsciously taught me to persevere, pick something, and stick with it. KISS is just everything to me. I am obsessed with things around the eyes on my characters and KISSis of course partly responsible for that. A lot of early Metal/hard rock bands had the best album covers
ever, period. Ken Kelly’s covers for KISS’s Destroyer and Love Gun are my favorite pieces of art work ever. I once had the honor of seeing the original Love Gun painting in Vegas in 2003. I stared at it for hours.

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Speaking of KISS what do you think of the band Angel? My boy put me up on Angel and Punky Meadows years ago. Gene Simmons found these guys in like 74’ and got them signed to Casablanca. I am always curious what die-hard KISS fans think of Angel.

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I haven’t been exposed to Angel that much, never bought any records or anything. The most I’ve seen was they were in the Casablanca produced movie “Foxes” with Jodie Foster and Cherie Curie of The Runaway’s. I’m pretty much down for any band in the 70’s that had feathered hair though.

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You lived in Jersey until you were 18, why did you decide to move?

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I think it’s natural for a kid to wanna see what’s on the other coast. My whole life I just wanted to go to California, from seeing it on TV, skateboarding, and the good weed. I was taking NJ Transit all over Jersey and would take the path into NYC, playing hooky and all that. I felt like I saw most of what there was to see around me so I wanted to go see the big trees.

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What is the biggest difference between pursuing an art career in San Francisco vs. New Jersey? Had you stayed in NJ do you think you would have been as successful?

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Nowadays somebody can do their art anywhere and put it on the Internet but for me I had to go on a journey and fi nd things out, search within. The skateboard industry and my homies from Jersey that relocated to SF also helped out. If I stayed in Jersey I would definitely be making art but wouldn’t have started writing Bigfoot and would’ve ended up doing hard time for like 2 grams of weed. So definitely not
as successful.

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On your visits back to the Garden State have you paid attention to the graffiti scene? Who are some of your favorite artists from New Jersey?

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Nace will always rule Jersey. Route 78 was runnin for a while, a couple of my Jersey favorites are Jes and Kemos. Thanks for the interview any Last Words? What’s up to all my Jersey homies. Teddy Becks, Quimtime, and Haculla. Dirty Jersey represent
www.bigfootone.com

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE ART OF STORYTELLING MAGAZINE ISSUE #1.

So where in Jersey did you grow up?
Monmouth County, Eatontown.

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How did you get involved in the hardcore scene?
Like a lot of kids who get into hardcore, especially kids from down the Jersey Shore at that time, I found music through skating. Prior to high school, I mainly learned about hardcore from skate magazines. I’d read the “Notes” section of Thrasher, which gave the run down on bands. I hung out with this kid George and he’d give me his old Thrashers. I bought or copied tapes when I could. Some years later I got into high school and some of the kids from the adjacent towns were part of the school. That’s where I met Josh Grabelle who later started Trustkill Records. Josh was the one who knew everyone in the area. Through him I met a lot of people who were into hardcore and about upcoming shows. I also met a fellow named Rich Flanagan, who I went to my first show with freshman year. A year later I met Carl Severson who later started Ferret Records. Carl was basically an Army kid from Fort Monmouth and I met him the first day of sophomore year of high school. I was wearing a Gorilla Biscuits shirt and he leaned over and was like ”DUDE! The Gorilla Biscuits.” And that was how it all started.

“Back then I just wanted to absorb everything skateboarding related. In that Dogtown documentary, Henry Rollins explained how he did the same thing. He waited for Skateboarder Magazine every month. You would get to see those pictures and you got snapshots of what was going on.”

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That’s crazy that two relatively big hardcore labels, Trustkill and Ferret, came from the same area of Jersey and the owners were really good friends.
Yeah, and both Carl and Josh have brilliant business minds and an eye for talent. I think that’s why some labels over the years have died out and Carl and Josh are still around. They’re not doing this as a hobby, running this out of their bedrooms anymore. They take it very seriously.

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What year did you link up with those guys? I met Josh in like ‘88 or ‘89. I met Carl a year later.

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Growing up in Monmouth County, did you ever skate the Eatontown Roller Rink?
Eatontown Roller Rink, baby! It was amazing. For those who don’t know, it was a roller rink that they converted into a skate park one night a week. If you brought a ramp you would get in for free. I remember I had this friend Brian. I don’t know what his deal was. He was kind of an interesting cat. He was always getting into trouble. I remember Brian went to one of those alternative high schools. His parents were very laid back and they basically let him build a skate park in front of their house. He had bank, he had launch ramp, sliders, a box, a wall ride ramp in his garage. Every Sunday night he would hop in his dad’s truck and head out to Eatontown with one of his ramps, so we rarely had to pay to get in to the rink. The place was awesome. There were no skateparks in the area back then so the rink was a really big deal. I remember Mike Vallely would sometimes show up, doing method airs, touching the ceiling with his hand. You used to get pros out there every once in a while and you’d just want to watch and be inspired. I have such great memories of skating there. You had the smooth floor and you could bring your tapes and the DJ would play them. There were a hundred or so of other kids skating, so you always made sure you were on point. On top of that you used to get to meet new people. And you learned new tricks and got to skate different types of ramps and such. One night the Asbury Park Press showed up. I was trying kickflip-to-melan grabs off the launch ramp all night and I got my picture in the paper. Lot of great memories skating there.

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What ever happened to that place? [The roof to the longtime abandoned building collapsed on Feb. 19, 2009 and was demolished soon after.]
Not sure. I stopped going in the early 90s. This guy Tin Man we knew died at the rink. He had a heart condition and had a convulsion right on the floor. He died in front of everybody. That was a shame. They actually buried him with his board. Carl and I were at the funeral.

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So was there a point where skating died and the music picked up?
Yeah, in the early 90s when skating entered its dark period. The surf-influenced style of skating that initially attracted me evolved into the super technical, style-doesn’t-matter era. I tried to stick through it for a while but I bailed as I got more consumed by music. But the connection between skating and music was always there. Thrasher Magazine helped me find out about other aspects of skating culture like music. Man, I would study those old issues so intently. Back then I just wanted to absorb everything skateboarding related. In that Dogtown documentary, Henry Rollins explained how he did the same thing. He waited for Skateboarder Magazine every month. You would get to see those pictures and you got snapshots of what was going on. It wasn’t just the skating but the music as well. I had to approach it a bit differently though. I was raised in a relatively strict Christian home and I was the baby of five kids, so at 13 I was listening to Bad Brains and Metallica and The Dead Kennedys at night in my room with my headphones on so that my parents couldn’t hear. For me it was a matter of wanting to be different from my siblings and the kids around me who were still into playing football. I looked to music as a way to tap into that same type of raw energy that I found in skateboarding.

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Do you remember the first show you saw?
I do. I saw a band called Vision In Long Branch, NJ. The show was at a hole in the wall place down the shore called Murphy’s Law. It was Vision, Release, Cryptic Cookies and No Future. Once I went to that first show and experienced the hardcore scene for real, everything just clicked. I found the other part of me. I had found skateboarding, which was a big part of my life, and then I found hardcore – above and beyond just having the records. I really got to see what a DIY scene looked like.

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The hardcore scene was similar to skateboarding. If you went somewhere and saw someone that skateboarded it was like we were instant friends.
Oh, hell yeah, because it was so underground still. It was like in the movie Fight Club. Ed Norton goes into a restaurant and he looks up and the guy nods at him. He knows who he is and they are part of the same underground scene. Carl and I are a perfect example. Here we are, complete strangers. It was his first day at my school and he’s not sitting there for more than two minutes and it’s like dude, we’re best friends because of the shirt I’m wearing. We were hanging out after school, copying each other’s tapes, going to shows. It’s the same with skateboarding. Some dude would have a pair of shoes on. It didn’t even have to be the type of shoes he was wearing, it could be some Nike shoes. If they were all ripped up with an ollie hole and some duck tape, you knew you were cut from the same cloth, and you were automatically buds now.

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Yeah. It’s different now?
Well, it’s so mainstream now its hard to tell. It is good and bad at the same time. I definitely feel blessed to have come into the hardcore scene when I did. I mean there are bands that came out in the late 80s that are legendary now, especially the bigger straight edge bands. When straight edge really took off with the whole Revelation Records boom, that was just a hell of a time to come in. The scene was fresh and there was so much energy, and it wasn’t mainstream at all. It was very raw and underground and something you could call your own in the midst of all the mainstream trends in high school.

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Going mainstream took away the small stuff that really made it something.
For the consumer these days, it’s a double edged sword. It is so much easier to get music these days. Even for the well known bands. You don’t even have to buy anything, you just go to one of these sites and download it. Twenty years ago it was a lot different. I remember having to get on a bus and go a couple of towns over to go to store called Vintage Vinyl in Ocean Township, NJ. I had to do all that just to be able to see what new records had come in. That was exciting, man. The store was totally out of the way for a kid not old enough to drive. From start to finish it was like two-and-a-half hours for me to go there, look around, and come back. I was riding the frigging bus and when I got there they sometimes didn’t even have anything new but that experience was a big part of it. You just gravitated to that energy. You never knew what you were going to find or who you were going to run into. You would see flyers for upcoming shows and couldn’t wait to tell your friends. It was real exciting. It’s a bummer for kids growing up now because they’re not experiencing that. They’re never going to know the excitement of waiting for a record to come out and getting to the store, finally holding it in your hands, spending hours looking at it after you get it. Its just a mouse click now, before the record even is released.

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Not holding a tangible item is a weird concept. I remember reading everything before even listening to the record. The liner notes were like a hidden treasure. You got to see the bands that they thanked and you could use that as a blueprint to find more bands that you would probably like.
I bought so many records based on those thanks lists. You also bring up a really good point. The iPod play list totally replaced the concept of the album. Not just the tangibility, but the song order. Song ordering is so important when putting together an album. It’s how you tell the story. It’s like a book. I just recorded the last Burnt by the Sun record and song order was a big discussion for us. Then of course you have the issue of people downloading the whole album for free instead of buying it. So you have to look for other ways to make people want to buy the music, like including a DVD or silk-screened patches or anything that taps into the power of the music that can’t be downloaded.

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How did Endeavor start to gain momentum?
When we got around to doing a tour. Endeavor had done some demos followed by a 7 inch. That Endeavor 7 inch was actually Carl’s first release on Ferret Records. Momentum didn’t start to pick up until the first 7 inch and we started playing out on a regular basis. When we started touring in the summers and we had a 12 inch out, that is when things picked up for us.

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How did you end up being the vocalist?
Well, I started the band as the vocalist, so it was set since day one. I knew from the day I went to my first show that I needed to sing in a band and I needed to be proactive in getting in a band or starting one. I knew what kind of vocals I would want to do and what I wanted to sing about. I had stacks of old lyrics I wrote from the time I was 14 years old. You may remember back in the day some hardcore records would come with instrumental songs. My dad’s stereo in the den had a plug-in microphone, so I would sing my lyrics over the instrumentals and hear myself through the speakers. I had sang in a couple of project bands that didn’t go anywhere, and Endeavor was the first one that stuck.

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Was there any significance to the name Endeavor?
Actually we initially were called In the Name of God. It wasn’t a religious band but more of a poke at religion. I was 16 and was going through my “I’m really angry at God phase.” That didn’t really gel well with the other guys so we made the name change. Endeavor was the first name we all liked. It sounded like a hardcore band, so we used that. The first show that we did was at a birthday party. It was this girl we knew that had pretty laid back parents. I was nervous as hell. [Laughs] I haven’t thought about that party in years. After that we did some shows here and there through high school and then the summer after I graduated in ‘93 is when Josh started putting on really good shows in his basement. I mean REALLY GOOD shows – Unbroken, Lifetime, Snapcase, Iconoclast, Strife, Earth Crisis, Chorus of Disapproval. So many other bands. I have no idea how he started doing that but that was an amazing summer. Going to his house earlier that day, chillin’ with all the bands, skating around. And of course Josh would put us on some of the shows. This was the summer of ‘93 into ‘94. He must have done like eight or nine shows that year. His parents were super laid back. They were successful professionals but they were cool with all these strange kids hanging out in their house. Carl’s parents, too. Endeavor did band practices in their basement for a while, and Carl’s mom would tell us how much we sucked. [laughs] But they were cool.

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What was the New Brunswick scene like back then?
New Brunswick was a good scene. New Jersey was really divided up. There was South Jersey around the Cherry Hill area. A club called G Willicers was down there and that scene was pretty tied in with Philly. Then you had the whole Jersey Shore scene and that’s where I went to a lot of shows. New Brunswick included a lot of the same bands to a certain degree. In Brunswick, you also had some of the more punk bands like Bouncing Souls. And then there was the Northern Jersey scene that had the tougher bands, and was considered to be an offshoot of the New York City scene. And then you had Middlesex County College, which to a large degree brought all the scenes together. But Brunswick itself was cool.

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What made you come to New Brunswick?
I moved to New Brunswick in ‘94. Carl went off to school in Minnesota for a year but then transferred back to Rutgers so we were like cool, let’s move to New Brunswick, and we rented a house. Josh went up to Syracuse, which had a huge hardcore scene back then, but we still kept tight. While he was up there he started Trustkill Records, which was initially a fan ‘zine. But New Brunswick had so much going on. Aside from the local scene of basement shows, the Melody Bar, and the Court Tavern, you had Middlesex County College, which was 10 minutes away. How many shows did we go to there?

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How the hell did a community college become such an important part of the Hardcore scene?
It all came down to this girl Tracy who was the head of the show committee at the school and she was dating Tim McMahon from Mouthpiece. She put together these amazing, really diverse shows. You would see a band like Westin playing with Sheer Terror or Integrity or something. Before “fests” became the norm, Middlesex shows were the closest thing to a fest you could get. 10 bands from all across the country in the same show. I can’t remember the last time they had a show at Middlesex. A bunch of times I remember things getting out of hand back then. The infamous yogurt-throwing took place there when Earth Crisis played. They were seen as being pushy with their beliefs about animal rights and there were some kids from Phili that threw yogurt at them while they played. The yogurt part was the peaceful part. This one cat we knew jumped on the stage with a fur coat and things got out of hand and stupid. I also remember the power got pulled during Earth Crisis’ set but they kept playing, just the drums and most of the crowd singing along. That show I remember as striking me as real powerful. Karl and Earth Crisis earned a lot of respect that day, in my book. Agree with it or not, it was a movement within hardcore that was developing.

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Yeah, when I think of hardcore, I think of a movement and I don’t see that these days.
I know what you’re saying and I think it’s a hard call. I don’t see it either but then again I am not a 16-year-old kid in the year 2009 hanging out with friends after school doing whatever kids 16-year-olds now do. Judging by the shows that I have been to recently, meaning the last couple of years, and seeing how many kids still come out, I don’t think a whole lot has changed. I think they just do it differently than we did. They’re downloading music and they’re going to Hot Topic to get their t-shirts, but it is still an alternative culture.

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Haha, Hot Topic. I actually don’t mind Hot Topic that much. I would rather see that than some other stuff but knowing what I know now about marketing and stuff they literally took what wasn’t popular and totally turned that into a main stream product.
Yeah, there are pluses and minuses to the Hot Topic phenomenon. In one sense, people have easier access to alternative culture. As mainstream as it seems to us, most people will go nowhere near that store. But yeah, I feel you. It’s the tradeoff. The more access you have, the more that energy seems to get diluted. It’s accessible in a way that is on the edge but not too much on the edge. But if you have someone that goes into Hot Topic and if they’re really trying to find themselves and they are attracted to that energy in the same way that you and I were, then they are going to go beyond what they are selling at Hot Topic. They are gonna immerse themselves in it and go above and beyond going to the mall to get their fix. I bought my first Bad Brains tape at a place called Record Town at the Monmouth Mall. It grew from there.

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What happened after Endeavor?
As Endeavor was winding down, I started Nora with Carl and Chris Ross from Ensign. I played guitar in that band for the first few records. Like Endeavor, Nora signed to Trustkill Records. I also played guitar with a New Brunswick band called Try.Fail.Try for a while. The singer from that band now does a podcast called Issue Oriented, which is awesome. Then around 99, some friends from the shore scene approached me and asked me to check out a new band they were starting. This was Dave Witte from Human Remains and John Adubato from Time’s Up. I checked it out and was blown away, and was stoked that they wanted me to sing. I was into it but wanted to hear more. They were practicing without me and then Dave called me up and asked how come I wasn’t coming to practice, was I still into it. I said, “yeah, of course, man. I just wanted to give you guys some breathing room”. He was like, “we’re ready for you man, come on down, let’s do this”. This is how Burnt by the Sun got started.

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You just finished a new Burnt by the Sun record. How was the process of making the album? (By the time you read this, the new record [“Heart of Darkness”] is in stores)
It was definitely different from any other record I’ve ever worked on. We broke up for a few years and then decided that we should reform and do one last record. We had signed with Relapse for three albums and had done two, so it was an opportunity that we thought we’d regret not fulfilling. With the exception of our drummer Dave (Witte), we all have families and mortgages on our plates, so everything was very different this time around. Dave lives in Virginia and tours with Municipal Waste many months out of the year, so the writing was done over time and distance. We worked on the record very slowly over the course of a few years, on a less-than-part-time basis, emailing riffs and song ideas back and forth, discussing the album concepts and all of that. By the time we got to the studio, we were rarely all in the studio at the same time. Most of us didn’t take any time off work, we’d just show up at night or on the weekends. I have studio equipment at home and I recorded the vocals at home and imported them into the studio’s ProTools rig. Everything worked out great in the end, but the process was different than any other record we’ve done. I am glad we did it. The record is inspired by the Joseph Conrad novella, Heart of Darkness, and deals with the same dark themes of human nature. It was a difficult record to write lyrically, but despite its tone, in a lot of ways it is the most positive and uplifting record I have ever done.

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Any plans for touring?
Nothing big, no. Those days are gone. We will do some support but not much.

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Any last words?
Thanks for this conversation. You know, its funny how when you start reminiscing about certain periods of your life, you remember the head space you were in at the time, and you get attracted to the more pleasant memories and try to hold on to them. A lot of people I know have had really unpleasant childhoods. I’m happy to say that I had a great childhood. I grew up in a home with a family that loved me and, with few exceptions, encouraged me to be the person I wanted to be. We all grow up and choose our own paths, and a lot of the soul searching I’ve done during the years has led me back to my roots in a lot of ways. I’m starting a family of my own now and want my kids to have the same foundation I did. Also, after many years I started skateboarding again this past year. I stopped back in 93 or 94 when skating took a turn for the worst, but last summer something clicked in me and I felt the urge to step on a board again. After about an hour I was hooked again. There’s nothing in the world that gives you that feeling, and sometimes it’s just what I need after a hard day at work. Just get in a few runs and let it all go. I hope my kids can appreciate both skating and music the way I have. If not, I am going to let them be the people they are and love them just the same. They’ll just have to put up with me being the only dad on the street doing slappy grinds out in front of the house.

Most of you already know that in the first issue of our magazine we did an article on CLOWN the founder of  T.I.T.S crew.  When we put the issue together, we had a lot of east coast content and we wanted to do something on a west coast writer. CLOWN immediately came to mind.  Everyone here at the mag referenced him as a major inspiration, especially since most of the staff was heavy into graff during the time period where CLOWN was out there pushing TITS crew really hard.  I recently contacted CLOWN again to see if I could do an interview with him about the clothing line.  It was at that point that I found out the real story behind the brand.  TITS (the original graffiti crew) sent over this article and asked if I could post it up, so here you go.

Those Tits are Fake!

1995 was the year.  The graffiti writer known as “Clown” was looking to draw some attention to his name.  In a joking manner, the four letter word “Tits” was brought up.  Bang! A light bulb popped into the heads of a few other fellow graffiti writers of the time and after a few months, “Tits Crew” was born.  It took only a short time to form the crew which originally consisted of 10 members.  Soon after, Tits Crew was a smooth running graffiti organization.  At the time there weren’t many other groups who had four letter monikers to represent their crew, let alone four letters that even spelled out real words.  This excited the new group of graffiti artists because they all had a common goal, destroy and this new name for their crew was going to grab attention.  Original meanings for the acronym of the crew were brainstormed quickly.  “Time is too short”, “Terror in the streets”, “Thunder in the sky” and “Clown’s original, “Two in the shirt”.  It was genius.

“In other words, he stole the name of the crew and started to profit from it .  Marek never had any contact, any arrangements or any approval from Clown or any other member of Tits Crew.”

Clown, the crew leader of Tits was a natural at his position.  He was a motivator and a visionary.  The Crew never just walked up to the wall and started painting.  He instilled in the Crew to always approach the wall with a sense of perception, concealment and disguise.  He had taken these eastern philosophies from literature he had studied and lived by such as The Art of War, Thunder in the Sky and The Book of 5 Rings.  The crew would huddle up and pile into cars to find the best freeway spots California had to offer.    It didn’t matter what city or town they were in, the tags, throw up’s and pieces were flowing at a high volume. Using these methods, Tits Crew had made themselves well known by 1996.

In 1997, Clown proposed the idea of traveling cross country and getting up in every state so that you could travel just about anywhere in the U.S. and see a piece of Tits Crew.  Along with his fellow crew member and main partner in crime at the time, Clown and Kadie embarked on this adventure and got up in every state in the U.S. except for Alaska and Hawaii.  After two months of night and day bombing and practically living out of a Greyhound Bus, they returned home feeling accomplished knowing that the goal had been fulfilled.  Tits Crew was now known across the U.S.  In 1998, crew members Clown, Mews, Paydirt and Diet were on to a new endeavor.  This time, traveling to Europe to bomb and get the crew name out on a world wide scale.  Tits crew was now setting up new branches in unfamiliar cities and drafting new painting partners from other crew’s as well as new members for their own crew.  Tits Crew had already etched their mark in the underground graffiti scene.  Kadie and Leson moved to San Francisco and Clown, Necro and Slie all moved northwest to Seattle, WA.

“This article was put together by members of Tits Crew to inform as many people as possible that Tits Crew is not supporting and will never be affiliated with Tits clothing.”

One member in particular from the Seattle days of Tits Crew seems to stand out in a major way.  That would be “Mack”, also known as Marek Grubel.  Marek was brought into Tits Crew in 1999 by Slie and became his painting partner and running mate.  Marek’s entry into the crew was received with mixed reviews and emotions from members.  Some were concerned that Marek’s loyalties were to himself, not the crew.  They could not have been more right about this.  In 2002, Marek quit doing graffiti .  He had a baby on the way and was feeling like it was time to get things together.  He had lost contact with all of the existing members of the crew and was flat out forgotten about.  Marek’s short stint with Tits Crew was over.  He was no longer considered a graffiti writer by many or any member of Tits Crew.  Nobody heard anything about Marek until three years later.  A member of Tits Crew caught a link that brought them to a website for a clothing company using the Tits Crew name to help launch it, as well as the trademark “Two in the Shirt.” Apparently, Marek had came up on some money and copyrighted the acronym “Tits” and the phrase “Two in the shirt”, in which he made into a clothing company.  In other words, he stole the name of the crew and started to profit from it .  Marek never had any contact, any arrangements or any approval from Clown or any other member of Tits Crew.  It was all composed behind the backs of the guys who constructed this crew from the ground up.  This was a man who spent countless hours, creating lifelong memories and building trust over a 2 and a half year period with this crew.  And to now take a name that belonged to a group of men who worked years to bring it up and make it something, it was just unbelievable.

The point of this article is to expose the truth about Marek Grubel and his so called creation of the phrase “Two in the Shirt.” In a recent interview on www.senseslost.com he was interviewed saying that “Two in the Shirt” came about while “Drinking 40’s and eating macaroni salad from 7-11.” He went on to say that “It’s probably the expired mayo that sparked the think tank? I had no idea, I just know that I have a rare talent which is being able to be creative and also have a business ethic all in one brain.” The proof is there, the lies are ludicrous.

After 3 years of Marek pushing something that didn’t belong to him, Slie finally said screw it and put out a shirt with Marek. The only reason he did this is because he wanted to make sure the public knew that the real Tits members could drop conceptual clothing just as good if not better than Marek. Slie is dropping his own line soon with friend and partner Zack Stover called ‘Butter ‘N’ Bacon’.

This article was put together by members of Tits Crew to inform as many people as possible that Tits Crew is not supporting and will never be affiliated with Tits clothing.  Every week, someone from Tits Crew get’s a call, text, email or has to engage in some conversation about Marek’s t-shirt Company. If you are supporting Tits Brand Clothing, know that you are not supporting Tits Crew and you have been misled.

Money and greed are notorious for the dissolution of relationships and bonds. They can easily turn friends into foes and make people do downright crazy things.  Members of Tits Crew today are still active in the graffiti scene as well as moving forward in many ways of their own.  We all wish Marek Grubel the best, it’s just a shame that without our consent he took something sacred to us and turned it into another clichéd, embarrassing porn t-shirt brand, with no creativity of his own.

TITS CREW: Clown, MoneyShot, Mews, Paydirt, Necro, Drane, Slie, Kolage, Nots, Potna, Deas, Retro, Jaws, Deal, Guido, Pear and Plus (RIP).

Written by: Michael Tzimbal

www.jonbookerart.com

www.facebook.com/seventysevengallery

slieandco@gmail.com

www.butternbacon.com

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE ART OF STORYTELLING MAGAZINE ISSUE #1.

I found a video of you doing a live set with Morcheeba from England. That bugged me out. It got me so amped up because I would never have expected seeing that combo. A lot of times artists stick to what they know and are too scared to do collaborations with artists outside their genre. To see a rapper from Newark, NJ doing a collaboration with a lounge band from England was refreshing to see. You seem to link up with a lot of unexpected people.

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You know what I’m into Big Joe? I’m pursuing entertainment. PERIOD. So any big entertainment figure I see, I introduce myself, I introduce Green and from that comes a lot of, “What you doin? Why don’t you rap on something?” In the case of Morcheeba, they actually sought me out because of the Fugees album. They said they liked the Fugees album and they are kind of like the Fugees over there. So they contacted my manager in England and we did it. I did a whole UK tour with them. We did Italy, Portugal, the whole thing.

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If I could go back in time I would try not to have met Eminem. I wouldn’t have met him and been his friend……Not this time, just straight business.

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You, Animal BMX, and Skavanger BMX also seem to have some strong ties. You rock their gear in your videos and they use a lot of your tracks and Mr. Green’s tracks in their videos. How did that come about?

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We had a mutual friend. My dude Slop was on my first album called ONE, the joint I did with Kurupt. He is the one who raps first. Slop introduced me to Shane Rossi from Animal Bikes and Shane was like, “Yo, I’d like you to wear some of our stuff.” You can come get whatever you want. Went in there, took Green in there, Cymarshall Law, my little brother Jenz Cypher, Rival – we all just got some stuff, you know. Redman came through. It’s nothing but love with the Animal and Skavenger dudes.

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You recently spent some time in Europe. Europeans seem much more open minded when it comes to music, art, politics, fashion, etc. It’s like things that are considered underground in the states are mainstream or at least more popular over there. Did you get that vibe? Does your music get a better response in Europe?

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I mean certain spots really rock. I mean London really rocks, Paris really rocks, Holland, Germany, but you got places over here that really rock. I did a show with Kay Solo and Canibus in San Diego. They really rocked. Maybe the response is slightly better in Europe, but for the most part it’s 50/50.

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I feel like in the States people want what is consumable. They are content with the same old “I got mad money, I got mad hoes” routine. To me that is boring. You are more on the old school tip, coming out as a rapper/DJ combo with you and Mr. Green, and your lyrics have much more substance. Has success been harder to attain as a result of not following the formula of making “consumable” hip hop?

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I don’t know because I haven’t really made a real pop joint so I don’t know how that success comes, but I maintain what I do. I don’t know that it’s made success harder for me but maybe slowed things down a bit. It could have been faster.

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So you have no plans on doing anything other than what you normally do?

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Well that’s not true. I would like to branch out into pop or some progressive hip hop. Maybe some Gnarles Barkley sounding thing, or maybe some Redman and Def Squad sounding thing. That sounds good to me and its real good with the people, you know?

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You have an impressive track record. You were on the Fugees album on the Desperados track, your collaboration with Morcheeba, you were in the Outsidaz, you were down with Eminem since his early days, appeared in multiple Redman videos, and the list goes on and on. That is a lot of heavy hitters to be involved with. These are people that played monumental roles in hip hop and you were right there in the mix. Are you still down with all these people or has their fame separated you from them?

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Well I just saw Redman the other day. Me and Green went to UCON to check out Red and Meth rock it with Flo-Rida and T-Pain. So my friendship with Redman is AOK. I love Red, you know what I mean. I am on his album Malpractice. Eminem after he blew up was harder to get in touch with, but I could him if I wanted to. He’s not an absolute asshole but he is an asshole. You got the Fugees. I haven’t seen Lauren Hill in a real long time but the thing with them is that they put me on The Score. I still get the check. That check is keeping me alive. I love them. They are up on the mantle. They gave me a 16 album plaque. I can’t say nothing about them. Sure it’s harder to get in touch with them because they are all busy, but I could definitely get at them.

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What is the reason you have been bouncing around the underground for so long?

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I always had the same goal in my career. Bring the underground to the pop level. Busta Rhymes I feel did it before with “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See.” It’s not complex. It is basically a loop with some drums and the talent of the rapper. That’s what I want to do. I want to bring that to the forefront of pop music, you know? Show them that a song that came out of the basement can rock the entire world. It’s only underground until I sell 500,000 records, then it’s not underground anymore. Outkast was underground, Lords of the Underground, Naughty by Nature, EPMD. You do it correctly and I do believe you can achieve pop success.

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Jersey is right smack in the middle of two major cities – New York and Philly. A lot of Jersey history gets overlooked as a result. Bring us back to the early 90’s Jersey hip hop scene. What was going on at that time?

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In the 90s there were a lot of clubs out here in Jersey. We had Sensations. That’s where Redman met EPMD. That was good for us. The New York acts would come over. They would wine and dine with us, you know what I mean, and if they liked you, they would put you on.

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How about the industry in the 90s?

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The industry was a little different. They had A&R’s. When you signed to Ruff House Records they would develop the act. They would put them on tour, shoot videos, until you were ready. You had people to tell you how to be politically correct. Now it’s not like that. You already have to have your own machine going. You need a big machine in order to have a label pick you up.

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Looking back on your career, is there anything you would do differently?

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If I could go back in time I would try not to have met Eminem. I wouldn’t have met him and been his friend. If I didn’t meet him back then, and met him while I was rapping, and he didn’t know me and I just presented my album to his label, he may have signed me because he doesn’t have anything against me or there is no competition level there, whatever it is. Not this time, just straight business.

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Give us one of the craziest things you have ever seen go down in the Brick City?

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Well my friend got killed right in front of me when I was about 17. We were at a house party and some beef jumped off and a kid started firing a gun in the air to scare us back. My boy Shahid Beasley grabbed him. The dude broke loose and shot him at point blank range right in the chest and he died. That was crazy, it still haunts me till this day.

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Pace, I was going to ask you about Kim Kardashian, but your lady is sitting right over there, I don’t want to cause no trouble.

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It’s all good, I love Kim Kardashian. My girl already knows I got it bad for Kim Kardashian and she’s cool with it. She’s not like that, we talked about it last night. That’s my girl right there. OOH! She’s hot man. Tell you the truth, after the joint with Ray J I liked her even more. That was pretty nice there Kim.

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Any last words?

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Let the evolution of hip hop continue.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE ART OF STORYTELLING MAGAZINE ISSUE #1.

AEST’s graffiti interest started in a somewhat generic, funny way as he explains with a southern drawl, “Mang, I remember when I was a kid, I used to get my haircut at this barber shop and there was this hip hop, skyline, b-boy character thing they had going on. I never knew who did it, but that was some of the first graffiti I ever saw in person, (laughs) typical skyline hip-hop thing. Other than that, Thrasher magazine. You would always catch graffiti in the background of the skate photos.”

Thrasher magazine. You would always catch graffiti in the background of the skate photos.

AEST has been busy at graffiti since 1994. He got his start in Richmond, Virginia, a relatively small scene compared to the rest of the country, but definitely a scene that pumps out a ton of talent. Writers like ELK, SIGH, PENIS, LYES, and a slew of others, many of whom are members of DOS “Dirty Ol’ South.” “Richmond’s cool, Mang. It’s a small scene that’s definitely not as crazy as places like Chicago. I think the first piece popped up in Richmond in like ’84 or ’86, and it was pretty dead after that until the early 90’s. It doesn’t have as much history as other scenes, but I love it, because that’s where I came from.”

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AEST is the type of writer whose level of talent allows him not to be married to one particular style; the type of writer who takes his surroundings into account when painting. “If I am painting a train line spot, highway, or a freight, then I am going to do some simple legible stuff, but if it’s a wall somewhere where you can take the time to check it out, then I will flex something more complex.” Like many of his other DOS brethren, AEST isn’t much for words and doesn’t have any poetic reasons for painting graffiti. They do it because they are passionate about it. When asked how he would define his style, he said, “It’s a little bit classical I hope, maybe not too crazy, a touch of flair I hope.” And he burst into laughter as he said the word flair. “Shit, man, I don’t know, I just write graffiti.”