Artist Interview – Amuse
Firstly who are you and where are you from?
Just a jaded middle-aged man that used to be a hopeful son of the United States.
Now, relocated and recalibrated.
How do you think this affected you on your journey towards being a graffiti artist?
A journey? You make it sound romantic in some way.
You are a graffiti artist the moment you start making marks on something that is not yours and I started early and with crayons.
When/How did you know you wanted to be a graffiti writer?
When I saw some young dudes bombing when I was a kid in a car in gridlock traffic with my Dad in NYC. Broad daylight. Dad was hating on them… Still an indelible mark on my psyche.
Your favourite or most inspirational place/spot you have painted at?
What/Who are some of the inspirations that drive you to paint?
Did this help guide you to where you are today?
Tell us a do you have any memorable moments/stories/chases you could share from a painting mission?
A mission in a suburb in London was like something out of a dream. One Halloween night Nema, Banos and myself all slid through the green streets of an old English town, ducking under bridges listening to crickets and firecrackers going off everywhere in back yards. We found our way up into the armpit of 2 lines merging and sat there waiting for a country train terminator that was a regular victim. It was obvious by all the tags around the ‘waiting room’ we were sitting in. Eventually it rocked up and we all started to find our footing in the loose rocks. As soon as the driver had done a walk-through we ran up and everyone found their spots and marked up. I don’t know what it is but I love painting steel when the lights are still on inside (as long as you do not have to paint over the windows) and this model was all steel sections at the bottom. It was only about 8pm and aside from the occasional passing train, we had nothing to bother us and B and I spent around 45mins and knocked out our panels. Mine had a jack-o-lantern instead of a U as it was Halloween and was going to run shortly. Two of us packed up and did a few tags but Nema was doing something pretty massive and kept painting until the guard came, then he stopped and told him to fuck off and kept painting. Then they started to pull the train out slowly and no shit. He was running along next to it, still painting the key line. We all jumped out and went to get some beers, Nema just picked his 6 pack up and walked out with them. We went to the station and drank a few and waited for it to come back. Both these guys have some of the best stories I have ever heard. True veterans. Eventually it did roll in and we got shots with no platform. The evil jack-o-lantern looked awesome as did the other 2 panels. Hooting and hollering hooligans on a suburban platform.
There was no chase this night. Just a night where everything went right.
What direction do you feel graffiti is going these days with style?
What direction is style NOT going in now? Nothing wrong with a little variety. Gives the soup a funky flavour.
What’s the biggest misconception the general public have of graffiti artists?
Who cares. As Skeme said in Style Wars, ‘it’s for us’.
What are your thoughts on the whole graffiti vs street art?
What direction do you see graffiti heading in the future?
I see people writing on more shit, ha!
Egyptians and Romans did it thousands of years ago and Egyptians and Romans still do it today in Egypt and Rome. The only difference is the GoPros.
The future is more Insta props, more kooks, more drones, digital vandalism (hacking) and the birth of some of the most skilled and audacious writers ever.
If you could share a message with the next generation of graffiti artists, what would it be?
Learn the history of your city and learn the rules and be sure to learn these from a respected graffiti artist who has been around and lives and breathes it. Hang out with them and their friends and listen, formulate thoughts and ask questions. The internet will mislead you and the only way to really understand this is to seek out the knowledge – google is hollow. Lastly – pencil shavings and eraser rubbings should be on your floor as much as possible.
There any up and coming artists that we should keep an eye out for?
I wouldn’t know your personal taste so my only suggestion would be for you to direct your attention to the streets and trains and not on Facebook and Instagram where false prophets are built and destroyed. I liked it better when everyone was just painting so they were up, not up on the internet.
Any shouts out you would like to give?
Anyone that has ever loaned me a can. Anyone that has ever punched me in the face for a good reason (or not). Everyone that has ever bought me a beer when I was too drunk to know they had done it. Anyone that has ever bitten my style. Anyone I have bitten. Anyone who owns a store I would steal paint from. Anyone who has seen me writing on something and not tried to stop me or even better, has shouted ‘yeewwww’. And thanks to the best writers I know – SWB and KOS crews – keeping it clean in twenty nineteen
Thank you very much for your time and we look forward to seeing more of your amazing work.
You can find more of Amuse work at:
