Philthy Rich- YOU'RE SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN IN THE GAME FOR A LONG TIME AND WHO'S DONE A LOT IN THE GAME. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING GRAFFITI?
Spek- I've been writing graff consistantly since 1995.
PR- DO YOU FEEL THE SAME ABOUT GRAFFITI NOW AS YOU DID IN 1995?
S- I do feel the same about it but it's more competitive now then it was coming up. I liked it more when nobody knew who I was.
PR- HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO STAY RELEVANT YEAR AFTER YEAR?
S- Just steadily doing everything. Keeping my name on the street and doing freights that go all over the country.
PR- LIVING ON THE WEST COAST I WOULD SEE YOURE FREIGHTS ON THE REGULAR FOR YEARS ON END. PRETTY MUCH WHEREVER YOU GO PEOPLE KNOW YOUR NAME. DO YOU THINK THAT CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE ENERGY YOU'VE PUT INTO PAINTING FREIGHTS FOR ALL THE YEARS?
S- Definately! Having a freight go through someones city on the regular keeps your name fresh in their minds. I have painted freights on the regular for ten years straight.
PR- HOW IMPORTANT IS PAINTING FREIGHTS TO YOU?
S- Painting freights is on the top of my list. You can get up in another city without even going to it. It's great when you have a spot you can spend hours painting a piece, then it leaves and next week its sitting on the highway 5 states away.
PR- DO YOU THINK FREIGHTS ARE AS IMPORTANT AS OTHER ASPECTS OF GRAFFITI (WALLS, TRAINS, BOMBING, TAGGING, ETC)?
S-Just as important. To be well rounded you gotta bomb, paint freights, clean trains, and be able to lay down a piece.
PR- I AGREE. WHO DO YOU FEEL IS THE MOST WELL ROUNDED PERSON IN THE STATES?
S- Rime..Much..
PR- IN THE U.S., THE FREIGHT SCENE IS HUGE. THERE'S LOADS OF WRITERS WHO ONLY PAINT FREIGHTS AND NEARLY EVERY WRITER IN THE STATES HAS PAINTED AT LEAST A FEW FREIGHTS. EVEN WITH ALL OF THE NOTORIETY AND RESPECT YOU CAN GET PAINTING FREIGHTS, PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. STILL SEE THE FREIGHT SCENE AS A JOKE. WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS THAT THEY DON'T GET?
S- Maybe it's because they don't live here and know how it is ..I don't know! But they shouldn't get it confused, a lot of freight writers like myself get their transit on as well !!
PR- TRUE. DO YOU THINK THEIR LACK OF RESPECT EFFECTS THE FREIGHT SCENE IN THE STATES?
S- No not at all, I think people will always paint freights here because it's easy and the distance that they travel.
PR- ASIDE FROM FREIGHTS, YOU ARE A STAPLE IN THE BOSTON STREET SCENE. BOSTON IS A HUGE CITY AND YOU HAVE PUT IN AS MUCH WORK AS ANYONE ELSE THERE. HOW DO YOU STAY RELEVANT IN THE BOMBING SCENE THERE?
S- To be honest the last year I haven't, but prior to that from 2002 to 2008 its been easy there are a lot of different neighborhoods in the city that not all writers choose to go. I would go to most sections of the city and handle them one by one. If one got too hot i would go to a total different hood.
PR- I'VE LIVED IN BOSTON AND SAW FIRST HAND THE WORK YOU'VE PUT IN. YOU'VE PAINTED OTHER CITIES AS WELL THOUGH. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOSTON AND THE REST OF THE COUNTRY IS, GRAFFITI-WISE?
S- I think that boston has a lot of really nice commuter tracks to paint. I'm sure other cities do as well, but from what I've seen I like boston's set of long tracks with endless amounts of wall space. They also very rarely get the buff. I have been to cities like Chicago and Philly(both really nice cities) and they seem to be buffing them really tuff.
PR- YA, PHILLY AND CHICAGO MUST HAVE THE HARDEST BUFF IN THE COUNTRY ASIDE FROM SOME CITIES OUT WEST. WHY DO YOU THINK A RICH CITY LIKE BOSTON DOESN'T BUFF AS HARD? THERE'S TRACKSIDES AND HIGHWAY WALLS THAT HAVE BEEN CRUSHED FOR YEARS.
S-
PR- WHO ARE SOME OF THE BEST WRITERS IN BOSTON? WHO THERE HAS INFLUENCED YOU THE MOST?
S- Perl, Ryze, Alert, Sex, Ism, Monk, Rems, Target, Case, Mise, Aves, Caype, Rate, Melt, Mes, Blame, Sega, Back, Hare, Odesy, Dayz, Kem5, Owl, Epik, Groe, Space, Ich, Okto, Monoe, and the list goes on and on. Boston has a lot of history and style.
PR- FOR AN AMERICAN YOU'VE DONE A LOT OF TRAINS. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE "CLEAN TRAIN SCENE" IN THE STATES?
S- I think that when I started doing cleans in 2000 there were not as many people doing clean trains. I can remember being in the yards for more than two hours. Now in Boston it's not so easy because of the amount of people doing them. So I think it's fair to say that the clean train scene in the states is pretty large.
PR- YA, THERE'S DEFINATELY PEOPLE HERE MAKING MOVES AND NOT PUBLISHING EVERYTHING THEY DO OR PUTTING IT ALL ON THE INTERNET. DO YOU THINK THAT THINGS WILL EVER BE LIKE THEY ARE IN OTHER COUNTRIES LIKE ITALY OR FRANCE?
S- That's a good question. I'm not really sure why. Even the highways out this way do not get buffed a lot. It's not like there is an overwhelming amount of writers out here.
PR- TRUE, BUT A LOT OF WRITERS COME THROUGH BOSTON AND DO SHIT. DO YOU THINK THE TYPICAL OUTTA-TOWNER GETS RESPECT FROM LOCALS?
S- Not all of them do. Some out of towners get respect because they come through and do things the right way. They don't step on anyone's toes and make sure not to go over old things. Then there are some writers that have no respect, so they get none.
PR- HAS GRAFFITI OPENED ANY OTHER DOORS FOR YOU?
S- A few. I got some art gigs here and there ..hopefully more in the future
PR- LOOKING BACK ON YOUR GRAFFITI CAREER AS A WHOLE, WHAT DO YOU APPRECIATE THE MOST?
S- The people I've met throughout the years and the places I've been.
PR- ANY LAST WORDS?
S- Rest in peace Spek BTC. No disrespect! And peace to my crew/family ITD, Circle T, FTK, DCK, YME, Spek63.
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