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Interview:
PlexOne GFA
Interview by: WiseOne KSN GFA
Q- What do you write?
I write PLEX with a "ONE" sometimes immediately following.
Q- What crew(s) do you represent?
I am from the GRAFFITI FORCE crew of Los Ciudados' de Los Angeles. GF was formed by GREM in 1984. I joined in 1985. As a crew we did a lot of work , putting in serious hours. Back in the day, there was some serious flow in my neighborhood and High school, a lot of kids were getting up. So we ended up with some talented writers and respect. We were a valley crew that went all city. It was different back then, you could do almost anything you could think up. It was complete freedom. No hidden cameras. No Neighborhood Anti graffiti commissions. The police had no idea what was happening. Joe citizen wasn't keeping a watchful eye for suspicious youths. When you tagged a bus bench, it stayed for years sometimes.
Q- When did you start painting? Do you still paint?
I still have my first hip hop influenced pencil drawing it says "hip hop non stop" with a 3-d looking ghetto blaster.It is dated August 17, 1984. I had done graffiti a few years before that, going around and writing punk rock band names and symbols on walls around my neighborhood. I have not done a piece in a while, but I really want to do a nice production. Maybe like a huge GF crew reunion piece. Lately, I like to put up my sticker. I try to hit the big cities. I have stuck them over the country.
Q- Why did you start?
In retrospect, I want to say it was to express myself but it was more like a moth to an open flame. The whole hip hop movement was starting in Los Angeles. I remember going to this swap meet with my Family. My Parents bought my Brother a huge ghetto blaster and a Malcolm Mclaren tape. My Brother and I started breaking and he would carry that radio everywhere, then we started writing our hip hop names on everything. Going to the Puma shop and Tower records in Westwood Village. Taping the Uncle Jamm's Army shows on KDAY, jam on it. Then Beat Street came out . I felt I could identify with this street rebel kid writer image who liked to essentially ruin things by writing his name on them. It all happened so fast..
Q- What was you favorite writing experience?
I have been in some crazy situations. Probably my favorite experience was the first color piece I did at night. It said "def" in these huge dinosaur letters. It was in the smelly L.A. riverbed at night with my Brother and a friend. It's funny because it was my first time painting at night, I didn't know the little tricks like writing the names of the colors somewhere on the can, because at night all the colors look gray, like your painting on an old black and white tv set. So I am painting this piece without knowing the colors.We came by the next day and it was this ugly blue fill with yellow dots
and drips. After doing the piece, I remember riding my skateboard home, thinking" I did it", not knowing that would be the first of many more. You could see the piece from the freeway. My Brother and I made our Mom drive by a couple times, so we could see it.
Q-What was your craziest/worse experience?
Luckily I have never had a major run in with the law. That would qualify as the worst. One of the craziest times was when I was in New York and I went bombing with JAONE. We were hitting the expressway in brooklyn in a near blizzard. The paint was freezing up and it was not sticking to the walls so it was a no go basically and we started back to the car, JA was across the expressway bombing . As we were walking back to the car, which in itself was crazy because the only place to walk back to the on ramp was in the slow lane. Dodging cars in a blizzard with ice on the ground isn't real fun. We just get back on the street and JA comes running by us yelling" some guys are trying to kill me let's go." so We start running, it's about a block to the car. While we are running , JA is telling us that when he was on the expressway a car stopped and some guys jumped out with golf clubs and pipes and nearly bashed his head in. I am thinking this is it, we're dead, great, nice vacation to New York. The three of us arrived at the car at the same time.We were trying to unlock the doors and get in and put our backpacks in all at the same time. VEN was sleeping in the front seat of the car, waiting for us. This guy Tim ,who was driving ,jumps in smashing VEN. Then trying to start the car, thinking these fuckers were going to show up any second and gank us. We peeled out and bailed. It ended up that JA narrowly missed a 3 iron to the skull then he sprints across the freeway playing frogger in a blizzard. Years later, Rolling Stone magazine did an article on JAONE and he tells the same story from his p.o.v..
Q- Has graff changed in your eyes?
These draconian medieval anti graffiti commissions have elevated the status and respect bombers and writers compete for. CHAKA is the perfect example, he is a counter-culture folk hero. I think normal people notice it more now, in a propagandized negative way. What if instead of trying to shut down a small creative youthful force in society, which they have done. What if they would have embraced this energy? Where would we be?
Q- How do you compare the old school era of LA to the new generation of LA writers?
I definitely feel the Eighty's Writers had freedom, we were able to do what we wanted, when we wanted with less fame at stake and nearly no access to the art form. I think the Ninety's Writers had more access to greater fame and exposure through the media but pay a greater price for getting caught due to increased state legislature increasing penalties for getting caught. I think the newest school of writers have access to world wide web exposure and a vast amount of resources. If the Writers of tomorrow are using their brains, the styles should explode into the unknown.
Q-Do you like the new styles out there?
Yeah, there is some great art coming out of Europe, that is where I want to paint next. I think one of the great things about art is it is always changing ,whether it's for the worse or the better. I look at classical art and I am in complete awe and reverence. Imagine the discipline and work. Graffiti Art is perfect for our short attention span generation. It is like fast food or some other terrible form of convenience.
Q- I know this question gets debated a lot (at least with old schoolers) but who(m) do you think had the most impact in the LA scene?
I think SOONONE was very influential with the fresh jams he was rocking at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in 84-85. The better writers like RISKY, RIVAL, DREAM, and some others were definitely heavily influenced by SOON. I also think The DTK crew from the valley was really fresh. BLINKY , CHARLIE, GENIUS from DTK had a lot of influence on my style early on.
Q-What writer/crew deserves more credit in your eyes for developing the graff scene in LA?
I think the whole scene deserves a lot of credit and respect. Most of the writers and people I associated with through the scene were really cool people.
Q- You were in the legendary documentary Bombing LA. How was that experience?
Oh, that basically sucked I thought. The reason being was I wanted my pieces shown, I was all about the art, I gave the director/maker my photo book, so he could insert some shots of my pieces, like a Style Wars style montage. So I go to the opening showing, which was really cool cause I got in free and there is this footage of me spouting off some funny shit and this shot of this tiny crappy throw up I did at the Fairfax Sunset yard. The filmmaker ended up keeping my photo book for like a year, I almost didn't even get it back, but I did. That would have been a critical loss.
Q-
You made some controversial comments in that film that I guess the authorities didn't really find too appealing. Did you get any heat for that?
No, not directly, but I was on the Tom Leykis show with WISK and THE PHANTOM. These callers were irate, talking shit about smashing our heads in and calling us names, it was serious comedy. We were rolling in the studio.
Q-- Ever paint in NY?
Oh yeah, I went for 10 days, in January 1989. I slept on KET 's living room floor for a couple of days and also stayed at the Y in Midtown. I hung out with VEN, KET, JAONE, VEEFER and some others. We had a blast. I did like 6 or 7 pieces, hit a train in layover between stations out in Coney, hit the Williamsburg bridge toll booths, a couple of hand ball courts. It was like -9 out, with the wind chill it was like -29. I also took some great pictures, hung out at HENRY CHALFANT 'S studio and looked at a lot of his personal collection, checked out the original graphic layouts for Subway Art.
Q- The Internet is becoming a new medium for graff artists to expose their work. How do feel about this whole web thing and is it really part of getting up?
Oh it is great, It's like reruns on T.V., you can check out all the old stuff. It's like putting your shit in syndication , it stays there. No one paints over it. I am working on some different types of web sites.
Q- What does the future have in store for graffiti?
Like Johnny Rotten said "No Future". End time Pending.
Q- Will you be a supporter? or a hater?
I dig all types of art and music. Anything creative and true is something I want to support. Hate is a desperate word. It's an easy way out. Understanding is a lacking ingredient in our society. Graffiti art is totally misunderstood.
Q-Anything else to add?
Thanks for the opportunity to give my point of view and a chance to talk a little shit. I have prints and other creative endeavors I like to peddle. e mail me for info I can direct you to my web site
plexton@bigfoot.com
End Interview-
plex@guerillaone.com
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