Interview: Coax Interview
by: Eklips Sync Awr Tcf September 14, 1999

Q- What do you write?

Coax One Awr

Q- How long have you been writing?

Elementary school. For us seeing tags was dope; we had shit to inspire us to do graffiti. Especially right in my neighborhood , West L.A.

Q- Do you feel that nowadays kids don't have the influence like you had the influences and that's why there so much wak shit out there?

Well...I just think its alot different. When we were coming up it seemed alot more real, fools knew what they wanted to do and did it. But alot of graffiti today is graffiti because they saw other people doing it. Alot of characters with green glows coming off the right side of it because someone else originated back in 1989 or whatever it was. You can say the same for B-boys cause they think characters have to be b-boys cause people used to only rock b-boys in the beginning.

Q- Do you feel graffiti and hip hop are related?

Yeah I don't know about so much today its kind of like forking, but of course with the beginning.

Q- What do you think about graffiti's influence on corporate America? And when you started did you feel it would ever be as well embraced by the suits and ties?

The first example of it coming from wall to wherever it was going, you know in Style Wars they had that thing about gallery's and people were like, "...oh its amazing its a piece of a train..." But no I didn't. Its funny what it has taken on in the media or corporate America. If someone has to film a movie and they have a skateboarding scene they have to have graffiti. Its not good; its like if somebody feels they need an edge they'll just throw in some graffiti art...you know. Its big now its like totally accepted.

Q- How do you feel that nowadays you don't have to hide your identity or tell people what you write?

cause I remember in the late 80's, 86', 87', whatever, I would never tell regular people that I wrote. I think that if your in danger of being caught or have to hide your face you know who you are. You know if the police want you specifically or not.

Q- Do you think its cool that regular people will tell you what they write because they are going to expect some type of reaction from it?

It doesn't really matter to me; unless they are somebody. Once in a while it will be some body from back in the day. Mostly it turns me off when people are like , "you what's up? I write fuckin' da da da...I'm doing this , I'm doing that..." Its like let your shit speak for itself.

Q- Yeah, but wasn't it like that back in the day when you were on the bus? Didn't you feel that sense of excitement bumping into that cat that was doing what you were doing, who's tags and scribes you had seen up?

Eklips- I think its more respectful on a bus then at corporate trade shows or shit like that. Cause graff wasn't meant for everybody.

Q-So instead of looking at it like rappers do, like I'm old school and I'm happy to see something that was once so small is now so largely accepted by white black cats, old cats, young cats, rich cats, poor cats... I remember when we were all pissed that the regular world hated graffiti now your pissed that they like it?

Eklips- I like that people like it but I don't like that people expect to see something from it. I hate that people get into it to get something out of it. I think kids nowadays expect things because they did this or they did that.

Coax- I think in the beginning you were proud to meet somebody because of what they did but not just because they wrote.. it was s mysterious. It was like you see all his shit he leaves all around but yet you have never seen him. Its like what's he gonna look like? Anyone that writes that much you would think is 9 foot tall and then you meet them and their like this little dude. Your like holy shit, that s hard. One time this guy comes over my house right; he had seen that shirt I did w/the rabbit. We never knew who was going to wear it but it ended up being this crowd that was kind of hard, because it had a gun. When he realized I did it he was like,"...what..." he thought it was some big ass fool cause it had a gun or whatever. So maybe now kids see the end result of shit like that and they say, "I'm going to start writing because people will be happy to meet me." We started doing graffiti because it was this secretive thing where you didn't need anyone or anything, you don't need permission you just go out and do everything you want to do. Graffiti has no rules, there's no stops, you just show everybody what you've got.

Q- How do you feel graffiti has influenced your life?

Oh god, way after graffiti I decided I wanted got to art school to see what it was like to see if I was missing anything. I just realized graffiti was the most important thing that ever happened to me...Its just priceless.

Q-What did art school teach you?

How different people thought from graffiti; Its just so different people are trying way to hard in art school to have a hard-core explanation for something. There is nothing wrong with that, but you get a little overwhelmed with that. You can't even work without wondering why your doing this or why your doing that. Graffiti was just like, huh, intuitive; it didn't carry very much weight with it. It was the first time the movement was in motion. It was in its first revolution; it was backing into it.

Q- What is the negative side of graffiti?

Just off the top , like I smell right now the fumes. Right now I cant really think of any negatives.

Q-What percentage of your life revolves around graffiti?

More than I think; because most of my friends are either writers or someone I met since I've been writing.

Q- So what projects are you working on right now because of graffiti?

Its hard to say directly but graffiti led to the graphics that I make. Today I worked with Booh on some Styles of Beyond shit that had heavy graffiti content because its still hip-hop related, you know what I mean.

Q-What other jobs have you worked on lately?

I'm starting to work on a lot of graphic design jobs. I just finished working on a job for Cypress Hills Spanish album that just came out. Its basically all their hits in Spanish. I will also be working on the next album Cypress Hill #5.

Q- Coax- What do you think about how kids floated so easy from graffiti to graphic design?

Eklips- I think that corporate America wants graffiti writers and graffiti artists to be involved in things because we have our ear to the streets. And we are alot more in tune with what's going on and they know it. Graffiti writers as well as in the street Graffiti writers are out there in every aspect of every industry. And I think we have a grip on a majority of the important things in the world depending upon who you are and the way you live, a majority of the places we live and the places that we go. People know us or know of us, in a sense we are respected and in a sense that helps us too, cuz people like to tell us stuff that's going on.

Q-Sync- What do you think about the Limp Bizkit album cover?

I look at it and wonder what the world thinks. I see it and say, "damn Mear did this cover shit..." But I'm trying to see what people think when they see illustrated covers come along. Are kids liking it? Are they stoked on it or what?

Q- Coax- What do you think about that?

Sync- I personally am happy to see those letters so recognizable I'm happy to see Mear's letters on multiple bus stops. I'm happy to see where graffiti is going. I'm glad that graffiti is not going to go down as this mini movement that punk kids do to waste time. Its transcended into our adulthood and will definitely be passed on to our children and that excites me that graffiti has become so substantial and some of the same people that seven years ago (and even longer) fought against now realize they cant shake it. I think its ridiculous that kids we know and some we don't have been shot and killed and some locked up for ridiculous amounts of time for an art form that is not just about vandalism but also about communication amongst other things.

-end of interview-

coax@guerillaone.com