Los Angeles Graffiti Artist - Dahm CSM Interview - Part 2

Dahm CSM

7. Most of your pieces have "Jake" written on them or next to them. What's the meaning of that?
Just want to let him know when he's flipping through old flicks years from now, that no matter what I did, or where I was, that he was on my mind the whole time when I wasn't there at that moment.

Writing his name on the majority of my bombs is really a understatement to what he means to me. At the end of the day, graffiti is the last thing on my mind, and the last thing I want to do.

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Dahm CSM

8. What crew are you from?
Can't Stop Me, Charlie Sheen Mackin, Charisma Seduces Most Females. A West LA based crew that I got into last year. It's a real tight bunch of homies who make sure not one homie is left behind.

Dahm + Zwik

9. Did you know Tolse?
Unfortunately, I've only been able to hear stories about him, and the stories I would hear really made me wish I would of at least met him. I'm just lucky enough to had been from his crew, a crew with such history that made 818 graffiti what it is today.

(For those that do not know, Tolse STP, IFK bombed the valley to Los Angeles and took it to a new level. He hit backs of billboards, freeway signs and spots that most have not seen done. If you lived in Los Angeles in the early to mid 90s you saw Tolse up.)


Dahm

10. Why do you write graffiti? Are the legal ramifications worth it?
I write graffiti, because of the stories you make with the paint missions you have, also because of the friendships you build.

You learn a lot about everyday life when you're interested in stuff like this, and it's fun. Every writer is a different Thomas Guide. Although, there's a lot of risk and consequences when you do graffiti, it's a addiction that no matter how many times you tell yourself to grow up, you can't stop it.

Dahm

I do graffiti for the rush, the stories, and the friends you make.

I think the ramifications are a little tough for writers, but you can thank the media for turning every humble writer with a solid head on their shoulders into a crazy, killing tag-banger who shoot at civilians.

Dahm

11. Do you have any crazy stories you could share with us?
There is a cutty yard a few blocks away from the Soto Yard where I was doing a orange roller.

I had my homie watching my back for me, and he suddenly told me to get down because he saw cop lights at the very end on the other side of the yard, which was an empty lot behind a fence where they had just started flattening out the land to start their construction on.

We laid low for a minute or two, because we weren't sure what to think of it yet. We ended walking all the way over to the other side to check it out to make sure the coast was clear, we walk up to the fence, and what we saw amazed us so much that we said out loud at the same time, "What the fuck!".

It was a cop getting his dick sucked by a cutie in pajama bottoms, our shadows caught his attention and he freaked out, so we freaked out also and ran. He caught up to us at the other end of the yard and was speechless, we had paint splatter all over the place and he knew exactly what it was we were up to, but, we also knew what he was up to, so he told us whatever it was we were doing in there, go back in there and make sure we clean up our mess and leave immediately.

Dahm + Kween

He watched us from the inside of his cruiser with his "mouth" sitting passenger. We walked out with my paint and my roller extension with him watching, waved and took off. I'm guessing his main concern wasn't us, that's for sure.

There are countless of great, interesting stories that I've been lucky to be part of. Painting cutties always has a story to along with it, you don't know how many encounters I've had with skunks, bum sex, smacking stray dogs with my dodger bat, watching security guards wonder around who have no idea what's going on around them, poison ivy, countless…


Dahm - I see a red door and I want to paint it yellow

12. Do you have any plans on transitioning to the "art" world? Doing canvases and shows?
No, I like being a secret, not knowing who that writer is, or seeing a spot blank the day before, but then you pass by it the next day and there's a fresh bomb there, and not even know who the fuck that person is who did that, but you know their graffiti.

Dahm

Not many people appreciate graffiti for what it is, or what we go through, so that's why I like to keep it to myself. I'll leave the canvases and the art shows to the real artists, the ones with real talent, I just know how to bomb letters, and it's my favorite hobby.

Whether you admit it or not, you're your own biggest fan, because only you know what you've been through for this illegal sport.

Dahm


Zwik + Dahm

Related:
Los Angeles Graffiti Artist - Dahm CSM Interview - Part 1
LA Writer Spotlight: DAHM STP
LA Writer Spotlight: DAHM STP - Part 2
LA Writer Spotlight: DAHM - Part 3
LA Writer Spotlight: DAHM - Part 4
Three Graffiti Artists - Three Vans

Los Angeles Graffiti Artist - Dahm CSM Interview - Part 1

1. How long have you been writing?
I've been tagging since I was 12 years old, with a variety of different common names that never went anywhere but my local toy buff spots. I think around late 05 is when I actually got into letters and exploring different parts of the city. So you can say started tagging in 1999, but started doing graffiti in 2005. In 2005, is when Pale from STP took me under his wing, and really showed me the real side of graffiti.

I will never forget when he took me into the Burbank Wash and showed me what a graff yard looked like, and listening to the stories he remembers having down there when he first started also.

Dahm CSM

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2. How did you get the name Dahm? Did you write anything else before?
The Dahm Triplets, former Playmates. Once I heard the name, I couldn't help but think how perfect of a name it was, no one else had it, and it didn't sound like a everyday word you would hear, and then I would also say later, that I got it from serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, or switch it up to Dahminatrixxx, which I don't mind either.

Trak UNR + Dahm + M80 CDP on top

Let's see, I first started with Lump back in the day, and then, Fave, Klub, Gide, and Arson, and a countless amount of Faze and Daze names.

3. Who were your influences?
Vade, Esel, CDP, and U5F.

Vade, because his graff stood out the most to me when I use to walk the LA River, and not only that, he had every cut in LA first, and most of them are still rocking.

Esel, because his style is my favorite, readable and his own, if he did a CBS or WAI or a FP, you would be able to tell it was his style. There was an abandoned box truck along the 110 South transition to the 5 South where he did his name, and along the top, he wrote "Chicken Bone Syndrome", and ever since seeing that bomb, I wanted to get into actual bombing solid, readable letters like that.

Cavi + Dahm

CDP, because there wasn't anyone in that crew who wasn't getting up. Kween, Bas, and the rest of them had countless rollers and roller filled bombs all over the LA River, Ralos had Downtown covered wherever you went, especially cuts, and the whole crew just gave each other competition, and it worked out perfectly.

U5F, because they pretty much popped Downtown's cherry when it comes to spots, and staying up. You can't go on one of Skid Row's streets without seeing one of their bombs still running.

Dahm

4. Do you like to paint at permission spots?
Not really, I won't say no to the right one, but it's just not the kind of graffiti I like to look at.

Dahm + Cavi

It's 2 completely different worlds when it comes to legals, and illegals. When you paint illegally, it's a lot more of a risk, when it comes to a fresh bomb in a empty lot, or on a cutty, or on the side of a freeway, you see it, and you just know that that writer has a crazy story for what he went through for that spot.

When you look at a legal, you just think of someone painting that during the day with cars passing by without a care in the world.

Dahm

5. Do you paint at yards or strictly street action?
I had my phase of painting a lot of yards, but over time, I got tired with toys going over my graff, so that's when I started being picky about the spots I paint.

And that's when I got into cuts, and virgin spots that you can't just drive by and see it. I hear criticizing about some of the spots I paint, but I'm sure they'll stop when they see it's still there 5 years from now, maybe even longer.

Dahm CSM

6. Do you have a favorite brand of paint?
I'll paint with almost anything, if its wack paint, then I'll just use it for background fading or something, I'll find a utilization for it.

I really like the colors that Ironlak is coming out with, and that shit smells fucken good too, but it's also a pretty penny.

Dahm

My favorite brand of paint would have to be American Accents, just because it's the brand I use the most, but I don't mind any other brands to paint with.

Dahm

Stay tuned for part 2 of the interview with Dahm.

Related:
Los Angeles Graffiti Artist - Dahm CSM Interview - Part 2
LA Writer Spotlight: DAHM STP
LA Writer Spotlight: DAHM STP - Part 2
LA Writer Spotlight: DAHM - Part 3
LA Writer Spotlight: DAHM - Part 4
Three Graffiti Artists - Three Vans

Graffiti Japan Author Remo Camerota Interview Part 2

(Read part 1 of the interview with Remo Camerota)
Part 2 of the interview with Remo Camerota, author of Graffiti Japan.

10. In Los Angeles, walls get buffed very often. To stay relevant, a graffiti writer has to regularly bomb. How often do the walls get buffed in Japan?
Not very often, maybe once a year from what I have seen. Although, if it is in a prominent high class shopping area, it will get buffed quite quickly there.

From the pages of Graffiti Japan

11. In the book, Esow is quoted saying: “…but drawing in the street in other countries is more scary than doing here.” Is it really safe for a graffiti artist in Japan?
Yes, it is pretty safe. I have painted in Japan, New York and Los Angeles.

In LA I had to adhere to rules and we had to get out of downtown before dark.

In New York it was easier to paint. You could paint early into the night.

In Japan you can paint all day all night. There is no gang threat or real danger except for police.

From the pages of Graffiti Japan

12. What are the consequences for getting caught by the law?
As I said, depends on how big the piece. Anything from a warning through to getting locked up for a day, week.

13. How did you decide which artists to interview and showcase their work?
To begin with, I contacted some initial guys through the internet. Suiko being the first.
(check out Suiko's work at the Disney Bloc 28 show)

Most of the well known guys are all over the net. From there they introduced me to artists that they knew. All of the guys know each other in Japan. So it was easy to meet a lot of good artists.

I got to live with Suiko and Emar and that was fun. While there I would see works painted and if I liked it I would find out who it was and include them into the book as a featured artist.

All of the guys in the book I love their work so I decided to feature in the final copy. These guys also happen to be the most prominent Japanese graffiti artists today.

From the pages of Graffiti Japan

14. Do you still keep in touch with the artists featured in the book?
Yes most of them. I have working relationships with several of the artists from the book.

15. There are unwritten rules of graffiti that artists follow in the U.S. Are there "rules" or politics that are present in Japan?
Yes of course. Even some of those rules I broke myself and got in trouble for. It's all about respect here, and the artists are big on respect.

16. In the book you mention that you joined the Nanashi crew. Tell us more about that.

Well that just means that I was accepted by these guys and was able to travel and paint and live with them. Nanashi are 3 of the guys that I stayed with for over a month. In that time we bonded as artists do and we got up to a lot of art, drinking, and painting.

Graffiti Japan - Cover

17. For those that do not know you are from Melbourne, Australia. How does the graffiti scene in Melbourne compare to Japan?
As you may know the scene in Melbourne is quite strong. We have a lot of great artists in Melbourne and a whole book by MBP dedicated to Melbourne.

But I find Melbourne artists are more stencil orientated. There is a lot of stencil art through out Melbourne. It's everywhere. The large graff pieces are hard to find or hard to find good ones anyway.

So the main difference is stencils versus character/color driven graff pieces. Japanese artists are also much more detail driven. The work in Japan has immense detail where Melbourne works are a bit more simple.

From the pages of Graffiti Japan

18. What are your future plans?
Well, I plan to have some more shows in the states hopefully. Launching new works that are graffiti based titled Tokyo trash. There are examples on my website under artwork. (http://www.whitewallstudios.net/) These are exhibition pieces.

I also have 2 new contracts to do 2 more books on pop culture in Japan/Tokyo by MBP. These books are both on 2 certain type of art/painting based in Tokyo.

Related:
Graffiti Japan Author Remo Camerota Interview Part 1Graffiti Japan Has Arrived
Graffiti in Japan
More Graffiti in Japan

Graffiti Japan Author Remo Camerota Interview Part 1

GraffHead interviews Remo Camerota, author of Graffiti Japan.

Graffiti Japan by Remo Camerota (MBP Publisher)

1. Why did you decide to write a graffiti book about Japan?
I had never seen a Japanese graffiti book at that point. There was no books available outside of Japan on Japanese graffiti. And these were in Japanese and not very good.

So being from the West I was not aware that graffiti even existed in Japan. In the end I am being thanked for exposing the west to Japanese graffiti- even though it has been documented in other books - Graffiti Japan is quite comprehensive.

From the pages of Graffiti Japan

2. What did you enjoy most about creating the project?
Traveling all over Japan - and painting over Japan and making friends with some included artists.

3. Making the book, what was the worst and most memorable challenge you faced?
I had to meet the artists one by one. Some of them became friends and I even lived with a couple.

Some of the others however were quite difficult to work with. We would choose images for the book and once showing the artist the layout - some would want some of our images taken out of the book. They said that they would not want to be in the same book as some other artists work. This I felt was unreasonable as I was trying to document Japanese graffiti - as a whole - when some artists just focused on themselves.

The other issue I had was that I included early works by some of the artists and they wanted to change this at the last minute being worried that their early work didn't stand up. Well of course it did stand up and it gave a sense of progression. Dealing with some of the artists was probably the most challenging part of the book.

Graffiti Japan - Back Cover

4. In Los Angeles, new anti-graffiti laws are being put in place to severely punish those caught doing graffiti. What are the laws like in Japan?
They are the same - if caught the guys would spend a night - week or month in prison. They seem to be the same everywhere.

Graffiti Japan - Cover

5. I traveled all over Japan and barely saw any graffiti outside of some parts of Shinjuku and Harajuku. Are graffiti places only known to the in-crowd? Is it more underground that the public does not usually see?
Yes that is right - a lot of the spots in the book will never be seen by travelers - they are on farm walls or under tunnels or bridges - way out from anywhere. That being said though - there are a lot of big commissioned walls popping up over Tokyo, Hiroshima and Osaka- but not a great deal.

The best place to see graffiti quickly in Japan is on the Yamanote line - this takes you around Tokyo and you can spot many works along the train line. In fact all train lines have much graffiti on them - but these are usually large throw ups. Not so elaborate.

The other place to visit is Yokohama - Sakuragicho station - there is a 3 kilometer wall covered by graffiti - also featured in my book - this wall goes on and on and it takes all day to really study it. All artists from Japan get to paint on this wall legally at some point.

From the pages of Graffiti Japan

6. In the U.S., graffiti artists use Krylon, Rustoleum and European brands like Belton Molotow and Montana. What brands of paint are used in Japan?
Same brands in Japan - its all imported - there are graffiti shops that sell these brands - Alien and Krink are also popular here. There are however just normal Japanese hardware brands similar to Krylon that are used in cases of budget.

7. Are there legal places to paint in Japan?
Yes. The Ghetto is a building that kids can paint at in Shinjuku. And the Yokohama wall is legal.

8. I noticed that many well known American artists like Shepard Fairey (Obey), Twist and Cope paint in Japan. Do you think that the graffiti styles are influenced by American artists?
Yes definitely. Although the Japanese have their own style now using Kanji characters and Manga type character design.

All of the major influences came directly from NY and LA in the early 1990s. The Japanese began to copy these influences in the early 90s slowly forming their own style.

From the pages of Graffiti Japan

9. In Los Angeles, a graffiti artist has to worry about gangs, police and rival crews. What is the scene like in Japan? Are writers focused more on competition like getting up or is the focus more on art?
The focus here is more on art. I found that most crews seem to get along with other crews. But there are exceptions of course and yes there are forms of battle where they will have paint wars. One crew paints an insult and the other crew paints a response. And this goes on for a while. This can go on here but I don't think it is as dangerous as the USA.

There are fights here if people paint over someone else's tag or work.

And yes you have to worry about the police here in Japan too.


Part 2 of the interview coming soon!

Related:
Graffiti Japan Author Remo Camerota Interview Part 2
Graffiti Japan Has Arrived
Graffiti in Japan
More Graffiti in Japan

Graffiti L.A. Author Steve Grody Interview Part 2

(Read part 1 of the interview with Steve Grody)
Part 2 of the interview with Steve Grody, author of Graffiti L.A.: Street Styles and Art.

All pictures below are from Steve Grody's "Graffiti" archive.

9. Given your long-term connection with Graffiti writers, do you think there is a common trait that makes a person drawn to Graffiti?
Well, a rebellious streak is certainly required, determination, and creativity. On the other hand, there is no shortage of veteran writers that wonder if the new generation is just doing it out of faddishness and whether they have the commitment to do anything past a couple of arrests.

MSK Production 2003

10. In the book, there is a lot of discussion regarding technique and style. Do you see any new developments?
Technique keeps evolving, and you can recognize a lot of work as contemporary by things like organic bio-morphic forms or the modeling of letterforms to have more dimension to them. Unfortunately, too many up and coming writers are concentrating on the technical bells and whistles and not enough on strong basic letter design. They're going for the icing and they don't even know how to bake the cake.


Midzt GAW

11. I consider the late 80s and early 90s the golden years for Los Angeles graffiti. I noticed that in the past few years the amount of graffiti has increased and the quality of graffiti is coming back. There is a whole new generation of people that are putting in the work. There are thousands of videos, MySpace pages and websites dedicated to Graffiti. A person can achieve fame all over the world without being there. Do you think the internet is responsible for the rise in Graffiti?
The internet is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you can see a lot of what's going on around the world easily, but on the other hand, there seems because of that to be less mentorship, and that guidance is what is usually required for the best development. Also, because of less mentorship, there is more stupid activity, like going on public murals, or going over a burner with a crap throw-up.

Mers CBS 2000

12. Speaking of the internet, there are many internet graffiti sites. You also have one called Graffitila.com. Before the internet, different geographic locations had distinct styles. Now everyone has access to pictures of graffiti from all over the world. Do you think this instant access affects creativity?
Again, it's a mixed blessing, because while it helps bring up the general level, the local distinctions can disappear. A lot of the best L.A. writers still have the distinction of having been influenced by the shapes of gang graffiti even if they weren't in gangs themselves. When I see European graffiti, for example, while some of it is very good, a lot of it is very sweet and friendly compared to L. A. graff which by comparison looks very angry or at least has attitude with a capital "A."

Mear One WCA 2000

13. To combat the rise in graffiti, California has put some harsh anti-graffiti laws in place. Do you think this will deter graffiti? Do you think there is an appropriate punishment for graffiti?
Much of the recent legislation borders on hysteria and will do more harm than good. For example, it is a common story that there are businesses whose walls were getting hit with tags and gang graffiti, so they let a crew do an production on the wall and be responsible for maintaining it. That tended to help the problem, but the city is idiotically threatening those businesses with fines unless they comply with very unwieldy permitting procedures. This will not cut back graffiti and only make the city a duller, uglier place. For the most current information on the present legislation issues, go to ICUART.com.

14. You briefly mention in your book that graffiti is present in the world of advertising. Many Fortune 500 companies including Ford, Pepsi (Mountain Dew), Nike, Sprint Nextel (Boost) use graffiti to reach the youth. Do you think this is sending conflicting messages to the young generation?
I don't think they are sending a conflicting message, because their message is "we are cool." It may not be anything more than an advertising ploy, but it's inevitable that whatever is considered cool will be used for merchandising. The good news is that more often now, companies are getting genuine writers to do the work. Look at the Boost Mobile support of Saber, Revok and Retna.

Katch 1995

15. Graffiti L.A. is published by Abrams. Was it difficult to get your book published? Is the nature of the book difficult to sell to publishers?
It was not a shoe-in to get my book done, because they were very New York snotty at first, "Would anyone really be interested in L.A. graffiti?" So I had to present a strong case that what L.A. has is distinctive, deserved a history, and would be of interest to a world-wide audience. They have been pleased with the interest as it has turned out.

K2S STN Production

16. Are there future projects that you are working on?
Yes, but it's a bit early to talk about. I'm still seeing if I can gather the necessary material. If it pans out, it will be something else.

Daim visiting Los Angeles from Germany

Graffiti L.A. Author Steve Grody Interview Part 1

GraffHead interviews Steve Grody, author of Graffiti L.A.: Street Styles and Art.

Steve Grody interviewed for Fox News at Risk's 26 Letters Art Show on December 13, 2008 (Photo courtesy of Roger Gastman)

All pictures below are from Steve Grody's "Graffiti" archive.

1. You briefly touch upon this in your book, Graffiti L.A., and I'm sure you've been asked this before. Why graffiti?
I started taking photos of graffiti for two reasons; because it was an interesting creative new thing, and because it disappeared or got covered over quickly and as far as I knew, no one was preserving a record of it.

Mear CBS + Circus CBS TCS 1993 on Melrose
The top section done by Mear promotes the first graffiti clothing company Conart. (check out another conart piece done by Mear)

2. Why did you decide to write this book?
As I started to buy the few books on graffiti available at that time (early '90s), it seemed to me that there were interesting things about the aesthetics of graffiti that were not being written about, so by the late '90s I sent out proposals to publishers, but nobody was interested at that time. Now there is a glut of books.

Rukus Vox Czer WGS

3. You have some amazing photos in Graffiti L.A. Did you start taking pictures so early on because you always knew you were going to write a book?
I originally was only thinking of taking pictures for myself and for the pleasure of finding cool work.

4. The author of Subway Art, James Prigoff, wrote the foreword to your book. Was he your inspiration for writing Graffiti L.A.?
Subway Art (Chalfont and Cooper) and Spraycan Art (Prigoff and Chalfont) were the first two books available about the modern movement, so sure, those books are classics and the shoulders any later books are standing on. Further, after I met Jim Prigoff some years ago, I had a chance to show him my archive and how I was organizing my slides, and he was glad to see someone focusing on L.A. in that way, and since then he has been very generous with his very valuable advice on dealing with things on a professional level.

For that matter, the book would not have come about were it not for him: He called me up in 2005 and told me that Graffiti World had done sold so much better than the publishers had expected, that they would probably be open to a book by me and that I should get on it and approach them. Not only that, but he said don't just propose a book on general graffiti, but specifically about L.A. because that's where my knowledge was.

Swank SH

5. It is apparent that you are very knowledgeable about graffiti. Did you ever do graffiti yourself?
I never did graffiti, but I have always been interested in letterforms, doing bubble letters as a kid in the late '50s and progressing to psychedelic poster art in the '60s. My college degree is in painting, drawing and photography, so it's that background that I related to graffiti with.

6. You have pictures of the works of many established Los Angeles writers in your book. How did you decide whose work to showcase?

That was a challenging thing do. I decided several ways. First, when going through my archive, who was up consistently at least for a period of time that could be considered a contribution to the scene. Second, who had a really strong personal style and technique. And third, as I interviewed writers from the various generations, I'd ask them who they thought the most important writers were to represent. That was interesting, because while I always really liked Charlie or Panic, for example, I wouldn't have known how influential they were without talking to writers.

Sacred COI 1997

7. Lately, I have attended galleries featuring the works of graffiti writers. Do you think that graffiti has to be illegal to be graffiti?
Well, really you're talking about two issues here. One is about a definition of graffiti and the other is a whether it's legit to do in a gallery setting. Many writers simply make a distinction; graffiti is the illegal street work, and graffiti art is what you do in a gallery. Opinions vary on whether it's legitimate to do in a gallery setting, but by and large, what's important to writers regarding someone doing graff in galleries is whether they have history, that is, they've been doing illegal risk-taking street work for enough years to be respected.


Saber Revok MSK in Korea Town

8. What makes Graffiti L.A. so special is all the comments from so many of L.A.'s writers. How were you able to get commentaries from so many them?
I am honored to accepted in that world. I started documenting at the famous Belmont Tunnel and when I would run into someone, I would talk to them a bit and I guess I didn't have a "cop" energy about me, so they would tell me about another yard, say Sanborn, and then I would be there consistently enough that kids there would trust me and tell me about other yards.

So over the years I've met a lot of writers although it did take years in some cases to be trusted or to meet people whose work I had been shooting for a long time. When it came time to do interviews for the book, writers that I knew helped put me in touch with writers that were important to talk to that I didn't have contacts for. A number that I interviewed were reticent because they had been so misrepresented in other interviews, but everyone was really pleased with the result this time, I'm glad to say.

Their comments are so lively and thoughtful, it really surprises outsiders that read the book and thought all graffiti writers are just knucklehead gang kids. Actually, they book changed form as I worked on the interviews because when more than one person brought up a topic, say continually evolving your work, then that became something I'd ask others about and that's how a number of topics came to be written about.

Revok AWR MSK

Stay tuned for part 2 of the interview with Steve Grody.