Pakayla got this shot of me in front of Barry McGee's "installation" at Houston and Bowery. It amazes me that graffiti writing culture continues to gain more and more acceptance in the American mainstream.
And all the while the real underground of graffiti writing culture continues to burn away at your senses. Although I may not like JA as a person, his hard work on the streets is undeniable. Dude has been crushing shit on a level that you can't even fathom. And if legend is correct, if you've seen the original Karate Kid movie, you've seen JA.
I think DUMBO is from Italy. He's a legendary street bomber in Europe. I was psyched to see this awesome throw-up in Manhattan.
And these two guys are currently some of America's best representatives of real street level graffiti writing. I've seen them up coast to coast on some of the best spots in every city. They sure have my respect.
That's all from NY. I had a great 10 days out there. Until next time...
I went and checked out Suicidal Tendencies last night at the Fillmore in SF. Their set list was awesome! Played tons of shit from the first record, Join The Army and even did a No Mercy song! Suicidal is one of the main bands that got me into punk/metal/hardcore. My brother left for the army when I was about 10 or 11 and he gave me all his CDs and "Light's Camera Revolution" was one of them. It had the parental advisory label on it so I automatically thought it was cool as shit! I played that record out, and from ST I found out about so many other bands. 15 years later I had the chance to tour with them in Australia and the US. It's so crazy growing up and idolizing these bands and then touring with them and becoming friends. ST OG!
Mike Muir.
Mike Clark and Dean.
After the show my boy Pablo and I stumbled over to Tommy's Joynt drunk as fuck and smashed some food.
Now I'm at work hungover as fuck! Goin' to the Giants game tonight! Ready to do it all over again! Life is good!
I love puppies. Even Corgi puppies are cute. (Clearly this is not a Corgi puppy but I'm just making a point that even an undesirable adult dog can look great as a newborn).
Took a photo drinking Budweiser for Live 105. No clue why, but it didn't feel forced at all. I was already drinking a Budweiser.
Went to Baby Blues BBQ with the Aussies.
We ordered "the teaser."
And I end today's blog with a big fuck you to anyone that paints a wall white in a city. If you don't keep it clean white, paint it taupe or something. It just looks immediately dirty if it is not taken care of.
On Sunday afternoon I made a quick little tattoo for my new friend Mina at Daredevil Tattoo in Manhattan.
She got the tiger from my Americana flash. No problem.
I spent Sunday evening in the company of my friends Fiamma and Mateo here. They are future REBEL8ers. They rock!
On Monday night I went out to Bushwick with my buddy Diego to do some studio visits. Our first stop was Wes Lang's studio, aka "The Paradise Club". That's Wes on the crutches.
He broke his foot when the kickstarter to his fancy new bike here broke off.
Bummer. He's still in high spirits though. And he's been really productive. I love his new paintings.
Our second stop was John Copeland's studio.
We became friends in SF about 10 years ago. I'm a huge fan of his paintings. I think they're exploding with energy.
John's space is also enormous. He's got plenty of room to get messy in there.
After thorough lubrication via Sour Diesel and many Budweisers, we ended up back in the Lang studio for some tats. Diego got one on the side of his leg from John.
Then I got some from Wes.
Finally got my Zip-Zag man!
Headed back to SF tomorrow. I sure have had fun out here!
Swung by Benny's shop on Saturday to peep his new Fall stuff.
Benny and Greg Mishka showing off their little matching cameras. Cute!
Drank a few cold ones with my new pals Vince and Frankie. Let me be the first to introduce these two into the REBEL8 family. They are REBEL8 Australia.
And it's always a pleasure to see Darin and Mrs. Benny Gold (she's pregnant).
I'm moments away from getting swooped up and taken to the game. Go Giants!
I've been feeling really inspired lately. Super excited about the people in my life and the city I love.
Fleet week always delivers on boys in uniforms. Aye aye.
Checked out the R8 sample sale at Medicine Agency. Francisco was showing authority with his fanny pack.
From the sale we walked around Chinatown. It's a whole different world.
Duck, duck, goose.
Always a pleasure hanging out with these two. They make everything fun!
I woke up with the worst neck ache, then I remembered that we had a night of head banging. The same thing happened to me in the 8th grade. I was head banging so hard to Metallica that my neck hurt for 3 days. I wanted to immitate Jason Newsted's circle head bang. ouch.
There's someone for everyone. This dude conversing with his pigeon in a bath robe. Apparently they were going to get coffee and visit with Francis.
I'm in NY doing a quick job for Vans. They asked me to paint a 8x16' wall at the opening of the new "House of Vans" in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It's an old warehouse that now houses a concrete bowl designed by Lance Mountain and Jeff Grosso, and an indoor and outdoor street course. I got to ride the bowl for an hour all by myself on Friday night before anybody else. It's sick.
I was able to project my sketch onto the wall using a digital projector on Friday evening, so on Saturday at the opening I was able to hook this up in about 4 hours.
Early into the process I got a chance to get this photo with Steve Van Doren. His dad started Vans with 3 other partners in 1966 in Anaheim, California. Thanks, Steve!
I stopped working on the wall for a minute and who do I see watching me work? Fucking Steve Caballero! Holy shit!
Then I ran into my man John Reeves! We went on a tour of Tokyo and Yokohama with Tribal Gear back in 1994. It was great to see him again.
I geeked the fuck out when I saw this guy tearing up the bowl at the opening party. Fucking Tony Alva! He's as OG as it gets in skateboarding. I was SO psyched to meet him.
As I was finishing up the wall, I neglected to get a photo of Mos Def warming up the crowd for these guys...
Public Enemy! Including Professor Griff! No more Terminator X, but DJ Lord is definitely taking care of business! Awesome. Check of my man Flavor Flav!
The crowd was psyched! Bet you skaters will see a few familiar faces in the audience.
Wish I had a better camera to capture this. That's Flav on drums and Chuck D rappin' "Timebomb" from their first album. Awesome!
Great show! Best hip-hop show I've seen in years. Got this last shot with my homies JK5 and Diego in front of my wall before we headed for the exit.
But on my way out, Diego helped me realize that I should at least try to meet PE since I was part of the night's event. So I found my Vans people and they got me backstage to meet Flav. At first it was a little weird when I walked in the room but once he saw my Public Enemy tattoo he threw his arm around me and we got this flic.
Flav was SO cool. He's got a fan for life right here! Fuckin' ruling! More tomorrow...
