Revolt Interview @149st

REVOLT INTERVIEW

©1996, 2003 @149st Do not republish without permission.

When did you start writing?
In high school in 1977.

Who got you into it?
SHADOW, FLINT...FOR LADIES ONLY, BOMB1, ME1 , DEFIE. Art & Design was like a melting pot of writers all over the city.

What was the first line you hit?
Insides was the 1s. Outsides were the N and the RR. The first piece I ever did on a train was a black and silver REVOLT piece with SAGE on a RR riggie. Then the MTA stoped buffing the 1s and I started doing pieces on that line and later I went all city.

How did you get into RTW and The Rebels?
SAGE aka BIL ROCK (RTW prez) who was my home boy way before I started writing. I met up with The Rebels hanging out in Central Park. LSD OM was our groovy graffiti guru.

What brands of paint did you and the Rolling Thunder Writers use to do all that psychedelic work on Broadway?
Don't you mean what brand of psychedelic did we use? We use to get this brand of paint called America's Best. It was 53 cents a can. We would buy a few and rack a dozen. We use to get that brand at Webbers on Broadway and 71st. They had great colors and great names such as Zambizee Purple, Crane Pink, Fly Away Blue, Lime Green. Wet Look had some good colors with funky names too. Wild Child Blue, Mad About Pink, Purple Passion. We used lots of Rusto, Krylon, Red Devil, Epoxy and Martin Paint because it was easy to rack.

Where did you get your ink?
The classic store. Bombay Stationery up on 99th Street and Broadway. We use to go to Tanners. It was about five or seven bucks for a pint. We used mostly Flo-master and Marsh and some purple store ink (Garvey). We would mix it with Flo-master black opaque and some transparent just to cut it down a little bit. That was really the best ink to use because they would buff it and the purple would come seeping through. It left a permanent stain.

When was the last time you did a train?
We went to Grant lay-up maybe '91 or '92. I can't really remember. I just remember a whole posse, IZ, FUZZ, SACH, YES 1. That was the last time I hit a live train. There were just all A ding dongs.

What do you think of the graffiti movement now?
Well it's an international thing It's an international scene right now, people hittin' transit all over the world. The kids Today got all these great colors of paint we didn't have back then. They've got all these pictures to look at which are like style guides. They've got books and video's to look at. All types of high-tech markers and spray paint that is marketed to graffers. The writers today are doing some pretty ambitious, very happening pieces. You can't take that away from anybody.

What other names did you write?
REVOLT: ORB, LINE129, 2 RAD, RVLT. That's my abbreviated Revolt tag.

What was your favorite type of marker to use?
I liked the Pentels. They were pretty happening. Nijis were happening. Pilots were good; Minis, Unis, whatever.

Did you ever rack up cans of Flo-Master?
Hell yeah!!!

Where at?
Anywhere I could.

Any particular store ?
You couldn't rack in every place, but where I could rack I did rack.

If you bought Flo-Master where did you buy it?
Tanners, Bombay that was about it. Maybe I bought a can at Pearl Paint once.

What was your favorite color to use?
My favorite color to use yellow opaque was very happening, but often I had to mix it myself. Mix it with marsh pigment ink white Flo-Master or yellow transparent Flo-Master. I also got a hold of ancient purple opaque Flo-Master. At one point I bombed insides with purple opaque straight out the can. It had a screw on top the old style.

Which were your favorite lines to hit insides on?
I guess It had to be the 1s, but then again INDs were fun because you would hit a lot of clean cars. Any place you got a clean car that was the shit. I hit clean INDs and BMTs, but I like to hit the 1s because the old 1s had curved ceilings. We'd hit the ceilings or behind the ad panels.

Who would you say had the best hand-style?
Jester.

Could you name some of the greatest inside kings and crews of the 1970s?
AS 2 and T 59 TSS, PRO and SON, BLAZE and K5, MAX, TEAM Go Club.

Then there's the crew you come from; RTW you guys had it.
Yeah we had something going on. ZEPHYR, MIN 1, BIL-ROCK, RASTA. Someone else who had really good style was EG other wise known as RAMELLZEE.

If you were to start bombing insides what line would you start off on?
I guess it would have to be the 1s. I'd start my way off from the beginning and work my way through the numbers and the letters I guess, but I don't think that's gona' happen.

Who was your favorite writer to bomb insides with?
Probably MIN 1, because we use to just tear shit up. Straight up. We use to tear up the fuckin' lay-up. Run all the way through. No respect. No nothin'. Not for nothin'.

Would you say Flo-Master was the worst nightmare of the MTA?
Actually I would have to say the store ink (Garvey) probably was. Once they buffed they could get rid of the Flo-Master but the store ink was pretty damm indelible! Especially if you mixed it with black opaque Flo-Master. Other high quality ink is the Pilot black ink that comes in the little glass jar. That stuff is opaque. The original ink that comes in the black Pilot marker is opaque. Another cool ink is the blue Pilot ink. Although it's not opaque it's a strong blue. A blue unto it self. Very mixable, very nice, very very nice.

You mentioned something about purple opaque Flo-Master?
Purple opaque Flo-Master. I found it at a job I had once in a print shop. I took it out to play. Purple opaque Flo is very happening, and I've only seen it in that one situation. It came with a screw on top in a four ounce can.

More on REVOLT in the future.

Back to REVOLT page.

Visit New York Trash - REVOLT