Suitable 4 Framin’ Issue #8 Winter 2011. Edited and Designed by my amazing uncle and mentor, Iqvinder “RAJU” Singh. Check out the spread on LADY KARMA, as well as the interview I did with SPIE TDK. Shout out to the original Oakland HERO and my family at Jabardast Poison Clan.
SUITABLE FOR FRAMIN’
INTERVIEW WITH SPIE TDK BY LADY KARMA
Iriemember the first time I got to chop it up with SPIE was as a high-schooler just getting into graff. Embarassing as it is, I was pretty much star struck the first time I met him…shakily handing over my blackbook to this graffiti legend standing before me, tall as towers. I can recall SPIE droppin’ the knowledge from the very start, flooding our conversation with epic bombing sagas. “Check it out,” he said, twisting off the top of an ancient artifact of a marker with a 3-inch nib and screws at the bottom. “From back in the day,” he said proudly as he held the marker up to my nose. All of a sudden I could feel my eyes tear up and throat burning from the ultra funky fumes being omitted from the toxic ink. Even though I was on the borderline of passing out from the shear nausea that was slowly seeping into my brain, I managed to coolly muster a, “that’s dope.” SPIE sniffed the marker for himself and smiled, totally un-phased, as he put the marker back into his ink-stained pocket. I was definitely in the presence of a King.
I had an interest in graffiti since the beginning, but it wasn’t until I dug up that VIDEOGRAFF classic, Malicious Mischief circa 9D4 that I really got into it and started getting up. Being that I was also very politically active at the time, writers like DREAM and SPIE who laced their art with political messages really struck a chord with me. Years after that initial first meeting, I got a chance to sit down with SPIE for a little ol’ fashioned Q & A.
KARMA: …So going back to the very beginning, when did you start writing?
SPIE: Pretty much since I was seven years old, back in 1977 I believe. Being from the Excelsior district in SF, I was just copying all of the gangster stuff around town- mostly Cholo styles. I didn’t really start getting into graffiti styles until ‘83.
KARMA: Did you always write SPIE?
SPIE: Nah, I played around with a bunch of names but for the most part, a lot of writers would start with SPY and then move on to another name. Even DREAM wrote SPY for a while at first. For me, the name just stuck. Also, I liked the connection to those SPY vs. SPY comics.
KARMA: Speaking of DREAM, a lot of people see you as being very much connected to his legacy. Tell me about how you two first met and how you ended up being partners in crime!
SPIE: I met DREAM in 1987 after he painted that BEST OF BOTH WORLDS piece. I was in SF and he stayed in this housing project in Alameda. We didn’t end up painting a piece together until late 1989.
KARMA: You both were very political with your art. Do you think that it was this political consciousness that brought you to paint together so prolifically?
SPIE: Yes. That first piece I painted with DREAM in ’89 was actually at UC Berkeley, where they were having a rally against racist skinheads. DREAM and I both painted a piece on four plywood panels that said, “NO PEACE FOR RACISTS.” Prior to that, we had run in to each other at the anti-apartheid movement and Soweto Street Festival on Telegraph and Durant in 1988. It just so happened that DREAM and I both came with plans on painting a Biko piece. Coincidence!
KARMA: Back then was there a large push in the graff scene to get up with a conscious message, or were you and DREAM some of the select few?
SPIE: At the time, lots of folks were listening to more conscious hip-hop coming from artists like KRS-1 and Public Enemy. Being culturally aware and knowing where you came from was in. If you weren’t a part of that conscious movement, then you were just fakin’ the funk. After I got back from Jamaica in 1990, I started a crew called IRIE Posse, which stressed the importance of Knowledge of Self. IRIE Posse consisted of writers that were more conscious and it was my attempt at getting folks to be more socially and politically aware.
KARMA: Though one of the main focuses of your art was to spread a message, what were you guys experimenting with in terms of style? You were saying that a lot of the early influence came from New York with things like SUBWAY ART and STYLE WARS. In what ways did SF/Bay Area writers develop their own style?
SPIE: Well, we were getting into straight letters and traditional funk styles at first, but SF writers definitely brought their own flavor. There were “slice and shift” styles as well as other elements that made our style distinct and recognizable.
KARMA: How would you describe SF’s style today? How do you think it has changed or evolved since the early days?
SPIE: Style is always changing. With the rise of the internet, it’s easy for writers to go online and bite people’s style from all over the world. For that reason, style has become more homogenized and less distinct. Also, since there is so much graffiti out there and on the web, writers are always trying to come with something new and stand out amongst the others. Because of that, people are moving away from the traditional funk-style lettering and moving towards styles the world has never seen. As of right now, I personally have been doing more mural work and less graffiti. However, graffiti is my first love and though I don’t necessarily paint as much as I used to, I’m always looking forward to the next piece.
