What are some of your earliest memories?

Just growing up in the city and going through the original Times Square, not the Walt Disney shit we live through now. We lived a certain romantic period in the city, and my entry in the graffiti game was riding the subway to school with my mother. Then, finally being allowed to go on my own. That transition to freedom as a youth in the city definitely opened my eyes to a lot of shit. I started seeing the same names in repetition. I could almost start understanding the graffiti. It wasn’t like I had somebody teaching me or telling me about it until after I had already learned about it. I started really paying attention to the graffiti and the names I saw.

What year was that?

Late seventies were holding my mother’s hand and getting on the train. Early eighties were like she took the leash off and let me sort of wild out a little bit. That’s kind of when it really started to click for me.

What part of the city did you grow up in?

I lived on the Upper East Side for a little bit, and that’s kind of where it formulated. Then I moved downtown to the West Village, and hung out in the LES when I was younger.

Do you have any recollection of the first piece you saw?

Honestly, I don’t remember. I want to say that it was MITCH77 because Goofy always stands out in my head—that more striking familiarity shit back then is what my mind clings to. I really remember the whole car domination more than any individual. I didn’t know terminology, but I picked the more striking imagery that used familiar iconography.

Did you go small? Is that how it started for you?

Oh yeah. I couldn’t do any of the big stuff. To this day, I might have done one whole car in my life. Truth be told, it was in the scrap yard or something like that. (laughs) I was part of production for some big pieces, but I never really pioneered the whole “I can paint eighty feet wide and twenty feet high” thing. I’m not that guy.