AESOP

AESOP – First off, what an honor it is to be asked to do a feature! I was a little surprised, as by no means do I consider myself a king and worthy as some of the other writers featured on this list!

However, what I am proud about over my 17+ years writing graffiti is consistency. I was born in a small city in the UK called Coventry, where only a handful of notable writers come from (Able, Dobe, Kept etc). To get decent paint, I had to make a 3 hour round trip to Birmingham and the legendary UK graffiti shop, The Bench 504. It was there that I met writers like Skank, Ceos, Ziner, Ekas Vomit, Ragoe and the rest of my crew, NFA.

NFA was a legendary crew in my eyes, known for high impact rollers, street spots and productions. Together we have shared a lot of wild nights, crazy holidays and foreign police cells (Dutch police don’t play!). I’d consider these guys as my main influence.

For the last 12 years, and probably where I am best known for my painting is in London. It’s a great place to get up – I try not to paint HOFs and instead go for street spots that will last a while. Blank boards are a perfect canvas and, with my trusty high-vis jacket, you can pretty much get away with painting most places in the daytime (so long as you’re a smooth talker!!).

I have been lucky enough to travel a lot and paint in most places I have been. These include major European cities, a US road trip, back-packing around India, South America and Asia. They have all helped me shape my world view.

My style is an amalgamation of all the above. I don’t take myself, or my graffiti, too seriously. I pride myself on never having much notable beef and trying to respect the rules of this culture. Graffiti for me has bought me so many amazing experiences, friendships and memories that I will treasure forever. Painting a piece is just a by-product of all of that!

I want to give a special shout out to all of NFA, ADNS, The Hairy Painters Eroik and Rokit people like Gwiz, Slay, Mogz and everyone I’ve painted with over the years.