I’ve been writing since 2004, but didn’t start writing Hone until 2007. I grew up in the West End of Toronto and my earliest inspiration in graff came from what I saw around my neighbourhood and while taking the streetcar downtown. The work that stood out to me the most was from DP and HFB crews. Because of these early influences, I’ve always seen complex wildstyle as the pinnacle of piecing, and simplicity and stamp-like consistency as critical to a bombing style. The local writers of my own generation have and continue to influence and inspire me in the same way (shoutouts to EKWAL and KIZMET 32/KLA, my whole TH family, KURST VC, TENSER, LSD crew, KPS and BASTARDS crews). Today it’s easier than ever to see and be influenced by stuff from all over the world but I think seeing graff in person gives it more power and I find work that inspires me in almost every city I’ve been to (187, TRG, and THC crews in Hamburg and Berlin, 156 crew in Paris and Montreal (RIP KING SCAN DA/KG/4S), VC and TOS crews in Montreal).
Over the last few years I’ve become more concerned with just having fun when I paint. Trying for a super complicated wildstyle wasn’t doing that for me so I started doing chunkier, more simplified burners which let me focus on letter structure and colours. I like trying different and weird colour combinations that either compliment or pop against each other. Adding old school cartoon characters to my shit isn’t really a style thing, but I like using them sometimes to play up a colour scheme or a thematic element in the piece. To me being clean and consistent are just as important to my style as letter structure, and I’m always trying to improve in all three aspects.
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