BRAKES
Interviewed By Lei Takanashi
1. So Brakes for the people that don’t know you. Tell them a little bit about who you are and where you from.
I’m Brakes. I’m 22. I am a style writer and a street bomber . Im originally from Buffalo, New York.I travel a lot . And I live abroad in Germany at the moment. But I am internationally up, And my home is New York City.
2. When people think of New York graffiti no one thinks of Buffalo. What makes Buffalo’s graffiti scene unique?
Personally, Im probably the worst person to ask questions to aboutBuffalo’s graffiti scene. I am not a fan of it. The scene in Buffalo is one of the worst I have seen internationally. It’s full of toys and drama and just like anywhere else, If you shine and others see you doing good. Then of course you either get labeled a snitch or legal head. People do that because they see you killing it and they can’t stop your shine! Fuck Buffalo.
3. How have you developed as an artist since you first started painting?
Yes for sure! I learned a lot about color theory through graffiti. And shading, Light source and 3d was a major thing I took away from graffiti and applied to my own artwork. I was a artist before I started writing but it really jump started my career .
4. It is easy to see how in larger cities, graffiti can develop with a younger generation looking up towards the older one already up on the walls. But did Buffalo have that older generation of writers teaching the youth?
Oh man, I knew this question was coming. The older generation of writers is what turned me off to Buffalo, But put me on the right track at the same time. I did learn from some of the older guys in Buffalo, I won’t lie, But I got hazed extremely hard to the point where I mentally snapped. But in the end the negativity and reindeer games of the older writers is what pushed me to improve and eventually to be better than them . (If that makes sense)
5. Who are your biggest influences and how did they influence you.
I am extremely influenced by New York Style Writers . A few to mention are Stae 2 , Vor 138, Hoacs, Sen 2, Trace , Cuba, And Mast . Im also influenced by KEMS. His work is extremely precise and i love his color combinations that he uses.
6. You went out to Germany for about a year. What was that like in terms of being a graffiti writer outside the States?
II thought with me being Half German(My father is 100% German ) and Half American it would be easy to adjust to scene and live in Germany! It’s wild to be honest. Graffiti is way more accepted in Europe. Especially Germany. Where I live in Germany they have entire parks and places where you can go anytime and paint whatever the hell you want. Which is so different to me being from a place like Buffalo where we don’t even have one legal wall. Haha. What surprised me, Is German writers follow American graffiti extremely closely . So it was cool to meet heads that knew about me before I even went over there when i got there. I guess as Americans we are so used to it being illegal and frowned upon that when you go to a place like Germany and see it accepted it takes some getting used to .
7. So now that you have gone international, where else do you want to bomb?
I want to hang bombing up to be honest. I want to focus more on improving my skills as a artist. Since I lived in Romania for a while, it kind of gets to me that I never got to hit anything there. Bucharest and Sibiu are pretty fresh , And to go crazy with hand styles and throw ups there would be super fulfilling for me. Not to mention doing a whole car in Bucharest would be a dream come true . I love Romania. So going back there to destroy would be fucking awesome.
8. How would you describe your style?
Very graphic, Oldschool And Classic. I try to use bold color combos to stick out while incorporating 80’s style 3d’s and lettering. With a new school effects and background touch .
9. I heard you have other hobbies outside of painting. What are they?
I do, I’m very in to photography. I work non stop and I am always doing commissions. So I don’t really have time for any of my other hobbies
10. Shout outs? Final words?
Shout out to my boy Lei for the interview . Your the man.
Shoutout to Bombing Science! I have been going on your site every day since I was a kid. And seeing the other writers and styles world wide while purchasing supplies really helped me get to where I am today .
