Alright so first off thanks for taking the time to do this interview, can you give us a brief history of your involvement in graffiti? What crew do you rep? What does Goser mean?
I started doing graffiti in 1996 during my junior year of high school where I met a friend that put me up on the graff game. While in the Bay Area which is where I’m from I was writing a handful of different names but it wasn’t until I moved to Atlanta that I came up with Goser. I rep UPS, EMT, TDK, and Lords. Goser was just a name I decided to rock with after a night of blunts and Ghostbusters. At the time I thought it was a dope name but I was still trying to write something else. Most people I knew still called me Goser even if I was writing something different, so eventually I gave up trying to change it and made the best of my name. Not the easiest letter combo by the way.
Do you make a full time living off of graffiti? If so can you tell us what that first gig was like and how you landed it?
No I don’t make a full-time living off of graffiti. I work an average 9-5 and do mural work on the side. I plan to make it a full-time gig within a couple years. My first gig was an under water scene in a loft in Atlanta. I got the gig through a friend of mine.
We just entered 2019, how was 2018 for you? Looking back what were your fondest memories of the year and your best piece, and do you have big plans for the year coming up?
2018 was a busy year for me in my personal life which left little time for painting. With the time I had to paint I tried to create simpler pieces that were fun that I could do in a window of 5 to 6 hours I was lucky enough to have a little more time for some of the walls I painted like the wall with Rosie and Bender. That was my favorite wall of 2018. I thought it came out alright but the reaction I got from the neighborhood was all love and good vibes. For 2019 I plan on getting as much done as I can with at least 3 to 4 really cool walls by the end of the year
You seem to like to do a lot of character art and a lot of it is based off of or from Ren and Stimpy, what other cartoons and animation has inspired you over the years? Did you ever try doing anything like animation or graphic design?cause your character work is pretty legit.
I’ve been inspired by a lot of different character drawings from comics to Japanese animation but I really enjoy painting goofy cartoons. Looney toons were fun to draw as a kid. I’ve done some graphic design but I sketch and paint more than anything
One of my favorite posts that I’ve seen you put is your “Stop Waste” picture which you said may or may not happen. I’m just curious was this something for the city of San Fransisco or was this a collaborative project that fell through?
It was a solo project for an environmental campaign in Oakland that fell through but would have been fun to paint.
Do you like collaborating with others or do you prefer doing your own thing?
I do a lot by myself but I’m always down to collab with others.
For graffiti writers that are looking to grow and explore their style, what have you learned over the years that has helped you the most? How essential is the black book for developing your sense of color and design?
Keep painting! Try new things and put a new twist on old things. Also find cool things about your mistakes and use them. It’s been along time since I used a black book. Most of my sketches are done on a clipboard. Half the pages were ripped out of my old black books from sketches I didn’t like so I gave up trying to use them. You don’t necessarily need a black book you just need to sketch and throw some color around.
It looks like most of your posts are from the California area, but do you get the chance to travel alot? Where all have you traveled and do you have any crazy travel stories worth sharing?
I get to travel from time to time but most of my work is done here in the Bay Area I’ve been to parts of the south, east and west coast, and Midwest. Eventually I would love to get some things up in another country. I have an old police chase story but it happened in the Bay Area. I was painting an abandoned warehouse with two of my friends when a few kids came in with skateboards. They built some ramps inside and had a mini skate park. They were hype that we were painting their spot so they decided to leave three or four times to bring more and more kids by. Pretty soon we had a mob of kids going in and out of the spot making it hella hot. The kids end up leaving and we were finishing up our pieces when a cop runs in with a flashlight and yells something at us. Probably stop. I looked at my boy and we made a break for it while my other friend ran up the stairs and got arrested hiding in the bathroom. So we get away from that cop and decide to split up. He runs one way and I decide to hide under some cars. There must’ve been two or three squad cars and four cops on foot looking for us. When it was clear I got up and ran into a neighborhood. I saw a cop, turned around, hit a corner, and here comes my friend running up along aside of me. We hit a right down a narrow alley then hop a fence into a backyard. My buddy is a big dude so he wasn’t trying to jump anymore fences. He ran full speed into two fences like the Juggernaut. Those fences drop like dominoes. We made a few more turns into a neighborhood with a vacant house on the corner where there were really high weeds around the house. We decided to lay down in the high weeds even though the neighbors across the street seen us. A cop pulls up on the neighbors and instantly they were like “they’re over there!” The squad car pulls up on the lot but can’t see us because we were laying down in the weeds. He’s about to run us over and we jump up in front of him. The look on that cops face was priceless. We hopped another fence and split up again. My boy ended up getting arrested at an antique shop. For a second I thought I was good and this cop comes out of nowhere running right at me. I run around another corner and see this trailer home with a pile of hoarder trash on the front lawn. I jump into the garbage and start throwing crap all over me to hide. A guy comes out of his front door and the cop runs right up in dudes house. The cop thinks that the guy is hiding me so he searches his place. Dude was pissed. I hid in the trash for a couple hours after the police left while the neighbors were all outside talking about what happened. I called a friend of mine to come and get me. Right before he picked me up I put on this old moldy shirt that I found and walked out of the trash in front of the neighbors. They were looking at me like they knew I was the guy. I walked down the street, jumped in my friends car, and I was out!
Who inspired you when you first started graffiti and who inspires you now? Are they the same?
In the beginning I was inspired by Giant, Twist, and Dream. Nowadays I’m striving to be like my man Vogue. He’s always working on something amazing and stays focused. His drive to keep creating new work is really inspiring to me.
What is your favorite music to listen to when you paint?
Soul Oldies
Any shoutouts you would like to give? Where can people follow you?
Shout out to my family, friends, and everybody in each one of my crews. Special thanks to Bombing Science for the interview. You can follow me @goser1999 on Instagram.
