Bombing Science: So.. First things first.. Who is Pesa?
Pesa is one bad as in bad graffiti writer from Albuquerque, New Mexico who’s been steady writing graff for many years, loves his 4 girls Nadaylia, Adrianna, Kiara, and Cielo, is hardcore into cruising classic cars, and is always on the hunt for good music. I’m a connoisseur of beats as you might say haha.
Bombing Science: What was is like growing up for you.. what made you the man you are right now?
Pesa: I’m just going to type and keep on typing so I hope it makes some type of sense, here it goes! Growing up in Albuquerque was cool to me…I was used to being in all parts of Albuquerque before I was all city with tagging. I had family everywhere and my dad (r.i.p) used to referee high school basketball, so instead of listening to people yell at him for his “bad call” I was able to explore every high school/neighborhood here in town, check out gang graffiti, and practice my popping and breakin ( I was a better pooper, I mean popper). I later went to four different high schools because they kept kicking me out for getting straight A’s and being a nerd, what a trip! Anyways my old man also played softball, so I was at every field and Martinez Town Park was where everybody met up after a game. My dad also used to take us to all the Dukes baseball games which at the time were the farm team for the L.A Dodgers; the team is now called the Isotopes which I think is stupid because we are the DUKE CITY! Anyways the old stadium back in the 80’s was always cool to hang out at and I remember watching the cool but strung out Dukes mascot do magic tricks for the crowd, unfortunately they later found him tied to a chair dead in an abandoned house (r.i.p). My mom’s side of the family is from the South Valley and no it’s not like the valley in Cali… hanging out in the South Valley was cool, all of my uncles were well known down there and my grandfather lived right across the street from Bajito Low-rider so I got to see tons of juiced rides coming out there in the early 80’s and dreamt of one day owning a Low-rider. One of my uncles was well known in the dog fighting world in the early 70’s till the early 80’s so I grew up playing with and taking care of pit-bulls way, way before they became the “cool” dogs to have. My father’s side of the family is from San Jose one of the oldest barrios in town and if you’ve known me for awhile then you’ve either painted with me, lifted with me, or hung out with me down there at some point. When I was younger we used to live in the South East part of Burque off San Mateo and Kathryn what is now called the “War Zone”, we then moved to the North East heights which is a far cry from any of the previous neighborhoods mentioned and I had fun skateboarding and tagging in the vast ditch system Albuquerque has. I never really hung around the heights too much and spent pretty much all of my time out on the West Side hanging out on Central which was the major cruising spot and later on at the Monolithics which was our local version of the hall of fame and one of the coolest spots I’ve ever painted at in my life. What made me the man I am today is from getting back up after failing numerous times and now that I’m getting older trying to truly change my ways for the better. Phhheeew that was a lot of typing!
Bombing Science: Is there any reason why you write “Pesa”
Pesa: Pesa means weight in Spanish….one day I was at the old dungeon of a gym down in East Side San Jose and I was thinking to myself what else can I write that means something I enjoy doing that’s not a popular name. The rest is history and I have Pesa tattooed on me so I don’t forget my name.
Bombing Science: Where does your love for graffiti stem from?
Pesa: Cholo/gang graffiti from the Albuquerque gangs San Jose, Barelas, and South Side for sure got me started in the early 80’s and it progressed from there to writing traditional graffiti as to where me and fellow writers from Burque were all city kings at age’s 15, 16, and 17. I also can’t forget the two hip hop murals that were in two separate parts of town back in 83 or 84…One was at the AtoZ tire shop on South Broadway and the other was in a tunnel in the heights that was painted on the floor! I remember staring at the mural when I was kid and wondered how they spray painted that on the floor with so much detail! When I went back ten years later already well known for writing graffiti it still amazed me. It’s crazy how something as simple as graff can make an impression on you for a lifetime…sniff.
I probably could have become a well known DJ or Turntablist but I didn’t have the money for equipment and I was already racking so getting paint and markers was easy. I love green chili on my food. Don’t cross me out, I will beat you. I love the way my classic cars exhaust rattles your shit box when I fly by you on the freeway.
Bombing Science: Do you follow the graffiti rules or do you think graffiti should not have rules?
Pesa: Back when I first started there were certain rules that were to be followed. For instance the number one rule was to get up but don’t write on churches, people’s homes, etc. Nowadays everybody is into graffiti in one way or another. There was once an excitement that all of us would get when we were out in the train yards or in shady spots but now it’s called “urban exploration” minus the spray paint being involved. Whatever.
Bombing Science: How many cars you own? Tell us more about your passion of low riders and how it relates to your art work.
Pesa: I’ve had a-lot of cars throughout the years and right now I have about 6. Regular people always ask me “why do you enjoy going cruising and painting graffiti so much?” I usually laugh and tell em to go grab a can of paint and run across the highway and start writing their name then you will know why. Same thing goes with riding in a classic, even being a passenger is a cool feeling. I enter my cars in car shows and parades and hit the blvd but I really enjoy cruising the lone highways after a day of painting. Cruising is just like graffiti, I do it for the love of it not who’s going to see my car or who’s gonna see my pieces.
Bombing Science: How did your style come about? You said your first inspirations was gang graffiti, who was your inspiration for hip hop graffiti?
Pesa: Like most people once I saw spray can art and subway art it really opened up a new world. Agree Atk (rip) was a huge influence on me, he had great tags, throw ups, pieces, and to be honest I haven’t came across many people who can burn him even to this day. He also had an amazing photo collection… back then all it took was a picture to get us hyped up, nowadays with the click of a button I can get check out what people are doing all over the world. Like most writers from my era here in Albuquerque we might have not been the first but we came up in the golden era when styles were evolving and this place was getting bombed.
Bombing Science: In your opinion, what makes a good writer?
Pesa: Someone who can tag and piece with style and who’s been steady in the game for awhile. For example some of my favorite writers from all over are Kem5, Bacon and the Hsa crew, Wand Tm7, Ces, Serve, Zone Wst, the Mvp crew. T-kid inspired me a-lot because he gave me a chance to prove myself on a different level and is as real as real can get. I also dig what Tuff City is doing with the realistic train panel they have.
Bombing Science: What do you want to accomplish in your graff career?
Pesa: Just keep painting, meet cool people, and try to stay creative. Shout out to the crews TNB, WST, KD, MPC, KTC, SV, H2, ATK, ORIGINAL STYLES! Thanks Bombing Science you guys have a great site! Keep up the hard work cuz it shows! To whomever is reading this I hope it made your work day somewhat entertaining. Albuquerque original signing out…Peace!
