Alright, let us begin with the obvious questions and then we will ease into some other stuff.  So, how did you get the name RUNE?  In my opinion, it’s a dope name and I’m curious.  Also, how long have you been writing it?  Is there one single moment that made you want to begin writing graffiti?

I got my name from a dictionary.  I’m looking for a name that is familiar and easy to spell and also easy to make graffiti.  RUNE means “Run Until Nightmares Ends.”   I write this name from 2005 until now.  I love to write it!  The first time I read my friend’s magazine about graffiti and street art from Europe I became interested about graffiti.  I started looking for a name and trying to sketch.  I love innovation, too. And in my country, Yogyakarta, art is not acceptable—at least not for graffiti, at the beginning.

 Being from Yogyakarta, what was the graffiti like when you first were introduced to it?  How has graffiti changed since then?

Graffiti came to Indonesia around 1990 and not many people know what is graffiti is.  People always think graffiti is vandalism.

How does graffiti in Indonesia differ from graffiti in the United States?  Is there a style that is unique to Indonesia? 

So, graffiti in Indonesia is so different than the United States.  Maybe because, in Indonesia, graffiti is still young.  The United States graffiti had already become an influence here.

They’re different because the culture is different in Indonesia.  And the scene is different in Indonesia.

Who are your biggest influences?

At first, I’m learning do graffiti from 123Klan, Dare and I see MSK crew, Rime, Sofles

They are my biggest influences.

Do you prefer to paint legal walls or illegal walls?  Or a mix of both?

I think the both.  In my first years I’m doing graffiti on illegal walls.  Now I’m doing both.

You are the owner of Flame graffiti supply store, can you tell BombingScience about it?  Owning a business is not easy, I’m sure that owning a graffiti store is even harder—what inspired you to open a graffiti supply store?  Is Flame the only store like it in Yogyakarta?Yes, I’m the owner from Flame Graff store.  It begin from my hobby of doing graffiti.  Yes, it’s very hard.  I just want to facilitate graffiti writers, because in the beginning, it was difficult to get spray paint out here.

No, now there are so many graffiti shop in this little city—maybe about 12 graffiti shops.

How does owning a business and being married affect your painting?  How do you balance the day to day responsibilities in your life with graffiti?  Do you think that owning a graffiti supply store adds an additional responsibility for you to paint more often than you might otherwise?

Being married and running a business is difficult for me, because I’m not work I don’t get paid. I get money just from doing painting. I even had to stop do graffiti for about one year.  And after I got Flame Graffiti open I started to do graffiti again and have not stopped.  Off course if you have a graffiti shop you have responsibility making graffiti.

In previous discussions we talked about you being married, how do you balance marriage and graffiti?  Are there times when you have to make compromises?  Also, we talked about you losing your baby, are you alright with talking about that and you and your wife overcame the obstacles to such a tragedy?  Personally, having two children of my own, I couldn’t imagine how I’d deal with something like that happening. 

Yes, initially sure for the first time, because my wife didn’t know anything about graffiti.

In the beginning, we were not able to accept [the death of our baby], but I always think God maybe had a reason for why it happened this way.

What is your philosophy on graffiti and art?

Graffiti is freedom and pleasure for me.  Art is maybe a part of the graffiti.

Do you think there is a difference between graffiti and street art or do you think that they’ve become blended over the past years?   Is street art popular in Indonesia?

I think the last, they are mixed the last several years.  Yes, street art is very popular in here.

What exactly is “horney street”?

 Horny Street is my crew who began at 2005.  From the beginning, is 5 people and now 6 crewmates. They are: myself, Nick23 (Yogya), Racon3 (Malang), DnzTwo (Bali), Mersk (Solo), and Chiko (Solo).  They are at different places in Indonesia.   We have different styles than each other and they are solid crewmates for me, because when we always support each other.  Also, all my crewmates have graffiti shops at their city.

Thank you for the chance for this interview.

 Interview by: Kasm78

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