Bombing Science: Sacred, what’s good homie?
Sacred: Yo.. I’m slacking off at work right now to answer these questions and getting paid for it!
BSCI: Haha, that’s whats up! Tell us a bit about your stomping grounds. What is it like being a writer in your city?
Sacred: Indianapolis, born and raised. Commonly known for racing, big conventions, pork fritters, Peyton Manning and rednecks. It’s a decent size midwest city that seems to be a step, or many steps, behind the rest of the cities its size. It catches up eventually… sort of. Everything is spread out and people love their space. Being a writer in Indy is a challenge, especially if you’re not self-motivated. I’ve seen many come and go and comeback and stop and go a little more only to stop again. That being said, I still like my city. I have been afforded many opportunities that may not have happened if I grew up in a larger city.
BSCI: Can you break down some historical knowledge about Indianapolisand the Mid-West graff scene in general?
Sacred: I need a history lesson about the whole Mid-West scene, but I know Chicagohas been holding it down for quite some time. Prior to the mid-90s the bboy and dj scenes were what was happening in Indianapolis. During those times there were a handful of people painting but not really focusing on it. The mid-90s was when it hit. Some of the original crews doing the most things were MUL (based out of Chicago), IWS and HFX. Shortly after many more crews came into play and it seemed the scene was growing. Some worth mentioning are TCB, S2L, NUA, MFK, KA and FRS. Each crew brought something different to the scene. A lot of people came and left though making it inconsistent. There have been some great writers that have lived here, but there are only a few now. The current scene has a decent amount of writers and some of them have great potential.
BSCI: Tell us about your come up. How did you get in to this graff shit.
Sacred: I was always a creative and curious kid. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making art. I always seemed to live near railroad tracks so naturally I paid attention to the graffiti on freights and more importantly (for myself) the markings on bridges underneath the tracks. I would walk the tracks all summer long finding new spots to explore. It was the summer of 1994 when I decided that “Metallica Rules” wasn’t as cool as what I thought I could do.. so I started painting my own dumb shit. In junior high I met Canz3. His older brother DAZE was in IWS. I didn’t meet IWS right away, but I was aware of their work that indirectly influenced mine. I started writing SAC or SACONE during my sophomore year in high school when I met DJ SONIC. He was currently learning from the local legend DJ TOPSPEED. Soon after, SONIC introduced me to TOPSPEED and then it was on. Not only did TOPSPEED open my mind to all types of new music, but he introduced me to more of the graffiti scene. Then I learned that a friend of mine was the younger sister of one of the founders of IWS.. DOS1. DOS1 (later DOSE) and CREEP (aka CREPE) started the crew in 1995. Both of them were artists before graffiti. They saw me get up around the west side so they asked my friend to put us in touch. In late 1995 I was put down in IWS. They taught me how to paint clean, hustle for paint and party hard. All we had for inspiration at the time was the graf pages in The Source and Rap Pages and a copy of Subway Art that one of us stole from the library. In 1996 or 1997 TOKEO transported from Atlanta. He was the youngest writer in the scene but he was by far the best. Every crew in the city wanted him to join. Although he chose MUL, he still hung around everyone else and directly influenced a good amount of us. He helped me develop my style.. some of the things I still address in my pieces today. In September of 1997, I met 6CENTS in art class. He was a free-spirited kid who knew nothing about graffiti, but could draw like a motherfucker. We became friends and I encouraged him to write so that we could have a character painter in the crew for our productions. Within a year he was already making an impact. In 1998, during a brief IWS fallout, we started FAB Crew with the intent to become the next TATS, FX or DF crew… primarily focusing on murals and productions. We still painted trains and many bridges and still bombed the streets occasionally, but we really wanted to be amazing muralists. We kept doing our thing, despite the drama and hate surrounding us, and it paid off. To this day we get gigs frequently. In 2002, we co-founded the event Subsurface with DOS1. It started out as almost all Indianawriters, but it grew significantly by 2004 to showcase writers from other regions also. That really changed the game for me, because we were being exposed to all these different styles firsthand. In 2005 I switched my name to SACRED. I started traveling more and meeting new people getting influence from all over the place. I’ve been doing pretty much the same thing ever since.
BSCI: Tell us what in your opinion makes a respectable writer?
Sacred: A respectable writer needs to crawl before they sprint. They must respect what came before them. They need to be resourceful. They need to be productive. They can’t be a biter. They have to begin by painting shit without permission. They have a strong foundation of letters, simple or wild. They paint clean, illegal or legal. They have a good sense of color. They NEVER rat anyone out. They don’t talk unnecessary shit.
BSCI: Other than graff, what are you passionate about?
Sacred: For me graff gets lumped in with my art. That’s what I’m most passionate about. I have many other interests but I lack the same kind of passion in them. Food, music, basketball and design are a few examples.
BSCI: Any inspirations out side of the graff world?
Sacred: I’m open-minded so I can draw inspiration from all types of sources. Social interaction, nature, various arts, geometry.. just about anything really.
BSCI: What is Indy famous for? Anything you would recommend eating or seeing out there?
Sacred: Probably most famous for the Indianapolis500. The snake pit there might be more famous. Elvis performed his last concert here. The Colts get a lot of attention. Gencon, Ribfest, brewfests, food fests, art fests, concerts, first fridays gallery openings… a bit of everything but nothing going on all the time. We got some good museums. Good micro breweries (Sun King’s Grapefruit Jungle IPA and Osiris Pale Ale are tasty). Eating is all over the place but not consistent. My favorites are Thai Papaya on the nw side… Taste in south Broad Ripple has gourmet sandwiches that are good but everything is pricey… super nice tacos at this mexican grocery store in Fountain Square(thanks GRAWER!)… West Coast Tacos food truck co-owned by DJ SONIC has dope korean tacos… Some Guys, Bazbeaux, Bebop, Noble Romans (W. 10th St.only!) and Jockamo all have great pizza.
BSCI: What is the most appealing aspect of graff to you?
Sacred: Maybe scale. I make a lot of art and I don’t really work larger than when i’m painting a piece or a production. I like that it keeps me moving. Sitting down while designing or drawing or brush painting gets boring to me after awhile. Another important aspect is freedom. It’s great to be able to do it at any given moment with or without permission. And you do it the way you want to.. not what your boss or a client thinks.
BSCI: Anybody out there you don’t know personally that you would love to paint with and why?
Sacred: There’s tons of them.. but one that comes to mind quickly is GIANT. Always a big fan and an influence early on. Characters, letters, fills… he has it all.
BSCI: Street art, how do you feel about this movement.
Sacred: I like it when it’s thoughtful. I don’t like it when it’s just mere repetition of a meaningless object.. especially if it’s not their image to begin with.
BSCI: Everyone has a good story. Please share one with us. Graff or non graff related.
Sacred: 6CENTS, NEMASIS and I were all painting a bridge on a very rainy easter sunday. We noticed some guy in a rain suit walking his dog but we didn’t think anything of it. We just finished smoking a blunt when this cop comes walking down the embankment.. soaked from the rain. Apparently someone called in (probably the fucker walking his dog) and reported that gang members were painting this bridge. The odds were definitely against us.. we had weed, we smelled like weed, had tons of painting evidence, and this cop is soaked from the rain so he’s probably pissed he had to come check it out. First thing he said is, “This doesn’t look like gang graffiti.” We bullshitted with him for a minute and he said he didn’t see any problems there and told us to keep painting. He didn’t check our ID’s or nothing. That would’ve been weird enough, but a minute later after he walked back up the hill, he grabs his partner (this old school white cop) to stand in the rain at the top of the hill with him and praise our work. He yelled out, “Looks good guys!” and gave us a thumbs up. We just laughed (confused as hell) and kept painting… weird.
BSCI: Are you a big WU fan? If yes, who do you like better Ghost or Rae?
Sacred: Not a big fan but I was definitely into them back in the day. Raekwon definitely takes the title for me though. I think he’s better now than ever.
BSCI: Any regrets in this graff game?
Sacred: Not taking my own advice and crawling before trying to sprint. I was always trying to go wild or creative before I really understood my letters. It took me years to get decent and my process was definitely backwards. That’s all though.. I don’t regret anything else.
BSCI: Any shout outs, call outs, things you would like to put out there?
Sacred: Big shouts go to 6CENTS, CREPE, DETOUR, NEMASIS, DOS1, WRUK, ISH, FLEX, TRAZ, TIMBER, FATIGUE, EXHAUST, LIKE, RAPES, GAMBLE, ENIME, ARIZE, OMEN74, DARK, MINES, TAZER and MACHETE. Much love to my crews IWS, FAB, RTD and CISA. Much respect to many other crews including DF, ATT, MUL, MFK, FST, BID, SYW, BY, ACT, TAC, MOC, CT, PC and ELUSIVE.
BSCI: Sacred, thank you for your time homie. Much love.
