ESQUE PDB, KOG – Interview

SAC: What do you write?
ESQUE: ESQUE

SAC: What crews do you push and what are their underlying meanings?
ESQUE: PDB, KOG, Pros Don’t Boast, Knights Of Glory

SAC: How did you come up with your name and what’s the meaning behind it?
ESQUE: ‘Esque’ amounted from a 9-day crack binge strictly devoted to getting a solid new name when I moved to LA in 2001.

SAC: When did you start and how did you get into the graff game?
ESQUE: I was always intrigued with graffiti when I was youngster. When I was 14 picked up the first issue of the Los Angeles magazine ‘Bigtime’. I was hooked, but didn’t know the first thing about graff. I didn’t have some older brother or older friends already in it, and growing up just over an hour south of LA you don’t see too much shit. I started writing with paint when I was 15, that was early 97.

SAC: What are your reasons behind doing graffiti? (i.e. fame, fun, bitches, etc.)
ESQUE: I trip on this all the time. Graffiti is some seriously some deep shit if you analyze it enough. Its fucking wild how such a hated movement in which no one who doesn’t participate understands, can be so complicated. But if you look at the bigger picture, there is no difference between this constantly developing construction and deconstruction of letters/form and say, Cubism, which is a ‘respected’ movement. Graffiti is so pure though. There is no money involved, or gallery/curator pull. No artist statements, no one but the writers. This shit is fucking free. No bullshit. What you see is what you get, ya know? Cut and dry. No tricks or conceptual drone needed to explain the work you make. If the art critics and high-end art connoisseurs actually understood what has happened in the last 5-7 years with the evolution of letter structure and form, they would fucking quit their day jobs and document everything we do. On and off the streets.

Serious shit.  RUET and myself zone out all the time about the constantly changing idea of what is ‘next’, and where things are going. Analytical down to the smallest, sickest little cut, or the way an outline or border blows-out in a certain spot by accident, but works perfect, or the way some area is left unfinished, and wouldn’t be as hard if it was finished…I could go on for a while about this shit…

SAC: Who or what are your influences in terms of where your style is derived from?
ESQUE: Any writer is lying out their teeth to say their shit is absolutely, completely original without any outside influence. That’s all part of the beauty of this game, watching and seeing what other writers are doing, the competition. I see shit all the time that gets me going. When I was starting out, I really dug FOKIS TVC when he was doing those large geometric shapes, it was different approach and executed well… I always liked ZESER’s shit.

The aesthetic to his bombs is very on point. You see the movement, not just in the shape of his letters, but in the way he paints. A large percent of experienced writers couldn’t pull this off if they tried. I would also say a large inspiration for me would be my crews. Were constantly bumping off each other’s shit.

SAC: If you had to choose one and only one, would it be Quality or Quantity and why?
ESQUE: They’re equally as important. I’m not all city, and very few writers are. I do what I do when I feel like doing it. Simply put, I’m not trying to impress anyone. I do this shit for myself. But I believe if you aint crushing hard, when you get up to a wall, whether it be in some yard or some streetside spot, you best burn it to shit.

SAC: What’s your best surface to paint?
ESQUE: Give me good Los Angeles summer night, some rusty motherfuckin steel gate, 3 flat whites, and a 3 semiflat blacks and I’m loving every moment…

SAC: How do you feel about the documentation of graffiti on the internet and the aspects involved with it such as internet fame?
ESQUE: Its good to see an up-to-date reflection of what’s going on throughout the country or even world, and the internet makes this extremely easy. But at the same time, it creates some serious nonsense. People hide behind screennames and throw in their two cents on every last bit of everything. Who’s got time for that shit except 16 year olds still ridin on they mamas dime.

SAC: What is your definition of “All City”?
ESQUE: HAELER & COLT.45 murdered westside to the eastside, FISHE KOG (I see that fucker up every time I leave the house), been seeing SUFER CA up a lot these days.

“My parents were pumped I’m sure. Seein’ their kid get tackled by gun drawn coppers at 2am Christmas night.” – ESQUE

SAC: Who are some of the most slept-on writers putting in work lately?
ESQUE: EWSOE PDB, HUERO AL, TRAV IBD, VERSUS KOG, RUGER, HINDU GTB, MIZE, SETUP KCW, CRAE K4P, ENGINE MVP from Canada, (don’t know if they all are slept on, but they all dope n putting in work)

SAC: Which brand of paint do you prefer using and why?
ESQUE: I like everything for different reasons…when going out at night I just tend to stock up on cheap America’s Finest black and whites, and doing a wall I like to have Krylon and a maybe a few Belton’s to give it a little punch… But I’ll be honest, I’m not much interested in color or fills, and although I’ll do color shit sometimes, I much prefer no color.

SAC: Rack or Buy?
ESQUE: If you can afford to buy something without breaking your wallet, buy it. If you’re broke, rack. I got ways of making my odds & ends, so I buy my shit. When I first started, I had a job at the arts & crafts store Michaels, and I would go in the back, grab boxes of Krylon and load em into the back of my car when it got dark… get home and would stockpile a whole arsenal of free paint under my bed. I wasn’t making much money at the time, so shit.
You do what you do. I’m not about catching cases for 30 bucks worth of spraypaint. If you get rolled up doing some shit, it should be worth it.

SAC: Any memorable or crazy missions you would like to share with us?
ESQUE: Christmas Night 1999. After layin low with the fam all day I tell my parents I’m going to go head over to my girls house. I pack up my bag and head out. Now being 17, you don’t got the sharpest wits when it comes to this shit. I went to go hit this spot that was overlooking the freeway.

Being that it would have been a serious mission to park far and get there by foot, I decided to park about 20 feet from where I was painting (keep in mind my car is the only car in this whole lot). I get about 15 minutes into my shit, and I look over and in-between the fence and the wall, 10 feet from where I am, is some burley motherfucker with a gun drawn. Its dark as fuck, and without even thinking I bolt down this steep, wet hill busting my shins wide open on metal sprinklers and tripping over weeds and trees, but I get away. Soon to obviously realize it don’t matter, considering my car is right there. I get into stealth mode and creep up so I can see what’s going on over there to find 4 cop cars around my car, and about 10 minutes later, my fucking parents pull up. At this point I say Fuck It, and crawl out of these bushes, bloody ass legs, and this woman cop screams at me to put my hands up while this other fool rushes me. My parents were pumped I’m sure. Seein’ their kid get tackled by gun drawn coppers at 2am Christmas night. There was a security guard on duty that called the cops and they got me from the license plate, and called the residence where it was registered, resulting in my parents showing up. Fuck the world. Merry Christmas Mom. The next morning she found all my flicks, and shredded them in a document shredder.

Hectic shit. Another account, the first time I was ever bombing a spot with some friends, we got chased by them 50s with they’re car light on us, I book it, my homies freeze up and stay put like a deer in headlights, I get away, and crawl in these thorny thick bushes literally all fucking night thinking there was a team of cops looking for my ass, I carefully crawl out in the morning, and walk back to this kids house to find my boys passed out all comfortably. Turns out the cop let them go.

SAC: Best place(s) you’ve ever painted?
ESQUE: Strolling on foot aside any Los Angeles freeway in the dead hours of night will humble anyone. The city can speak to you. I am constantly grateful for the shit I see as a writer, that no one else gets to experience. Surreal shit.
I also painted in Hamburg, Germany in the summer of 2002. Graffiti is really accepted out there. It was a good time. I was traveling with a good friend of mine and saw this kid painting this area. I ask him what’s up with doing a wall, and he says we have to go with him to see this lady they called the ‘Graffiti Mama’. He takes us through all these corridors and cuts, and we arrive in this room with about 8-10 Germans in their 20’s and this big ass fat lady with a stache and a blazin mole comin out of her chin. These were the quickest talking motherfuckers I have ever heard. Think of the movie, Snach. No joke. So everyone is rapidly yip-yapping their jaws for a good 15 minutes not even acknowledging me and my buddy even once. It was honestly like we weren’t even there. Me and him are lookin at each other like, ‘What the fuck is going on here’, I didn’t even know if this kid was going to ask this lady if I could paint. Finally after several more minutes of mind numbing cackle, he apparently asks, and she just waves her hand and shakes us off, nodding her head yes. To this day I still wonder what those fucking Germans were talking about.

SAC: What are your Top 5 Colors?
ESQUE: Earth Tones done the right way.

SAC: Who are the Top 5 Bombers of all time?
ESQUE: I’m real knowledgeable about what’s going on in most major US cities, but what I’ve seen with my own eyes has the most impact, and I have lived in Los Angeles since ’01, so I would say REVOK is a machine, DREYE is a fucking Killer. Landmark king. Bombing with that kid is seriously some next level shit. Fucking mile long trekking down freeway cuts in the strangest hours of the night, climbing everything like a cat, up a roof, catch tags, down on the other side, walk 20 feet, climb up the next roof, catch tags, climb down other side, walk 20 feet, next roof…etc etc.. FISHE is all over, tags everywhere.  HAEL and COLT.45 crushed too. For those of you who didn’t see the 405 freeway when it was being redone in ‘04, it was MADNESS… CRAE K4P also gets down, ZES..Outside of LA, MQ, SACE, SKREW, ABHOR…killers

SAC: What has being a graf writer done for you so far?
ESQUE: Some of these writers talk about getting laid cuz of this shit.  That’s good for them, but shit man, the girls I’ve dated or fucked over the last few years thought graffiti was some adolescent hobby only done by 15 year olds with graff on their T-Shirts. Take the concept of being on top a roof for example; They never understood grown men going out late at night, crawling through some dirty ass bumfort, and painting a nickname atop some rooftop, getting spotted, and running from a police helicopter. But hey, I never understood the women I’d hang out with wanting to go sunbathe themselves next to a pool on some fucking expensive hotel rooftop in West Hollywood/Beverly Hills.

SAC: What is your advice to the new jacks that want to get into the graf game?
ESQUE: Graffiti chooses you. You don’t choose graffiti. If you don’t feel this way, quit. If you aren’t willing to waste a serious amount of time contemplating why a letter works or why it doesn’t, quit. Learn to do solid simple letters before you do anything even halfway complex. Make up your own shit, and do it in strategic places so people will know it’s yours. Also, I hate throwing this in but feel compelled, get a good name. You can be the best on your block but if you got some name like DISR or MESAK, your shit will not look good, go back to the drawing board. And last but not least, know what others have done (or are doing) as far as letter structure is concerned. Know what people’s styles are. Know where you fit into the grander scheme of it all. Know what’s going on in other cities.

SAC: Where do you see yourself in the game 15 years from now?
ESQUE: 15 years? Shit, I’ll be honest with you folks; I don’t know where I’m going to be in 6 months let alone 15 years. Not that I don’t love it, but these days ive been real busy. Ive got some good things in the works. I’ll say it again, this isn’t about impressing anybody else, you got to have your ‘life shit’ in line. Get a balance that works for you.

SAC: Any thanks or shout-outs?
ESQUE: The legendary ARCOHOLIC, RUETS, SPURN, EWSOE, FISHE, DRIE, ARBY, HUERO, SLOTH, HABOH, REGIS, STAE, etc etc…GOER NC OSD, COBRA KUK, big SWINER, Lost Cause Mikey, my 7th grade PE teacher, Baby Jesus, Black Sabbath, Boesha Watson (I still love you baby!), the man in black, Snoop Dogg, Fidel Castro, mexican beer, Owen Wilson, Gustav Klimt, Jim Morrison, Devendra Banhart, gangster rap, psychedelic folk, death metal, the PDB KOG FAMILIES, and skateallcities.com. Live Lively.

JELOE VX, CF – Interview

We are going out of town for a little bit so during the meantime we’ll be leaking out throwback interviews that we had lying around in our Web Forum for the next couple of days until we settle in and have computer access to start blogging again.  Stay tuned on where we’re going to be at, or better yet just follow us on TWITTER since it’s easier for us to update that on a whim rather than sitting down and uploading pictures and blogging, etc.

If you’ve been following our website since the beginning, then you should already know that the Web Forum started waaaaay before this blog did and we use to do these interviews of writers (and skaters) entitled the “Cross Examination” interviews.  Here’s one with JELOE from San Francisco that not alot of people had an opportunity to check out if you weren’t a registered member in our forum.

On another note we’re going to get back on track with dishing out some newer interviews of upcoming heads in the near future so stay tuned with that.

SAC: What do you write?
JELOE: Jeloe

SAC: What crews do you push and what are their underlying meanings?
JELOE: I don’t really push any crews that hard but I am in a few. VX (Vandals Multiply) and CF (Cat Fuckers)

SAC: How did you come up with your name and what’s the meaning behind it?
JELOE: It is 5 letters I liked that I took from various other names I wrote as I was starting out. Theres no real meaning, although it is a pretty goofy name much like my personality. I suppose my name and my style are alot like me.. Sort of like people match their dogs. You know?

SAC: When did you start and how did you get into the graff game?
JELOE: I started getting into graff in the 80’s in terms of paying attention to it. By 1989 I was starting junior high and I was meeting alot of new kids from all over the bay area who were already into graff. My first tag was Gaffle which was given to me by a kid who sat next to me in history class. Shortly after I got a copy Subway Art and it was over from there. I suppose my story is much like every other writer in terms of how I started.

SAC: What are your reasons behind doing graffiti?
JELOE: I like the challenge of it. I like the climbing running hiding lying dodging sneaking breaking entering trespassing racking drinking drugs traveling etc. I like the process of doing graffiti, the lifestyle, more than anything else. I cant imagine my life being any other way. Im not a hip hop “keepin it real” kind of kid “trying to express myself.” I just like fuckin shit up around the world. Plain and simple.

SAC: Who or what are your influences in terms of where your style is derived from?
JELOE: My stlyes are a combination of many people places and times I have been exposed to. Mostly the style I have always been into was the simple readable type of graffiti with a little flair here and there. Ghost Sento Reas to name a few. In terms of the way I came up thinking graff should be I suppose is derived from the early 90’s graff done in San Francisco. It was simple 2-3 color pieces done on the streets. I came up paying attention to people like Aqua Jade Isee Blis Atom Sect Twist Amaze Grey Giant etc etc. While tags and throwups were certainly never ignored by any of these people they mainly were into the simple pieces ground level. The city as known for that. I miss those days. So really, I guess thats why I do what I do.

SAC: If you had to choose one and only one, would it be Quality or Quantity and why?
JELOE: Well they are both equally important but if my option is to pick one I would say quantity. My reasons behind that are simple. Graffiti is a name game where repetition counts. If you have one dope piece running and thats it maybe youll have a 2 person fan club. However, if you have a thousand sloppy tags spread out all over the city you will be known. People might talk shit about your stuff but at least your name is in their mouth. At that point your job is that much closer to being done. Now go develop that quality!

SAC: Whats your best surface to paint?
JELOE: I like metal and glass. Go figure that is what passenger trains are comprised of. They cover flawlessly and as fast as possible. Its perfect.

SAC: How do you feel about the documentation of graffiti on the internet and the aspects involved with it such as internet fame?
JELOE: Again, its all a name game. The internet is just another medium for that. In regards to internet fame its simple. Sure you can be internet famous only but people in the cities across the world know if they have really ever seen your stuff or whether they saw the 1000 pics of legal walls and your parents basement that you post on 12 oz prophet. The streets dont lie, they just dont always tell you want you want to hear.

“The streets dont lie, they just dont always tell you want you want to hear.” – JELOE

SAC: What is your definition of All City?
JELOE: I cant say I have ever done it. A massive amount of tags/throwups/pieces whatever in every part of the city. To add another twist to that with the amount people are traveling for graff these days it seems possible that there are people who are all state/coast/country/world. In the 20+countries and numerous US cities I have painted I can say there’s people killing it world wide. Its a dope idea.

SAC: Who are some of the most slept-on writers putting in work lately?
JELOE: Shit man that’s a good question. I would say there alot of european writers really killing it over there that arent known too well here. Its a shame. There’s some really seriously dope styles coming out of the rest of the world that are making me reconsider the same old same old shit i see here. It gets me pumped to do shit again. People like Siege, Cept and Petro from London, Kegr from Denmark, Gorey and Fake from Paris, Remio from Norway, Rilo from Sweden.. Yes DEFINITELY Rilo. Hes so sick.. The list goes on but that’s a few of the people I am looking at these days.

SAC: Which brand of paint do you prefer using and why?
JELOE: I dont care really. I mean I cant dispute the quality of the euro paints like Belton or Montana or the domestic classics like Rusto but really I will use anything to fill in with and then outline with a decent can. I’m set with that.

SAC: Rack or Buy?
JELOE: Rack whenever possible but since its not sometimes you gotta buy it. Whatever. I’m not hardcore thug nor do I pretend to be. Sometimes its not possible to push a cart out the front door of your local hardware store so you gotta make due if you want the spot. Such is life.

SAC: Any memorable or crazy missions you would like to share with us?
JELOE: There are so many. I dont even know where to begin. Ive been shot at had dogs sent after me, had ribs broken, hidden for hours in bushes while cops look for me, helicopters follow me, had military police looking for us armed with machine guns and german sheppards after painting subways, been to jail, had other countries start files on me etc etc.. I am writing a book currently so when it comes out you can catch up on all the details.

SAC: Best place(s) youve ever painted?
JELOE: London subways/commuters. Im telling you, you havent painted until you get a wholecar done and see it rolling.

SAC: What are your Top 5 Colors?
JELOE: Greens Oranges Yellows Purples Blues

SAC: Who are the Top 5 Bombers of all time?
JELOE: I can see this question getting me in trouble. I will qualify my answer by saying my choices are what I have seen in person. Id say for quality, quantity and longevity it would have to be Mque, Tie, Adek, Oclock and Kegr. I mean I could go on and on but these people certainly deserve to be on any list for top bombers.

SAC: What has being a graf writer done for you so far?
JELOE: Gotten me in trouble, given me the confidence to get shit done, lead me to distant foreign lands, allowed me to meet people all over the world I wouldn’t have otherwise that are very good friends to me, given me a little fame here and there, exposed me to alot of shit I would rather not have been. Really though I wouldnt trade my life thus far for much. I am really happy where I am at and think graff has provided me with a foundation for a life full of creative ventures from here on out. Im far from done doing graff but even if I stopped now I think I have put a good dent in the graff world.

SAC: What is your advice to the new jacks that want to get into the graf game?
JELOE: Dont. Heh. I know they wont listen to me but really dont. Graff these days is a hard game to get ahead in. The punishments are retarded with jail and huge fines and its only getting worse. If you feel like you just have to do it and you can deal with the consequences then I say go for it. Just learn the basics first. You have to crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run. Get yourself a mentor to teach you a thing or two and before you know it youll be running marathons.

SAC: Where do you see yourself in the game 15 years from now?
JELOE: Writing books about my experiences. Maybe teaching classes somewhere about hustle-related topics with a spin on them to get them past the curriculum censors. Who knows. I just want to be alive and happy. So where ever I am I just hope for that.

SAC: Any thanks or shout-outs?
JELOE: I would like to thank everyone along the way who has helped me out by letting me stay with them, given me an outline, got me drunk or high, showed me a tip or two about getting shit done more efficiently or with more style, my parents for tolerating all my shit over the years, my friends, Ethan.

Clip Of The Week by Randy Chew (03/29/09)

110

HAELER x REVE (Not Shown) HOUR x RUETS x SOUP x GASH x RICKS x DREOS

HOURUETSOUP

GASH x RICKS x DREOS

Girlfriend In A Coma

Stop Me If You Think You’ve Seen This One Before

Veeco – Goleta, CA

Sometimes you hit up spots that could have been dope if only: certain things were in different places, the knob wasn’t there, security guard was on break, if there was cement instead of dirt, etc.  Well after a couple of years we revisited one of those spots and came up on one of the illest places to skate this past lazy (and windy) weekend!

Let me give you a brief history as to how this spot came about.  You see the 1st photo below with those chunky silver bars towards the left?  Well they were originally on some dirt patches and were NOT skateable for the past couple of years, but due to some construction that’s been going on in this building they are now skateable and MOVABLE (*GASP), but are mad heavy.  Could this be the new “Santa BarBERRICS” or “TF3″?

Veeco
112 Robin Hill Rd
Goleta, CA 93117-3107
Directions

Pablo & Meetch – Setting Up Shop

Meetch down below has been friends with the crew for quite some time now, and probably has the BIGGEST Heelflips in existence.  Comparable to Jeremy Wray back in the day.  If you don’t believe me then check out his VIMEO sponsor me video over HERE at the 1:09 mark.  He did want me to mention that the footage is old.

Meetch Green

Meetch – Frontside Noseslide

Pablo is also another buddy of ours that has been ripping it up (quietly) in the skateboarding industry for quite some time.  You might remember him from past Church Of Skatan videos as well as his recent PERMAVACTION episode over HERE.  (Peep the tricks that he handles in one day over the volcano at the Santa Barbara skatepark!)  He was on SUGAR for a while but is currently unsponsored and still ripping up the streets.

Pablo Favela

Pablo – Nollie Backlip

George Nagai – Special Guest DJ/Skater

Lifted Preparation

Adriano – VX2100

Filming Sucks

So does falling down…

Right around the corner of the building they even have more bars to skate, except these are yellow, squared, and did I mention, much taller?

Meetch – Frontside Noseslide

When we found out about the spot around the corner with the yellow bars we noticed that the ground was much smoother and thought that we should try to move one of the chunky, silver, grey bars over there.  Bad idea…

Movin’ Movin!

Poor Griptape

While we were busy setting up shop trying to place the bar onto smoother ground, Meetch decided to ollie this grass gap.

Meetch – Ollie

RICKS – Frontboards (Blindfolded)

After waiting for Pablo to get his line together with Adriano we all decided to play a bit of Skate Dice or should I say, “Skate Or Dice“?

George & Meetch

Somewhere over the rainbow…

The Word Is Out!

We still get all “giddy” inside like little high school girls doing their first line of coke when other blogs post up anything referencing back to our site.  Especially when it’s high-traffic and well known sites such as The Loss Prevention, Known Gallery, Juxtapoz, Upper Playground & CLOUT!  Here are a couple of screenshots of the websites mentioned earlier with our new Skate All Cities x Loss Prevention board collaboration.   Did I mention that they are also available through our ONLINE SHOP?  Yesir…

The Loss Prevention

Known Gallery

Juxtapoz

Upper Playground

CLOUT

Safe Spot – Los Angeles, CA

Just a couple of weeks ago, Rob Dyrdek opened up a skate plaza located out in Los Angeles, CA called the Lafayette Park Safe Spot Skate Spot (<— I know right?) aka “Safe Spot” for short.  From what I was told the “Safe Spot” isn’t actually opened as of yet, even though they did have the official grand opening back around February.  It’s actually right around the corner from the LA Superior Court on Commonwealth.  After deciding whether or not it was a bust, we didn’t care and stopped by to skate it anyways.

This spot is what a skatespot should be.  Smooth flatground combined with a variation of ledges, ledges, and well….more ledges!  There are also some stairs that have hubbas and rails to keep up with it’s variety, but honestly all you need to have in a real street spot are ledges and flatground.  That’s it.  Call me biased if you want.  If you decide to come skate here though make sure to bring your “patience” along with you because you will be running into kids left and ride guaranteed.  After your “patience” wears off and you need to chill out and take a break, you can always grab a bag of chips and some Arizona Iced Tea from the paisa that’s chillin near his refrigerated shopping cart just a couple of feet away.

Lafayette Safe Spot Skate Spot
625 South Lafayette Park Place
Los Angeles, CA 90057
Directions

Groms

Dr. Octagon – Frontside Nosegrind Pop-Out

Clip Of The Week by RICKS (03/22/09)