Rocket01 interview
Here we catch up with Rocket01 from Sheffield, well known for his characters and attention to detail...
What inspired you to start graffiti?
I was really into rap at school, and I had allways been drawing all my life, stuff like characters and that. Graffiti just seemed to fit snuggly in to who I was and what I was into, so I just got cracking. There was no graffiti where I lived, I was my own mentor.. When I was young graffiti just seemed so cool, I had heard of Fist and Mist and I liked the sound of their names. I almost feel that graffiti was just meant to be for me, I like it that way.
What was your first ever memory of graffiti?
Catching the train with my mother to Barnsley and Sheffield, flashing past mad colours and twisted faces at high speed felt great. Graffiti seemed something mean and nasty, serious and fun. Graffiti allways seemed to be in dirty hidden places wher your parents told you people did such things as 'take drugs'. Seeing graffiti like this, Is contradictory to the 'popular' view that graffiti is 'only' put in highly illegal places in which people can clearly see it. I wondered 'why' they did it?
Who were the biggest writers both locally and nationally when you first started?
I knew no writers when I started, but I began to learn that locally, Mist, Fist, Ask, Dial, where the top boys. I didnt know of any niational writers until I went to college after school and used the internet for the first time I leant about the skills of, Part 2, Mode 2, and Astek.
Who are your top 3 writers?
Daim, Maclaim and Sune.
Where is your favourite spot to paint?
The spots I paint are changing all the time, There is a shortage of good spots for me locally, I travel a lot. My favourite type of spot to paint though are hidden spots, places of decay and neglect. I Like old factories and old railways, my graff started along the Trans pennine trail. What I like about these places is the behave like wild gardens, starting off, slowly but surely and growning into huge colouyrfull plants of mad colours and styles. The writers who are painting these spots are painting for them selves and for other writers and for Graffiti. We as writers can claim these spots as our own and commune there.
Factories can sometimes offer 'surprise surfaces' that can be interesting to paint, for example, tiles or toilets,or machinery parts. If its concrete, overgrown and surrounded by greenery thats how I like it.
Rocket - Sheffield 2007.
How has graffiti changed from when you first started?
The rules of graffiti were slightly more respected, The internet is now a major part of graffiti. I have also seen trends in styles come and go. It also seems a bit easier for new writers to drop decent looking pices, maybe its paint quality? or internet influence? or something else.
How do you feel about the Internet and graffiti?
I think the internet is a great thing and is inevitably, the way forward. Styles have spread world wide, we as writers are now all connected, and can communicate and organise with ease. The net has helped the huge boom in graffiti. This has established graffiti as a self supportive culture that is doing well for itself. And I am all for it!
If you could change something about the whole graffiti scene what would it be?
I don`t like the negativity of some writers. Peoples attitudes need to change. People are too strict about what is, and whats not, who is, and who's not. Narrow mindedness goes against what graffiti truly is. Graffiti behaves almost like an organism adapting to its enviroment in order to survive, whether that enviroment is a train, a wall, or a gallery. Its such a free flowing thing filled with positivity. Graffiti is about creation not destruction.
Any advice for up and coming writers?
Get sketching. Learn about flow and understand style. Fancy fuills are easy to do, a bit like finger prints, all different but very similar. Stand out and be original. Learn bout the rules of graffiti, have respect and be polite. Be true to your roots, dont follow some one elses ideas. Think carefully about where you put up your graff, think long term! Above all have fun stay and positive.
Ever found yourself in tricky situations? Police etc?
Yes I have a few times, I have never been done for graffiti. If a 'tricky situation' arrises I would say to be calm, and try to talk your way out of it in a polite fashion, This has worked for me many times, (it is actually an art form in itself haha).
What do you plan to do next? More walls, canvases, commissions?
Definatly more walls. However I will be doing more canvas and commisions also. I want to paint more walls locally, but need more spots!
I still feel like I am at the beginning of my graffiti life, and I have a long way to go. So I am just gonna keep painting and rocking styles, characters, letters, backgrounds, and pieces thats what I love. Thats my buzz!
Rocket - Sheffield 2007.