Toe Interview

Here is PaintingTheTown’s first ever interview with a writer you should all be familiar with, Toe007. If you havent seen his stuff then you have probably been living in a cave for the last ten years!

When did you start writing?

1998

Did anyone in particular get you into writing or were you particularly inspired by any writers when you started?

For sure, Wealz130 used to kill it on the False Bay, also the vegetable consciousness movement (vcm) used to get up a lot and made me really notice their work by always painting different vegetables around Hahaha. I had no inspiration from international writers until a much later date due to the extreme lack of books and magazines in the country. The first book I ever saw was Spraycan Art and I only came in contact with this 2 years after starting

How did you choose your tag?

Hahah lots of people have asked me this… It’s the extreme foot fetish I have with the ladies!

What is your favorite piece you have ever done?

Wow that’s really hard to say man, I really like the big Toe Enos we did in Saltriver. It was such a big accomplishment and especially at that time. That area was very hard to paint in so I’m surprised we finished. Also a one man WC I did that appears on Not Guilty 2 is also one of my favs!

Who are your three favorite South African writers?

This is very hard to say but at the moment, the active Cape Town writers, Cros, Disk and Sure.

Describe the craziest situation that you have been in as a result of graffiti?

Kraaifontein cage with Dek3, Enos and Disk: Getting chased into the cage and being fired at twice, managing to climb out over a signal pylon, running away from the cops into the neighbourhood, breaking into someone’s shower and sitting there for 2 hours to keep on the low down. It was the worst I’ve ever had to deal with, especially when the bathroom owner came in to brush his teeth… I kaked myself.

Style is something that is very subjective at times. How would you define really good style?

There are way too many styles for someone to judge a good style. At the end of the day it comes down to your preference, no writer can say to another writer he has bad style, especially since most writers in the SA scene don’t know where most of the styles come from. A lot of people on the internet put other writers down, and it’s normally these people that don’t know what style means or its origins.

You have travelled overseas on a few occasions, what do you think the SA graffiti scene lacks in comparison to other scenes?

Dedicated writers. Most writers here as soon as they get a job or girlfriend they stop writing which is bullshit. Even though my work gets fucking crazy at times I still manage to get out at least once a week… and this is very important!

Pick your three favorite international writers.

There are way more than 3 but I’m a big fan of the NT crew from the UK, namely Aroe, Omni and Anie. I really like Banos and Pubes, their stuff is always fresh and they have such an amazing fresh style!

You have also travelled to most major cities in South Africa. Excluding Cape Town which do you think is the most exciting scene and why?

Joburg! Its fucking huggggeee and super ghetto there are so many yards and places to paint, I love it!

Many locations around the world have developed their own styles or characteristics that are unique to that area. Do you think that the Cape Town graffiti scene has any elements which are unique?

No not at all… Some writers adapt an African influence and composition into their pieces and also in their surroundings of their photographs but at the end of the day the technique and over all concept is adapted from 1970’s New York subway train painting. Their pieces and characters still contain high lights backgrounds and second lines.

Biting is an accusation that is thrown around a lot in Cape Town. Where do you think the line between biting and just being influenced is?

Biting accusation is thrown around all over the world. I think style comes from somewhere; no writer just sits down and comes up with an original style, if he does its normally pretty bad! Using a style is one thing but biting letters directly from another writer is not a good thing! Everyone gets influence from somewhere and every style and letter has been done somewhere in the world before so its inevitable to adapt to a certain style more than others.

Paint is becoming more and more expensive, do you think this will change South African graffiti? If so, how?

I really don’t think so man, there are other places in the world where paint is way more expensive but the scene is still more active than SA. For example in Sau Paulo its roughly R80 a can. People use a lot of emulsion paint there, and eventually it will get like that here. With the increasing of the Euro against the Rand and the increase in our taxes and credit ratings things will definitely go up. Those who love painting… will make a plan!

What do you think of the role of the internet in South African graffiti? What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages?

Anything to promote a scene is a good thing. It helps get international interest and also national interest. The disadvantage for me is that I don’t like having all my stuff on the net. I like having photo’s for myself that no one else see’s. This has given me a fresh perspective though and I’ve found myself in some bizarre area’s doing my thing where no one else will ever find it.

What are your views on street art bearing in mind that it is has grown so rapidly in the last few years?

I’m not so much into the street art side of things myself. I prefer traditional graffiti, but anyone who is dedicated and goes out on a regular occasion does it for me. By street art it HAS to be on the streets, I don’t feel “street artists” who only have stuff in galleries, that’s not street art, get out there put your shit out there.

Do you think that you will ever stop bombing? Do you think there will be a time when you only do murals and commission walls?

No, I hope I never stop bombing. Lots of times I have thought about this, and I know in this country specifically you have a lot more to lose than painting in most parts of Europe. The stakes are much higher here that something very bad can happen to you so possibly when I’m a lot older and my life has changed I will stop. If it came down to it and all I could do was legal walls… I would quit. The thing driving graffiti is the illegal element. I don’t care what anyone says.. whats graffiti if its not illegal?!!!!!!!!!! I hate hearing how artists have “moved on and bettered their artistic involvement” etc etc. Its totally boring.

For those out there who are thinking of starting graffiti, what is your message to them? What do they need to learn and how should they approach it?

Start off slowly, come up with a tag you are happy with and start tagging! Once you have got your tag looking good and have put it up everywhere, come up with a throw up, put this everywhere and get this looking even better than your tag. Then from there start on block letters and evolve from there. Some kids come out trying to do wildstyle straight away or some crazy 3d stuff and it doesn’t work! Baby steps

Thanks very much… Anything you would like to add or shout outs?

Shout outs to everyone not capping each other!! Especially to Cros, Disk, Enos, Brush, Orio, Sure, Unik, Wealz and Faith47.