unleashing his wrath on a myriad of U.S. cities for over a decade, revok is the quintessential urban artist at the dawn of the 21st century. the tales of his exploits have reached cult status within the graffiti world and he is arguably considered one of the most prolific practitioners in the genre. with a revolving door of style, he has left an indelible mark on los angeles, san francisco, and atlanta, not to mention dropping gems in 20 other U.S. cities,tokyo and europe. his skills have helped clients that include Toyota, MGM, HBO, Dickies, RedBull and several recording artists.
in the early 90 awakens an interest in drawing and painting in his darker side. discovering the graffiti and making it an incurable illness, painting without pause in a hectic rush so far today. his influences were taken from the skateboard, japanese cartoons, star wars, style wars, marvel supervillain ...
in a career without a break, he has developed a lethal wild style and has made him colors and shapes fill half the planet earth: spain, france, germany, switzerland, italy, greece, united kingdom, poland, belgium, holland, U.S.
at present his main interest is to continue shaping his style.
SMASH137 was born 1979 in basel, switzerland. with the tender age of 11 he began to established first contacts with the spray can. after some time in 1997 he finished his first SMASH137 - piece. after his getting up in the basel graffiti scene with dozens of pieces on the famous "basler line", followed the international arena, which he conquered in a short time.
SMASH137 layed a considerable graffiti career. today, he exhibits his work in various galleries all over the world while he is still active on the streets. he is a member of the prestigious basel crew "got the key" short "GTK". in 2002 he became a member the "montana writer team" in which he realizeshis artwork in addition to ATOM, CANTWO and KlarkKent. since 2004 SMASH137 works as a freelance artist in Basel and Barcelona.
a-team: a lot of things...we started with friends, the idea of making something new, at first. after that it started getting interesting, the idea of getting your name everywhere, you start to catch new things from all over, you see more and more of it, meet new people. you get ot travel a lot, "exporting your name", getting a real pleasure in being noticed and appreciated. the best thing is that you always have to outrun yourself, break your limits and to get to love the rush. all in all, only good things.
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
a-team: having much more than we have now and doing so much more than we do now.
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
a-team: the important thing is to try everything and be the best at it. how can you dislike street bombing, tagging, doing subways? it`s all about graffiti. yes, indeed, you can't compare the feeling of a legal-piece with the subway rush.
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
a-team: there are contests where you can go and contests that you`d like to go. this one is such a MUST...
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
bask: fame and the need to drop my view on the world back then.
sofie: drawing and art were a big part of my life since i was a little kid, i always remeber myself drawing something, sometimes only to do something with my hands while i speak on the phone or work etc. when i was a stupid teenager, 2 skinny guys gave me beer and started talking about graffiti.what more can a teenager want(besides sex, skiping school, booze and the classic teenage basic needs)? something new, adrenaline, the fact that it's actually illegal only makes it seem better! so bang. it started, and it became part of my life.
mr.suez: I don’t really know what got me into graffiti in the first place - most likely friends - and now I’m doing it for the love of the movement.
nasty shao: back in the days it was just for fun, now it’s in my blood.
diego137: competition. I had a guy in school and i used to fight with him over "who was the better artist" so i practiced to get better.it was not about graffiti then. it was about cars, girls tatoos and so on. one day he showed me a "SEEN" whole car. I was impressed and a new world opened for me. I started to notice tags, bombs, everything. then I started to connect with people. it was all for the rush and doing stupid things back then. now i'm into the artsy part of it so i try to study my shit then paint it.
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
bask: an architect, still painting for the love of it
sofie: I have absolutely no clue. but the thing i know won't happen is me gving up on my life (100%) for an average life: normal job, housband, kids etc. i wish to find the balance to have them all.
mr.suez: I don’t know. 10 years it’s a lot of time, too much to say.
nasty shao: a well known designer with a big account in Switzerland.
diego137: " wanna be a billionaire so fucking bad..." and i hope my design thing will work out!
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
bask: all of it, though jams come with the parties.
sofie: I prefer abandoned buildings, isolated places and far away places .
mr.suez: jams, streets and rooftops.
nasty shao: all of them.
diego137: I prefer jams, legal walls, chill places where i can listen to my music and sit all day thinking what's wrong with my piece
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
bask: well, to see the PBD in live action :))
sofie:because it's a nice opportunity to hang out with your team mates and do something nice together, get more experience, have fun, meet new people!
mr.suez: because it’s a good place for us to meet, to trade experiences, to see friends from other cities, it’s a place for us where we can enjoy in peace what we love to do.
nasty shao: to show everybody their skills and have some fun.
diego137: this jam is like a big cocktail. we got infamous writers from the most important scenes in the world, we got the dopest street-artists and designers, we got local peeps who want to make themselfs heard. bikes crazy filthy dubstep and the best local hip-hop. WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
bask: peace and FTP!
sofie: just be yourselves and don't forget to have fun, let the best win!
mr.suez: see ya there!
nasty shao: first of all it’s a contest, so everybody wants to win, but in the end only one can take the gold.
g.criminals: seeing the city walls painted in different colours and styles... the subways the same... we were amazed and everything inspired us!
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
g.criminals: it`s hard to say now because we see a lot of guys that we used to paint with a few years ago leaving the scene. we can`t tell what will happen in 10 yrs, but this we can tell for sure: as long as we`re in the game, we`ll just keep on bombing everything. we hope to have the motivation to go on for as long as it takes.
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
g.criminals: hmmm... jams and legal contests are like the Champions League of graffiti. after a year of painting subways, street, rooftops and tagging comes along this time of the year with events which select the most active and prolific crews in the whole country. so we paint all of the above but mostly we like to paint metal (subway / train / tram)!
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
g.criminals: to see us (laughing)! seriously now, people should come to street heroes to see some of the best artists, to have fun and it`s also a great opportunity to chill with your friends.
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
lts: what got us into graffiti was just a mad moment when we discovered few walls in some pics, at that time with really small access... then we thought that we can try to do it better... so that's how the story started and continued
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
lts: in 10 years we see ourselves in the same bodies, doing the same things and if not, we will kick it in a great place for sure
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
lts: we mostly preffer street bombin, it helps you in getting faster and it’s a good practice for can control
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
lts: the citizens of this city never met such important mix of international artists in their hometown and it's good for their mental health to come, feel the music, the vibe, to watch artists concepts,and take a break of bucarest/romania routine...mainly to get relaxed in a different way!
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
5five'o: graffiti is a way of life, we speak graffiti, we breathe graffiti, we eat graffiti. when we go to bed, we dream about graffiti. we all got into it in the late 90's and since then, none of us has dropped out. it`s all about getting paint on your hands and disconnect from the world and the system. it`s you and the wall, it`s all about communication and the wall is the mouth that you speak through to the entire world.
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
5five'o: probably, graffiti will follow us even in the 10yrs, but no one knows in what form. some of us might go on the graffiti way of street-art, deisgn, architecture, some might even exibit their works. it`s hard to predict the future, we shall see where we`ll be.
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
5five'o: when you say graffiti you have to think of it like a tree. trees have branches and the branches sweet fruits. the fruits of the "graffiti tree" tast different and you have to try every one of them. so we think we`ll go for the entire package, just for the taste mixture.
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
5five'o: because of all the graffiti artists, bmx riders, skaters, b-boys and b-girls. they are the real heroes a city can have. and what do heroes do? THEY KICK ASS! so if you want to fight along them, be a sidekick and later become yourself a streehero, this is the place to be this summer. plus, you can learnsome trick and tips from the big boys.
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
sãracii: our parents forced us into it...they were like: "YO! you got to do something with your life other than being a silly, low paid doctor! you know it`s a sick world out there, be a part of it!" so, since we were good chaps, we all conformed. the rest is history.
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
sãracii: can anybody forsee the future? we can't!
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
sãracii: it`s all good when all is good.
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
sãracii: we're in it for the game, not for the fame. and, come'on...just look at the jury!
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
sãracii: less cuts, more steez puh'leeze! we love you and we`re all winners. safe!
sunscreen: love for the streets, love for the abandoned places, love for the culture. the devil made us love those nasty hamburgers and spray-painting.
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
sunscreen: working in the porn industry and producing nanochips for 3rd world countries black markets. maybe also writing some messages from teh future.
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
sunscreen: love them all as long as there is no stress, no police, no drugs (?!)
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
sunscreen: so they can enjoy the summer breeze, exchange fluids and opinions and listen to r'n'b music / nice vibes.
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
ln: well, we made a lot of friends. the drawings aren't important anymore because we had a hell of a good time. lots and lots of moments. we met many people with which we were able to share our thoughts and our passion for spray-painting. we just loved to do this ever-since.
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
ln: we don`t even know what we will do 10 minutes from now, much less 10yrs. hope we will be far-far away from Romania, close to our crews.
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
ln: we like everything. if we had the cans, we would paint anywhere and anyplace. a true graffiti artist has to paint everything and anything. we do that, but we preffer the risky part of graffiti.
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
ln: people should come to StreetHeroes because, here in Romania, people tend to organize stupid events in which you have to apint over stupid-given themes and other cheap stuff like that. StreetHeroes is more than that: everything is very well organized, it`s a huge event and the competition is massive!
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
rsh: the pleasure in painting illegally as a fight against the system. perhaps maybe for the fame, to see our names everywhere, maybe for the fun of it...all in all, graffiti is a fun crime after all.
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
rsh: family...kids...but still doing our jobs on the streets.
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
rsh: right now we preffer jams and legal walls because we have had enough running from cops and workers, all this for a panel that got buffed the next day. but this is not the end to our panel collection.
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
rsh: first of all, for the fun of it. to relax, to chill..there's too much strees in the air. people don`t know that StreetHeroes is the biggest event Romania had so far. you`ve got to take part in thsi because we`ll re-write history! graff-history! and in the end people should come to see us because we all are the fucking Romanian SuperHeroes!!!
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
scm: perhaps the need of showing people that you exist and because we thought it was fun.
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
scm: that`s a tricky question. we can`t tell what we're going to do today or where we're going to be.
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
scm: you have to di it all... graffiti ain`t only about trains or tagging. you can't call yourself a writer if you don't do them all. everything has it's own purpose in the graff-business.
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
scm: because it will be the biggest festival in Eastern Europe and because you'll see the best performers in the business.
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
scm: try to keep it real and paint as much and as long as possible. PEACE!
thefreshmakers: peace, love, unity and havin' fun.
streetheroes: where do you see yourself in 10yrs time?
thefreshmakers: same hommies painting a wall in the backyard, drinking beer and a lot of young kids around. in a nutshell, playing the same game but on a different level.
streetheroes: what do you prefer the most? (ex.: jams, legal walls, subways, street, rooftops, etc.)
thefreshmakers: living the graffiti way you have to love them all. for each of them is a right time and a right place to do it.
streetheroes: why should people come and take part in street heroes event?
thefreshmakers: "it`s like a jungle sometimes...!". you need to be a fucking hero to live in the streets these days.
streetheroes: a brief message to the other contestants?
thefreshmakers: for white walls, use TheFreshmakers!
