Stories about London, Culture & Creativity

This week I had Krek, TJ Dolan, who kindly came down from Manchester to visit the studio and have a chat. We’d never got to meet before and I have loved his work from the start, loads of style, courage, playfulness and colour in his work from his letters on steel and cement to his paintings on a variety of mediums.

It was great having him round, I learnt so much about him and loved the vibe he brought.

This is some of TJ Dolans culture and creativity story, enjoy..

This week, well last week I had this conversation with New Zealand graffiti stalwart Vents from RTR crew Auckland. We had a dope chat, me kinda chatting into the future as he’s 13hrs ahead. We cover loads, what it was like where he grew up, what the kind of graffiti he saw growing up and his first feelings of notoriety when he placed his first words on a wall and drawings on an arcade game. We talk about his route into painting, when the right time arose and the commitment he put to it. He tells us about some NZ history, the crews and paintings that were about, the name he started with, travelling and a story about London’s very own @meanpfb. It was a dope chat, a privilege. This is some of Vents RTR’s Auckland, culture and creativity story, check him @sub_automic whilst you listen, enjoy this is F24.

Hello and welcome back to the. F24 podcast.. my name is David and in what were normal times, I invited creatives over to my studio in north Acton to have a conversation about their lives and interactions with London, culture and creativity.

Currently though, we are on a world-wide lockdown, worldwide, an expectation for every human on the planet.. nuts!

So, I’m home, on my narrow boat luckily with a garden, just outside London. Painting in my makeshift studio that I’ve made under a tree where we keep our wood pile, wondering what the fuck happened and when will it be over whilst listening to podcasts and music, painting, walking the dogs and chilling with my partner. I can’t deny I miss my studio loads and am worried about my business, but these things are out of my hands for now so for now it’s the mantra, this too shall pass…

Given this time along with the rest of the world I’ve decided to push this podcast worldwide, everyone’s home so catch em now and have that conversation.. this week, not too far away, Elph from Edinburgh. I’ve been wanting to get Elph on for a while now and I was even up there last summer but I was with the family, a beautiful little town on the east coast of fife, it was hard to get away.. so, no better time than now.

Elph’s been at it since the mid-nineties and right from the start of seeing his pieces it was obvious he was a style master, constantly pushing his letter form and character style, his colour palette and shapes, he’s always stood out. It was dope getting some time with him on skype the other day, getting some of the back story, the how too and hearing about some hidden gems of advice he had been given on route.. got check him out @elphone on Instagram whist you listen..  This is some of Elph’s, story. Enjoy, this is F24.

So, this week.. actually, lets jump back a touch, I remember the first time I met Fuel, it was at my gallery in Brighton, one of those jaw dropping moments when you realise who’s in front of you.. As he was walking off, I nudged Vibes who was hanging out as usual and said a bit too loud, You V, that’s King Fuel.. I felt a little embarrassed as I think he heard, but I didn’t care, he’d graced my shop.
A couple months ago I had the pleasure of going South of the River to have a coffee with King Fuel, who for as long as I’ve been in the scene has had his name come along with folklore, rumour and legend.
We chatted over a few coffees for hours without noticing the time go by. We spoke about loads of stuff, the culture, London, parenthood, mind and soul, therapy music, smoking, adventures.. a whole bag of goodness, it was amazing, mind blowing and an absolute treat.. I had to ask him, come over to North Acton and jump on the podcast, he agreed. We left it a bit of time so that conversation wasn’t fresh in our minds and he came around on a Monday after lunch, I bunked work silenced my computers and phone, its King Fuel for fucksake.. and we chatted for another 3hours, it’s an amazing story, a deep journey hearing about Fuels life so far and his choices, experiences, memories and thoughts, and feelings about our culture, its meanings, reasons, everything, it was amazing.. and yes, I say amazing and wow about 50 times, sorry, but I mean it..
A massive privilege having King Fuel over, this isn’t his whole story, the timelines not perfect but it’s over 30yrs of being Fuel. What an honour.
This is King Fuel’s London, Culture and Creativity story.. enjoy, this is f24.

Im in Scotland, Elie in Fife to be precise and wow we’ve been lucky, beautiful sandy beach, amazing walks, great food and the weather.. goddam! Ive got a tan, although that’s pretty easy as I’m half Egyptian.

Anyway, a much needed break and rest from work, I’m back in the city Monday to crack on with the rest of the year.

Before I left for my holidays Australian Tom Gerrard came and visited me. Another artist Ive known for years and years.. We’ve painted, drunk, smoked, looked after each others friends

with space to stay and also now both do a podcast about these creative lives we are living.

Tom travels, like serious adventure travelling. Its been him and his wife’s thing since meeting 20+ years ago. He’s from and based in Melbourne Australia and Tom gets us into that and tells us what it was like growing up there the 80’s and 90’s, a bit unconventional and quite dangerous for a 16yr old. He tells us what school was like, skating and his first graffiti experiences, friends and how those teen years went. We chat about the chance encounter with his to be wife, travelling the world and painting and the different paths he took until he gave in to the pressure and stepped up and went full time artist.

It’s a dope story, Toms lived a full life so far and it was great catching him whilst he was in town preparing for the show hes curated at Stolen Space featuring his work alongside two other Australian artists.

As Ive said, I’ve known Tom for years and it was great to fill in the gaps within the time I’ve known him over a couple beers and a smoke.

Enjoy, this is F24.

This week, well another honour.. this guy’s throw up was in my manor of Kilburn and Edgeware Rd ever since I could read graffiti, and that was from young.. And when I started writing in 95 the, from what I thought was an SM throw up was amazing, unique, one-line greatness executed the same every time I studied it.. Knowing it had been in my vision since the 80’s, but you don’t really study then, its later on when you yourself paint, I knew to look at these tags / throws and really see the excellence and mastery of a tool and form of hieroglyph. It was that and Up’s throw ups that I really loved as a kid.. and did so for many years.. It was only in the mid two thousand I found out the SM throw up was Eine! It wasn’t an S with a M on top, it was Eine’s… I first met him outside Petros Paint Store in Brighton in 2000-2001 he put up a sticker with EINE in block letters repeated at 45 degrees, black on pink. I knew of him as a train painter, killer full colour wholecars.. I was obviously chuffed to meet him, but I wonder how much I would have geeked out had I known he was the throw up also.

Watching what Eine did in the following years was crazy.. I think we all thought that. His transition into Art, street art wasn’t even a term then, doing things that we hadn’t seen done before, a name associated and placed in rooms and galleries that London writers hadn’t reached yet.. We get to hear about all of that, Ben brings us back to London in the 80’s and tells us about his early years and meeting like-minded others.. We talk about traveling, clubbing, train parties, painting and the beginning of his road into alphabet paintings on shutters, meeting Banksy and starting Pictures on Walls and everything that came after it, from learning to print on the job to having a painting given to President Obama..

Another great chat.. what a lucky guy I am… I visited Ben at his studio in South London and we talked whilst he painted a canvas.. it was dope.. I recorded it for you as always..

Go check him out at @einesigns on Instagram whilst you listen.. Enjoy.

Photos sourced online. The portrait photo in front of the RIOT wall was taken by THE INFAMOUS BIRDMAN. 

I’ve been away working on an amazing project in Dublin, my second building for the Iconic Offices company over there and with help from my good friend Omin, my Irish OG, I built a great team to work with me on the artwork I designed and also work alongside a wide array of dope Irish artists to produce their own work also throughout the refurbished building.
I had a great time, dope team and beautiful city.. I loved it, my mums from there also, so some roots were felt.
Whilst I was there, I recorded this, I wanted to record more but we were putting in 16hr days but I did get this, a chat with two legends, one from just outside Dublin, Rask and one from Belfast, Moves.
This was dope, it came together as King Rask knew I was in town working and hollered about painting on the one day I had off so I ended up doing a wall in town with Moves who painted the word Toar, he dropped me a couple colours and we schemed pieces and backgrounded the wall. We had some amazing convo whilst painting and when we were done we went back to my airnbnb and recorded a very interesting conversation about their come ups in the graffiti culture, its effect on what was going on in Ireland and Northern Ireland in everyday life, religion and society and how being part of this culture forged relationships larger than their surroundings.
A real privilege getting this time with these Kings of the culture.. I loved it.. Enjoy.

This is the 39th recording, oh and I’ll be 39 on New Year’s Day. nice.. anyway the 39th recording is the last of the year and this week we have PIC WRH.. another London OG who has been styling on us since 84′, I was 4 then but you know what I mean. P’s a true soldier of the culture, relentless, aggressive with it at times through the last 35 years, never stopping.. I spotted some bits local after he’d visited.. He’s not on this side of town much so did what he does so well. P brings us on his journey from being a Publicans kid and growing up in those surroundings, what Camden was like in the 80’s and 90’s and his first interactions with the graffiti even before it was here and how he got the name PIC… We chat about great times with the WRH squad and his adventures with King Robbo running about the city, the amazing friendships he built and a passion for a culture that has never dwindled. We chat about loads of bits throughout and also, I tell him about the first time I met him in 96/97 which was an eye opener to what a real bomber was about.
P’s a legend.. Another superhero and the truest of gents.. Enjoy..

From London’s most notorious graffiti crews along with many others. His impact on our culture has been felt for two decades, we’ve seen the amazing panels running through the city, one of the flyest tags hitting the streets in his distinct styles, character full throw ups and legendary stories about him and his crew… what a treat.

I’ve known T for many years, we met through a shared acquaintance when I opened my shop in 2003 and over the years we’ve got to know each other quiet well but not as much as the last few months. We’ve been hanging out loads and getting to know each other properly. I didn’t want to be greedy with that privilege, so it took a while, but I got him behind a mic. And what a chat we have. The lives of writers hey! Who’da thought it.. they end up everywhere. I have an amazing chat with T about growing up in West London, his full-on home life, pressure in school and his reasons to start writing. He tells us an amazing story about his first train mission and how he moved on through the scene. We go into his further education, travels, the meanings of writing and everything in-between.
Dope having King Teach round… As I said we’ve been hanging so I’ve been able to see what’s coming to Soho next Thursday. it’s a first and its amazing.. go check @teachdds whilst your listening.. enjoy,

I hope your all well and enjoyed the Candie Bandita episode.. I loved it.. This week we’ve got Skore GSD TRC.. A UK OG, he’s pretty much been there from the beginning of the graffiti culture in the UK but not coming out of London, but Paddock Wood in Kent he’s had an intense and interesting relationship with the culture.
We go through all the decades graffiti has been in the UK as Skore has been at this since 84, with no breaks. Graffiti is his life, it’s him, literally. He obviously did the work and house, real life stuff on route and we’ll hear about and how he juggled it, but the thing I find most fascinating and this is the same with other writers from the first generation, is that they still paint and it still means as much to them with the bonus’s that build up of added value by being part of a culture for many years, the relaxing nature of the action, the feeling of contentment in a world that makes us think otherwise, the therapy of art and culture, the aiding of everyday life.. Skore is a graffiti don, he’s done it all and witnessed a hell of a lot more. Amazing to have him round, got check him out on @skoretrc where you will find so so much goodness, check it while you listen… Enjoy!