Stories about London, Culture & Creativity

So this week I had the pleasure of meeting Roger Gastman, the man behind the Beyond the Streets exhibition which toured the US and is now over here at Saatchi gallery from the 17th Feb, quite a ground breaking show to be seen in our city.
The show he’s put together is the amalgamation of his time and experiences and education within the graffiti culture and the broad depths its shown him, and that’s perfect for an inquisitive person like me, right up my street.
I’ve known of and probably you’ve known of Roger from the books he’s made, shows he’s put on, films he’s made, magazines, interviews and various curations his name has been beside for the last 20+years, a real inspiring body of work on a part of the culture that is really what I have tried to be about for the last 20yrs also, and he’s done it big, representing at a very high professional level, this was going to be an education. I got the hook up on email through another culture stalwart, the author and artist Caleb Neilson whom, I helped a little last year on a project he was putting together with Roger. I knew Roger was in town for the show, I hollered, and he kindly accepted. I met him at the set up at Saatchi’s in a room full of people I’ve seen in photos and film and read about, quite a privilege, and we then took a walk to his Airbnb to sit down and have this conversation, this is some of Roger Gastmans, Bethesda Maryland Washington, culture and creativity story, enjoy, this is F24.

Photos of the Beyond the Streets show London by Martha Cooper 2023.

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..

What a mad time though hey, worlds changed, places have changed, we’ve changed!

But what stays is culture, a constant, a forever, and I learnt a lot about that and its strengths, even though I preach it, from this conversation, so it was a great one to kick off what we’ll call season 2 of F24.

Mode2 was in town.

We’d be talking a little via message for a while and also had my friend Kash co-signed me which got me a big step closer to this conversation.

A dream come true, after the first, where he put me up at Carnival this year after I set him some paint.

I’d never properly met Mode, never had the chance to have a conversation.. He’s been a name in my life for nearly 30yrs and undoubtably yours too.. I haven’t heard many interviews with him so I didn’t know how this was going to go.. Some of you maybe used to a format I’ve developed in these interviews, this was nothing like I expected, its an amazing in-depth conversation full of analogies and historical fact about culture and cultures.

He lives a life full of intrigue and interest, a natural flow, an understanding of his surroundings as well as his foundations. An absolute pleasure and dream come true having this time with Mode, our mutual friend Kash was in the studio with us while we had this very interesting conversation, this is some of Mode2’s culture and creativity story… enjoy..

This week, the Traphouse Tattooer.. You’ve seen his name around the city.. the first Traphouse painting I saw was on Berwick St over the old Paperchase.. dope letters floating down a Soho street.  

Then I started to see it everywhere, then all over Instagram.. then friends talking, meeting, getting tattooed.. the wave had gained momentum.. 3yrs on I thought, that’d be an interesting chat.. I got to him; he’s about getting shit done so two days later he was at the studio. He came along with a good friend and we got into it. He’s lived an interesting life so far with stories to back it up. Graffiti and crime were a major thing for him, and creativity came through it all, I love that ish.. 

dudes lived a life… it’s a great insight into a trapper and creatives mind.

Go check him @traphousetattooer on Instagram whilst you listen..

This week Marcus Barnes, an author, music journalist and graffiti artist. His graffiti name has been in my vision for about 15 years now, a prolific train painter from South London. We met a couple times over the years but never properly and having him come round here was dope. The last time we spoke was at Aset’s funeral and I talk about it towards the end of the podcast, that conversation made me really want to know more about him and I’ve so grateful he came round and shared his story with us.
Another dope insight to a creatives life and path so far. We get through loads from his really interesting upbringing full of inspirational people, finding graffiti and the moral grounds he had to explore in order to do it, his working life and experiences with Lad Mags to the Daily Mail and his massive passion for music. We also chat about the pointless and yet extensive court case brought upon him by Colin Saycell and BTP for his publication of his magazine Keep the Faith. He travelled the city, painted trains with some of the best and now writes beautifully about music for MixMag.
It’s a dope chat, I loved it.. I’ll tell you more about him at the end of the podcast, for now check him out @mgoldenbarnes on Instagram whist you listen.
Enjoy.. This is f24.

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,

This week, I can say I have one of my closet friends at the Studio. To me and many, he’s an inspiration, a cultural icon, a style king and also a great dad. It’s been a minute since we had our last weekly coffee on upper St. in Angel and actually our last one was in Kentish Town on the strip and it was times like those that really built our relationship it took our conversation to another level and we bonded with our similarities, estate life, young dads and the finding of culture and it’s growth into a creative life.

As the years have passed and life cracks on and asks more of your day we don’t grab as many coffees as we used too but we’ve always been in contact in some way even though he doesn’t have a phone!

This is one half of the legendary TaskForce, the Highbury Estate veteran and to me an oracle of life in the North East of our city, Farma G!.

He has experienced loads, put himself through a bag load of actions and activities and this was all before he finished school. It was so dope having him round, we chat about loads of things whilst we catch the story of his come up, from copping 7inch records in the local newsagent, to his various hustles on Upper St and also him and his peers concerted effort to get on a mic by any means necessary and let heads know.. We go from life in the manor, his interest in music and introduction to graffiti, to meeting Intense in his first year at secondary and setting up The Bury Crew. We chat about the meeting of Mark B and Taskforces first EP and then the Lowlife years all the way through to his new projects with a load of his thoughts and processes in-between.

Another dope point to make about this interview there was another legend from the city and a friend of mine in the studio, TEACH DDS happened to be visiting, stayed for the chat and added a couple of amazing points and reminders for Farma which added to the convo, big up King Teach.

Farma is a brother from another manor, a guide from the other side and a friend to very end.. we have an amazing conversation, two friends talking, and we go deep, Big up Farms… PS the dog you hear barking isn’t Brie, it’s a spaniel down the hall, he was fine.. Enjoy..

This week’s chat is with Joe Holbrook a guy I’ve known for pretty much 15 years and I love it when I have a perception about someone, even after knowing them that long and finding out my perception means nada in their life, it wasn’t his reality. I presumed Joe was classically trained, I presumed he got to this stage of his art career through conventional ways. His paintings, his subjects, his intrigue in different artistic mediums, his concepts. but no, we need to watch our perceptions. I was wrong, this was great having Joe round to the studio and filling us in on his journey. Brie the Beagle was owning the studio that evening  and you’ll hear her as she drinks her water and getting told off and also with us was Josh, my son sat in on this one which was dope. cause well he’s my son and was about 4 when he met Joe, so he was genuinely intrigued to hear his story. We have a great chat about Joe’s Kent roots, his introduction to Art by some sharp young teachers and the journey he’s been on since then with a little side road that offered itself to him but BTP put a stop to that road and to be honest, thankfully! Another dope conversation, You’re all lucky I’m so nosey! Enjoy!

Hello and welcome back to the F24 Podcast, my name is David and each week I invite a creative over to my studio to talk about their interactions and experiences with London culture and creativity.

This week’s conversation is with Richard Wilson. You may have seen the worldwide press about Rich’s Will Smith painting that he did in West Philly, an amazing and extremely impressive full body 65ft painting of the Fresh Prince sitting on a chair on the side of a building that sits in a school playground. It is full of references, to the Jordan’s he’s wearing to the t-shirt and cap hanging off the back of the chair and then the chair itself and the leaves wrapped around it’s legs which is homage to his favourite artist and his paintings.

An incredible feat from the Londoner, we’ll hear about that whole project, its inception and the work he put into it to make it happen along with where Rich is from, one of the reasons I asked him over, a painting in Acton and what it said to me. The power of art and what led him to it and what it does for him and a great honest chat about the mental health aspect of life and the help that art brings.

We get in to loads more also, his experiences within the scene and his love for music. It was great having Rich over, amazing to meet him. You catch us in a side conversation which led onto chatting about Richs first influences in the culture, how he feels about it and what it was giving him in those early years, then we jump in properly to the podcast.

This is his London, Culture and Creativity story enjoy.

So this week, another one from my extended cultural family is London’s one and only, Theo Keating otherwise known as the infamous Fake Blood and UK Graffiti’s very own Snatch CWS/ PFB/TO… This guy, since ive been in the culture, this guy’s pieces have been it for me.. I might be looking and reminiscing at the past with glazed eyes but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad piece by this guy.. All fire, all the time..

My favourites must include the 93’ Unity Jam piece in Fulham, crazy cool and fresh and would stand up today easily, 25 yrs on and you hear us chat about that painting and more but apart from just getting my graffiti drenched brain more fodder another reason I got Theo round was to hear about how he got into music and what lead him to make a career out of it and one with so much adventure too!

We talk loads about music and all types from Nicky Blackmarket and his influence in Jungle music to Acid House and making his own music also Really great him coming over and getting to hear about his journey. The music in the background, each piece you’ll hear are by Theo which he has happily graced us with!