Stories about London, Culture & Creativity

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..

This weeks creative is Mark Sinckler, London Graffiti’s very own PRIME. Mark is an integral to the path I chose. When I first met him I was 16/17 years old, 1996/7. I was working in a dead end job selling advertising space in an Arabic Newspaper based in West Hampstead. I don’t think I sold one advert but what I did manage to do was to persuade the editor to let me write a piece and interview Mark about his paintings at the time where he was using Arabic text in his murals. It was a blag, I hadn’t written anything other than a tag since leaving school but idea was going to get me to meet a London Don! I’d only been writing graffiti for about 2 years but even then I loved learning about the culture I was getting deeper into and after seeing Primes pieces in Graphotism and seeing his a tag of his that stayed for years on one of the tunnel entrances at Farringdon I knew I had to meet this man.. I did, we met in a café on Kilburn High Rd late one mid week night and he was a gent. I wasn’t sure if he knew how old I was or how professional I may have been but he gave me his time and helped me write this piece on his work and they published it, unfortunately they didn’t credit me but we know the story and that’s what counts. This conversation and the friendship that blossomed was like getting an encyclopaedia on the culture from one of the top players. One day he brought me to Elk’s house! my mind was blown as Elk had been in my sights since before writing. These interactions with the culture really helped seal my love and dedication to the culture. I had fallen for Hip Hop by say 91/92, really in by 93 but writing came a little later. Kilburn, my estate and the surrounding estates had a lot on offer for someone who’s looking to make a name for himself.. I tried a few things out over the years but Graffiti was the real calling and meeting Mark then, so early on was the inspiration I needed to really get in and live it with direction.