a good blog to have on deck, and nice pop up on it if you can find it…

http://www.snortthis.com/

As we continue with our second installment of our “Artist Spotlight” we present Los Angeles based street artist: INEPT.

1. Explain where the name “INEPT” comes from, does it have any significant meaning?
I picked up the name while attending college as a reflection of my behavior. Growing up I had a bad sense of judgement which would often put me in bad situations.

2. Where can one see your artwork?
My work can be found all over Los Angeles, San Diego and some parts of San Francisco. INEPT FLICKR.

3. How Long have you been doing art in the streets and how do did you get started?
I got involved with graffiti at the age of 15. Me and a couple of my friends would catch the bus and hit spots all around the city. I had fun with it for a while but dropped out due to overwhelming responsibilities, which required 100% of my time(work, school, relationship, band, etc).  During this time I was exposed to screen printing by some friends that ran a record label called GO Records. I picked up the technique pretty fast and started making band shirts and limited work. I implemented all my artistic and creative energy into making art for bands(lay outs/covers/flyers). Around 2006 i started messing around with bucky o’hare characters and pasting them all around the city (love that series!).  It would get my adrenalin going as it did with graffiti. I broke away from that and started creating my own characters.

4. What’s the theme of your art? Where does your inspiration come from?
I began drawing when I was very young. Growing up I was strongly influenced by comic books, cartoons and science fiction films. The majority of my art is science fiction based. I’m fascinated with futuristic themed characters such as cyborgs, space ships, cities, and the likes. Much of my inspiration comes from artists like Blek le Rat, Snub27, Orticanoodles, Broken Crow, Obey, Banksy and more. Seeing what these artists have accomplished gives you the motivation to push your work even further.

5. Many people may not know your involvement in the punk and hardcore scene, do you think maintaining a straight edge positively impacts your drive on the streets?
I’ve been part of the underground  hardcore/punk scene for years now. The underground graffiti/art movement inhibits the same characteristics. Both share a network of friends which support, help, and inspire each other. Artists interact with others without the rock star mentality. Living a straight edge lifestyle removes all distractions, keeps me focused and alert. Being under the influence of any type increases your chances of getting caught.

6. Would you consider that working on a legal wall or permission spot is like a beer with no alcohol?
Legal walls tend to run a little longer (obviously haha). It all comes down to having your work seen by the public, regardless if its legal or not I’m game.

7. What do you enjoy most about street art and How does art affect you?
Street art/graffiti gives me the ability to express myself. It provides an escape from all the bullshit I deal with on a daily bases. Graffiti gives you a feeling of having some type of control of your city. It gives you a sense of satisfaction to have the public stop and admire or question your work. It is the easiest, less costly and most effective way to target an array of people. I enjoy driving through LA  and seeing tons of graffiti/street art, these are signs of a healthy city.

8. What are you currently working on and what are the future ambitions of Inept?
I’m currently working on large scale stencil pieces, new shirts, stickers and hopefully soon a web site. Everyday I’m learning something new, finding better and more efficient ways of doing things. I hope to have a solo show early next year.

9. Don’t be shy and please share your most outrageous story during a covert mission.
On my way home from work I would always drive by this blank billboard on top of this donut shop. One night I set out to smash it with a huge paste up. As I was lathering it up a fuckin cop pulls up and parks right under me. The fat bastard gets out and walks into the shop without noticing me (blind as hell haha). I was laying down keeping quiet as paste dripped down onto the roof of his pig-mobile. He get back and drives away without noticing anything wrong (close call!).

10. Any readers you wanna thank or famous last words?
To achieve something great you must give it %110. Don’t let anyone discourage you on what your set out to do. Expect set-backs and bad criticism but turn this into positive/creative energy towards your work. Believe in yourself and don’t give a shit what others think. I want to thank anyone that has stuck by me and believed in my work from day 1. The best is yet to come!!

THANKS INEPT!  MUCH RESPECT!!!

white on white on white bitches!!!

These are from our friend Todd, he has some great tattoos and is even a greater friend. One of them peoples that is just an amazing guy and makes shit happen… Peep game…

Was a long day today with lots of great things in the works around Atlanta, I feel lucky to have the life I have and share it with the people that I do. (most of all you) Part of our evening was visiting Zoroaster in the recording studio working on their 3rd album to be released very soon, here are some flicks.to check out more from ZOROASTER go to http://www.myspace.com/thezoroaster there will be a ton of great shit in this bands future and make sure to have them in your life!!!

We got a super busy month here!!

2010 is rolling and this train is traveling the right track.

Got the long overdue ALL-CITY Los Angeles Dodgeball Tournament on March 14th at the NIKE Montalban Theater on Vine Street.

T$F is representing Silverlake, first match: The $tatus Faction vs Bandanarama.

Haven’t been to the Montelban in a minute, pretty excited because Madsteez just painted a sick ass mural on the roof.  Here’s a photo of where we will play ball.

After that tournament, we’re prepping up for our first live-art performance this year. The California Institute of Abnormal Arts will host as an amazing venue!

Best Place to Find a Dead Clown…

More info to come, but here’s the basics right now: (click to enlarge)

Trust!
These are the earthly remains of  Achile Chatouilleu, an American circus performer who died in 1912, asking that his body be forever on display in the clown attire and makeup he wore in life.
The body was embalmed in mercury, arsenic or a combination (something mortuaries did long ago).

And our last event this month immediately follows the C.I.A. live art.  T$F will be having a release party for the first piece of our recently developed jewelry.  Our new 3″ snake dollar-sign medallions will be at a special price of only $20 (cash only) at the event!

This is gonna be a good time to relax and have a drink before the weekend slips away.  We’ll have DJ Kool Phylo, ZERO, and Patrick Miller on the turntables with wax only sets.  All located at The Beauty Bar in the heart of Hollywood (Cahuenga corridor)

More info to come, but here’s the basics right now: (click to enlarge)

GET READY WORLD.

w w w . G r a f f H e a d . c o m

One of our favorite sites ever.  So clean &  jam packed full of information. Great layout, ALWAYS updated and fresh.  Very original.

GrafHead was kind to blog blast our back to back events this month and several recent pics of our new work in the streets.  Bookmark this site.

You can see the new post HERE.

Also make sure you check out the new GH videos!

(click it!)

(click to blow up)

T$F stopped by the Haze x Stussy show on friday at the new Known Gallery, but right down the block was a CBS CONART event too.

Conart opened a new store on Fairfax right next to Canter’s Deli.

The launch party was with Girls Gone Graff and they were setting up for some body painting.

What caught the eye from the sidewalk was this huge wall of paint and graf supplies.  Nice to know that someone is selling these materials in Hollywood, now that Workman’s is R.I.P..

The walls displayed some dope work from L.A.’s (select) finest writers.

It was still early in the night and the place was getting crowded already.  Word is someone got shot during the opening that night- but we cannot confirm this.

Talked to the homie PARKER in the shop, he was handling business— nice guy too.  We were more curious about the paint for sale than the artwork or body painting.  There are only a few brands of paint on the market and even less that are graffiti specific.

The paint for sale is a NEW brand: BLUBBER COLORS MAGIC.

The cans were ony $5 each that night as an opening special.  These are sample cans from an early batch, this is a NEW brand ya’ll!  The black can is hard— shit didn’t even have a label!  Tall boy can still $5!

What makes this paint so exciting is that it’s eco-friendly, artist-driven performance, but most importantly; MADE IN THE U.S.A.!

Can’t wait to give it a try!  Very comforting to know that someone is domestically making spray paint for graffiti artists in our home country.  GOOD WORK! Check out their site for more info: BlubberColors.com

The $tatus Faction is excited to introduce a new reoccurring topic to our blog- interviews.  Seems so obvious- but we’ve just been so busy talking about our own fascinating lives.  Our ARTIST SPOTLIGHT content starts today with RICH (HBTK) from Portland, Maine.

Since we’re just starting this, we question-jacked from GrafHead, also check that site for more dope interviews and original graffiti videos. Stay tuned, future interviews are already in the works- next up is street artist INEPT from Los Angeles.  ENJOY!

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ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: RICH HBT

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1. How long have you been writing?
25 years

2. How did you get the name Rich? Did you write anything else before?
My first piece was a hydro piece. I used to write different words back in the day… Glock, Duos, DJ 2 Rich, Richie Rich…etc. Everyone in my neighborhood called me Rich, Richie Rich and Daddy Rich ( a play on the Third Bass DJ ). Rich just stuck because that was my nickname in the neighborhood.

3. Who were your influences?
There weren’t any older writers around for me to look up to in my hometown. Subway Art was shown to me via a couple of brothers in school that had recently moved from Jersey City that I used to break with. The book and subsequent graffiti cameos on television is what got me started. But my crew was the biggest influence on me. I was fortunate enough to have a huge abandoned warehouse across the street from the projects I was living in which provided a weather-proof place to paint and more importantly, piece, any season, 24/7.

4. What crew are you from?
Hostyle Bomb Thret Kings. I’m also fortunate enough to have been put down in some big crews too. HBTK is what I rep mostly though because it’s my friends. More importantly my friends I came up with.

5. Do you paint at yards or strictly street action?
I paint the yard and lay-ups on occasion. At 36 with 2 kids I can safely say my street action isn’t what it used to be. I’ve had some really intense chases in the last few years (knock on wood) and had fun last night catching a few tags on a cross-town walk with some writers almost half my age.

6. Do you like to paint at permission spots?
I like getting some beers and relaxing with my friends at legal walls and doing intricate artwork but some days are better than others. Legals don’t bring the same sense of accomplishment when finished like a boxcar or street spot. But rarely would I spend 8 or more hours at either of those scenarios. Legals have their pro’s and con’s I guess. I get some commissions and side work off of them.

7. Why do you write graffiti? Are the legal ramifications worth it?
Avoiding a 40 minute lecture, I’ll say graffiti is a great escape from my head. I try not to think about the legal ramifications.

8. Do you have any crazy stories you could share with us?
There was this one time in 90′ or 91′ when 5 or 6 of us ( Myself, Bern, Asend, Case, Self and Baste R.I.P. ) went to Ames on a rakking mission. When I say rakking mission I mean we militant about it. We would line up in a single file line in the paint aisle. I would fill the backpack in front of me. The guy behind me would fill my backpack and so on and so on. We had as much paint as we could carry so we headed for the door. I remember hearing a “Code Charlie” or something to that effect blast over the loudspeaker and saying “yo guys we gotta fuckin’ bounce”. Right as we hit the main aisle looking ahead at the door about 50 yards away or so security lined up in front of the door. It wasn’t your stereotypical security force either. It was 4 or 5 overweight buzzcut women with Mag-light’s, walkie talkie’s. Stretching and tucking in their shirts and stuff. They were obviously thinking about man-handling us…so-to-speak. So we ran towards them like an NFL special teams from hell. Baste ducked under one of their attempts to grab him and was the first out the door. The biggest of the brawny women got Bern in a head-lock after he punched her glasses off. Being the good friend I am, I speared the 2 of them through the front door in a tidal-wave of shattered glass. I immediately helped Bern up. I remember one of us doing figure 8’s around a few parked cars with 2 of them giving chase. We all managed to run down the 200 yard parking lot to a street perpendicular to the strip mall. The sirens were loud and on top of us instantly. We ran through a wooded section and dove into a swamp up to our necks. We watched 3 or 4 patrol cars fly by us and got out as soon as they went by. We ran down a long stretch of road to get to the train tracks to catch a breather. Gasping for our breath and laughing about the security and the amount of paint we had we bombed the tracksides the whole way home and the city that night. I don’t condone hitting women, but these women outweighed us all and went to put their hands on us, so we did what we had to do.

THANKS FOR SHARING RICHIE RICH!! RESPECT!