SHEI: What was your introduction to graffiti art?

Slaze: It started over sophomore year of high school.  We’ve always been ‘into’ art, but around that time I had started experimenting with bubble letters – you know, doodles and stuff like that.  Then I was in Italy and was sitting on this train looking at this spray-painted art on the walls.  I saw a connection between what I was drawing and what was painted – I realized it was letters that were on the wall like what I was drawing…and then I brought it back to Seac.

SHEI: So you two tag together – is that common?

Slaze: Yeah, our group is called “Dying Breed”…we’ve got about 5 or 6 people in our crew but at any one time, there are at least 2 people tagging. 

Seac: And then there are people who “rep” – that’s adding someone else’s crew tag as a sign of respect.

SHEI: When did you come up with your tag names?

Slaze: yeah – mine actually came from a character in a video game [laughs].

Seac: Mine’s changed – at first it was Nutz but I caught grief for that – I didn’t think it through.  Then I did Fama and finally decided on Seac.

A peice from Seac

Seac: It’s all about practice but also depends on what you’re using…there’s a vast difference between markers and a paint can.  A design stars on paper, then you re-teach yourself with a paint can.  Sometimes we use permanent markers – inks and paints all vary and we use anything from actual paint to shoe-polish.

SHEI: How long does it normally take you to do a design?

Seac: It depends – it could take 30 seconds to leave a tag, or 2-3 hours, or longer.  It depends on the spot…how private it is, like there’s ridiculous stuff in Ann Arbor that no-one every sees.  As for drawing the initial design, I start on paper and that can take like 12 hours or a whole day.  Then it’s basically like retraining myself with a paint can, transferring the design to a wall.

SHEI: Where do you two normally tag?

Slaze: We used to go all over, but we’re on a budget since we buy our own paint.  Most taggers steal their paint, that’s called “racking”.  It’s an expensive hobby-

Seac: It’s not a hobby, it’s a sickness…a cancer-

Slaze: An addiction that’s really fun!

SHEI: Could you give us an example of some of the slang associated with graffiti?

Seac has used similar designs for stencils

Seac: Sure – a “tag” is just a free-hand sketch while a “throw-up” is a big filled in tag, maybe written in bubble letters.  A ”piece” is more artistic and filled in with 3-D additives but the most involved is a “mural” which has a whole background and characters and stuff like that.

Slaze: And there are different levels of writing.  A “bomber” does throw-ups and tags only.  A “piecer” does it for artistic reasons.  “Street artists” usually use other mediums, like posters, stencils, and fliers.  The generic term for everyone who does graffiti is a “writer”.  You could check out a forum for writers at BombingScience.com. 

(You can also find more examples of the terminology here)

SHEI: What are your thoughts on laws against tagging?

Slaze: It is illegal…the law is fair but the action against it is kind of ridiculous.

Seac: There aren’t any actual laws against it specifically.  You can get charged with malicious destruction of property.  Some cities have “legal walls” where anyone can paint all the time but there are none around here.

SHEI: What are your thoughts on FRESH (Ann Arbor based spray-painter…)

Slaze: Nobody likes him.

Seac: He’s got no style…no discretion.  There are unwritten rules with this, like no tagging on churches or houses.

Slaze: But you could respect that he’s caught some mad spots.

SHEI’s thanks to Seac & Slaze!  Stay tuned for our continuing coverage of graffiti and the other product it inspires!