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When did you start writing and where?
I started
writing in late 78, tagging around school, black books and in the
neighborhood but I didn't step into a yard until winter 79
how
did you find the name Ezo?
I went through
a bunch of names like bronze and sprite, Ezo came from the word
esoterically meaning
mysterious but it was to long, in those days it was either
4 letter or 3 letter names so I shortened it. it stuck for the simple reason
that it was just absolutely different from everybody else, which is the way I
fancy myself, different. it wasn't a name until I made it a name. in a lot of
ways it is like an alter ego a reinvention of myself.
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Can
you tell us who were the biggest writers in the area where you lived?, as well as
who was the biggest on the trains?
In queens back when
I first started noticing graffiti back in junior high, years before I even
thought of picking up a can . it was these guys SNAP 5, JAKE
and
AHA
who had tags in all the back streets of my old
neighborhood of corona. to this day I don't know who the hell these people were.
but they definitely helped
along
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the process in my curiosity of the why's and how's of graffiti. when I
started riding trains to the city form school I really became intrigued with
the outside bombing and how it was accomplished, who did I |
notice in those days? SON & PRO on the 7's JESTER 1,
DEAN, IZ THE WIZ , FORCE 5,
VADE TPA, JOEY & DEMO TPA on the E's
and F's as well as NA, TOR of The writing group the
Union, EX~1 etc. on the rare occasions
I went on the IRT's usually
the 6 train at 59th on the way to the N train it was BLADE,
COMET,
a LEE car and 00.1 ( aka CADD ) and
occasionally sometimes a fucked up SEEN throwie with the bulging bloody eyeballs.
in the stations you saw tags from TREE 127, EARL ( aka
POET ), JESUS 2, UNCLE JOHN 178,
CAPTAIN AMERICA, LSD3, FDT 56, CLYDE,
CLIFF 159 to BAN2 who was virtually everywhere even on my block, as well as
BLADE and COMET, if you went to
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Astoria
it was
KB and the super squad on the double RR's.
in the streets of Astoria on every overpass and statue JOHNNY "B" and CHISY.
as for strange it would have to be my boy 3MI (rip) TPA ,
super cool but most def Super Strange.
Can
you tell us about your first experience hitting the trains and where?
First time
hitting trains was of course motioning like everybody else, I'd have to say
going to my
boys house in
the Bronx to play baseball on the D line. first time in a yard bombing was
with CONAN - PIC on the 7 line
at the yard at Shea Stadium over winter vacation in 79, at night it was
colder than a witches tit.
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Who were
your first writing partners starting out and could you tell us all the writers
you have wrote with thru the years?
Writers
you have wrote with thru out the years. my first partners tagging around as a
kid in H.S were this cat PASE from Harlem and this other cat who
changed his name so many times I forgot all of
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them. when I started bombing
seriously in 81-82 my main writing cronies were
BOBBY 1, SPICER, SHARK67, BREAK, QUARTZ / BLACK TVS we had our own
crew it was called CUT UP KIDDS, CUK for short which in time became CUKILLZ. I
also bombed with CK from the WR crew from time to
time, up at the D yard on Bedford we'd run into KEN 007 and smash
shit, HALTER and FRENER from SYB
as well, JOEY and 3mi tpa and SPLIT city
as well but that |
was more drug and booze debauchery, later on doing walls it was
more of a loose than confederacy crew mentality with SHARP,
PART, SHAKER179, AONE ,. freights with
ZEPHYR, KLASS, SMITH, LADY PINK.
During My time of running the Hall of Fame I painted with pretty much everybody
who counted from STAN 153 to the TATSCRU. and
finally a good 3 year run of pissing everybody off from vandal squad to writers
to family with my boy PEAK VIC, CHAIN 3 to
SEEN to SKEME to DEL .
What
line did you focus on the most and can you tell us all the train lines you
hit over those years?
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E's
and F's and the locals being the GG's and N's branching out later to the
LL's at Halsey Street, D's, B's, A's, CC's at the Bedford yard , sometimes we'd
travel
to bay ridge and smash the lay-ups all the way to 86 St. |
What
are all the writing groups you belong to?
I
just push CUKILLZ ( THE CUT UP KIDDS ) , TPA ( THE PUBLIC ANIMALS
) and TC ( THE
CREW ) but I've been affiliated with other crews as well.
EZO shows off his artistic skill
Would
you have any racking adventures you can share with us?
Nothing extra
ordinary, besides the usual six in the back and one in each
sock variety, I ran out of a few joints with an arm full of paint once or
twice because the opportunity presented itself. in the old days I stole only
when
I was going to bomb or piece and I took only what was needed for the mission at
the time.
MALCOLM
X . Done by EZO
In
the late 70's and early 80's the fight for space on the subway trains where hard
to come by, where you ever involved in any writing WAR's in your time?
I would have to say yes on a number of occasions but
I think those occasions are probably common knowledge. they occur due to either
crew or partner affiliations or some numb nut just trying to hold the balls.
What writers do you feel
are truly over looked in history?
Overlooked I'd have to say MIN the guy put in allot of work.
SONIC 002
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another cat who put in work with style, MITCH 77,
FUZZ &
FLAME , CAINE1 he did the
first whole train and was the original jacket painting master , SON
& PRO, DEAN ( aka LE ) , OE3,
BABY 168 ..had a cool throw up, this dude 2BAD
from queens who
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went to the 6's who also wrote BOUNCE and would would hit the
7's with the original BRIM, he rocked a little some thing for a
minute. there's a lot more I'm sure I'll remember.
late-------------------------------ropoo.
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You were
involved in one of the biggest subway raids in history with writers like DEMO ,
CER , PW ...etc. Could you tell us about it?
Well, what can
I add to what is already public knowledge, we tried to pull
off a whole train, 8 to 10 whole cars I believe it was, we came close... but
the New York city police department had other plans for us at the time.
When
was the last time you hit the trains and why?
Its been a
minute, the reason I did it is the reason I usually do impulsive
things from time to time , to see if I can, it's a test.
You
and PEAK went on an ALL CITY street rampage, could you tell us a little bit
about it?
Like I said
before it all comes down to if you can still pull it off, a test but it's also a
hell of allot of fun going
from bomber to piecer to bomber
again, going full circle to a degree. those that saw it and dug it understood
and rooted us on , those that got upset and hated well what can I say our names
were the last thing they thought of at night and the first thing they thought of
in the morning, either way mission accomplished.
.......................
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>>>>>
EZO
and PEAK
takes New York City by storm. |
Where do you see your art going in the future?
That's a
daunting question for any artist, my hopes are to continue on my quest of
expression, be it the Spray can, Music, my Paintings or business in general and
stay true to the spirit of my endeavors. salute
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Photo credits go to .. EZO, BLADE and PC
KID. For more on the artistic works of EZO 1, check out www.TheGspot.com. Should any one have any photos of EZO's earlier work, please contact
Message@Subwayoutlaws.com
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