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 I was influenced by a whole lot of differant people as well as the culture of the 70's. Some of the guys that I liked at that time were Tracy168, Blade of course, Lee, Dean, Don One, Jester, Team , Aztec, Inca one, Phase two, and many more.  I have to say I was equally influenced by stuff like Mad magazine, R.Crumb, Jack Kirby, Marvel enter the dragon", and the music of Parliment, funkadelic, James Brown and Led Zepplin. All of those things formed a comics, Dick Tracy , movies like "shaft", "super fly", "

3)  How did you find the name DAZE and can you tell us about  your first time hitting the trains as well as who you were with.

 I went through a whole series of names ,as most writers did back then. Some of the things I started with other people had first so I couldn't get with that. Then I just started thinking of the letters I had style for and came up with "DAZE". It was a whole process that seems to be lost on  writers today. These days guys just pick a name and start writing without giving much thought to it. I always felt that originality begins with the choice of your name or tag, after that style follows. My first piece was on the D train. I cut out of school  and  went with a guy that wrote DEA2 . He knew the 4 yard pretty well and I felt I could trust him.  Nevertheless it was a total fiasco.

4) Who was your first writing partner and can you tell us who would become your best writing partner.

 My first real writing partner was 2MAD, but my most well known partner would have to be Crash.

 The group CYA ,which stands for " crazy young artists" was started by 2MAD and JEAN 13.  2MAD really was the one that got it together. At that time we realized that everyone was either in a group or had their own group so we thought it was a good idea to start one. Later on I took it over and kept it going on the trains.

 I've painted on all lines at one time or another. The one that really eluded me though was the 7 line. I really wanted that but for some reason never got the opportunity to hit it. The lines I'm most known for hitting would be the 1's,2's, 3's,4's, & the 5's and 6's.

I did however do pieces on the cc, d ,rr, j's and m's at one time or another. I liked getting off the IRT's occasionally and doing a piece somewhere else. a lot of the BMT and IND Lines switched up so you could do a piece on one line and months later it would end up somewhere else.

8) Can you tell us all the writers you have painted with over the years and can you tell us what you think was your best production running on the trains.


 Man I have to say I painted with a pretty diverse group of people over the years. Some of the guys I painted with were DEAN, 2MAD,

9) In the 1980's there was a all out cross out " WAR "  on the subways. Was any of your work effected by this.
 

 I was affected in a little way. Most of the time it was guilt by association. Your painting with a guy that has beef then all of a sudden his beef is your beef. Cap caught a couple of my pieces that way. For the most part I didn't get caught out there as much as others did. I remained cool with a lot of heads simultaneously.

10) Can you tell us all the writing crews you were in.

 There were a lot of crews I was in . Too many to list... CYA, BYB, TDS, ROC, TNT, CIA, TFP etc. etc, etc.

 I really liked tunnels because I felt that was a situation I could control more than being in a yard. But that didn't stop me from going to Yards or elevated lay ups.
 

12) What writers do you feel are truly over looked in our history.

 There have been many writers that have been over looked in time for one reason or another. One of the most over looked is Noc167. Most people can't even begin to grasp his contribution to the whole shit. Another one might be Mitch77 who also pulled out some truly amazing masterpieces in his time.

13) When was the last time you painted a train and why did you stop.

 I stopped about '84. At that time I really didn't like the direction it was going in. Little did I know the whole scene was just evolving into something else. I also wanted to concentrate more on my studio paintings . I felt I had done just about everything in Graff that I wanted.

14) You would move on to a great career in galleries. Can you tell us the start of it all.

The Gallery stuff started about 1981 for me. At first it was slow, a show here or there but then it just took off! I really just started making paintings just as a goof at first ,then I realized it might be my real calling. The gallery stuff really exploded when people started writing about in the village voice and the daily news. After that the mainstream galleries were suddenly aware of what we were doing. At the same time "Wild style" , and "Style Wars" were being filmed and all kinds of events downtown were happening. The gallery shows were not something I sought out. It was more like something I rolled with. Once I got a taste though I realized I was in a whole new yard where the old rules didn't apply. I really wanted to make myself known in this new arena and on some degree I did just that. These days I have 2 to 5 solo shows a year and am included in tons of group shows, this however has very little to do with my pieces on the train ,even though if it weren't for that I probably wouldn't have been noticed in the first place.

15) Where do you see your art in 20 years.

It's hard to say . I think real art is constantly evolving, that's what keeps the whole process going forward. People don't always like change  but it happens never the less. I think I'll still be painting though It might be in some other medium besides spray paint. I also want to take my art and expose it more to the masses in places where people don't know my stuff. One way to do this might be the internet  but I'm thinking of more tangeable places. I'm inspired and influenced to some degree by what the younger generation is doing today. They are the ones that will keep the ball rolling.
 

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