I remember the day I 'woke up' and saw graffiti for the first time. It was about 8 years ago - I was walking down the Dixon Street steps and F is For Fun was written on the railing. I know that I noticed it because it was such a positive message. And once I woke up, there was no nodding back off.
Dryp's characters were the first series I noticed, followed closely by Neo Nate's Bulb Head and Street Squatch. Knowing both of these artists now I can't help but laugh when I remember that I thought it might be the same person doing all these characters ;-)
My brother generously bought me a 3G Nokia to keep in contact when I was in Japan - the camera was the bonus bling and the beginning of these sites...
So - when wanting to add a bit of dimension to the Alley, it was a no brainer to ask Neo Nate if I could pester him about his art...
Knowing that his other obsession is skating, and because he had done the above pieces on the legit boards the week before, we met down the skate park.
Note to Self - My only regret is that I didn't take a voice recorder because we were rapping in seconds and Neo Nate was so interesting I knew right away I didn't have a chance of remembering everything he told me.
NN was brought up between Hastings and Te Awamutu.
He remembers his mother taking him to the library in Hastings when he was a tacker where he always made his way over to the comic books. Manga was the first and strongest influence on him and he couldn't help but start drawing. He says he's still heavily influenced by Manga even now and is attracted to the clean simple lines and range of expressions.
We started talking about his most popular characters - Bulb Head and the Street Squatch. They were his first characters that were his own and he still has the very first drawings of them.
I asked him if they were Super Heroes and he looked straight at me and said Hell Yeah!
I started reeling off all the other characters I'd photographed and I can't believe I'd never noticed the distinctive Crustation theme which he admitted to being fascinated by.
I had promised beer as the bribe to talk to me so we made our way to a local bar (including his girl). Once the beers were opened, we started talking about the scene, and if I was impressed by his work, I was stunned at how much he knew about the history of many of the writers and crews in NZ, & especially Wellington - going back years.
I don't feel like I'm doing Neo Nate justice and have stuck a Post It note to my forehead to take a tape recorder next time I find someone willing to spill but the thing that's stayed with me is how humble and unassuming he is.
It felt like a real treat to hang with him and we're all looking forward to when he gets back in a few months from his valuable whanau time in Te Awamutu...
And Happy Birthday matey potatee ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment