Artists • General Interest • Interviews • News > ::Eaz Burning New York::
SASTER: It’s been a while since we have last talked. What have you been up to lately?
EAZ: A little of this a little of that. Mainly I have been concentrating on my artwork. I’m definitely not made of paper but damn it’s fuckin’ cold out right now to paint. Basically I feel like I’m starting from scratch. I don’t really have a body of work as far canvases and sculptures go. I always felt a lot stronger on actually painting on walls. Seeing what other writers like Ces are doing with canvases has inspired me to get back to my hand painted work. I have also been painting custom skateboard decks and vinyl toys, one of which won first place in a competition amongst many other artists. Sculpture is also another thing I always wanted to try so I will hopefully have a few done by the end of winter. I was interviewed in a few mags and been in a few books as well. I’ve just been really on my grind and focused. You know what they say, “No sleep for the wicked!”
SASTER: Let’s get to some of the questions that are being asked. Do you and Per FX still have this beef going on between you two?
EAZ: Well that stupid shit of going over each other and shit talking was going on for a while. Over the end of the summer I was fed up and I went to the Meeting of Styles where I knew he was painting that day. Fortunately for everyone no one got hurt. I’m sure everyone was waiting for a big show and waiting for us to kill each other but I felt he deserved at least a conversation before anything crazy jumped off and in the end that would not have been worth it. I mean he was my boy for years and I was mega tight with dude. Even though I didn’t go there to talk I did anyway and we spoke on the shit that we were pissed about and cleared the air in person like men.
SASTER: You and Per were actually good friends for quite sometime. What is it that took the turn?
EAZ: I don’t see it as just one event. It was a many events. I didn’t want to be the only dude painting backgrounds for FX anymore. Anyone able or willing wasn’t doing it that was down with FX. Most of the “background” dudes didn’t live in New York, and they were all spread out all over the globe at the time. When I first got down I was expecting some sort of help. I cant front though Per helped a lot with the preliminary prep work but I just got burnt out. I like to paint when I feel like it not when its expected. I see shit as not working out for me I’m out. I expect the worse from people. Personality conflicts occur when two very similar people are around each other. Its what made us great friends and what inevitably created friction. I am a very cynical dude. That being said, the situation with him went exactly the way I predicted. We are both hardheaded fucks with tempers so you do the math.
SASTER: Who are you really not feeling in the Graff community now?
EAZ: Smug niggas that have an attitude about who the fuck they think they are. This is graffiti not brain surgery. We are not out there saving lives. You are either a bomber, piecer or both. Neither one makes you a tuff guy or better than anyone else. I have met a lot of cool writers but the egos I have also come across in this game is friggin’ hilarious. You fuckin paint, plain and simple. Get over yourself. Do not get it twisted though; I’m not one to disregard achievements in any way. If anything I acknowledge them to that person. Anyone that has had a conversation with me knows I’m not a dick unless you come out your mug. Some dudes I have talked to try and play some sort of role like they are too cool or some shit. The same dudes that cant paint for shit. Grounded and humble is always best when you meet someone. If you immediately let your ego show you look like a fucking moron. Mostly though I have met very cool people that have become good friends.
SASTER: Is all the painting you do legal productions?
EAZ: I have done a few things where I didn’t exactly have permission in the past. I try and steer away from that though. If I decide to paint, I paint to chill, have fun and flex some skills. That’s what graffiti is for me these days. I never claimed to be a bomber and I never really gave a fuck about peoples opinions on the legal versus illegal argument and neither should anyone else. Even if I did do illegal shit I would never admit it anyway so I could be lying right now 
. The train days are OVER. Its 2007 and whether you like it or not the face of graffiti has changed dramatically forever the way I see it. That is part of the reason I decided to come out with “The Future of Graffiti: Letter Style and Painting Techniques DVD”
SASTER: What’s the real deal story of “The Future of Graffiti” DVD?
EAZ: I couldn’t wait around any longer for other people to get focused. We all have fall outs with people and it just so happened I was going to do the DVD with Med, then we just didn’t communicate as often due to some bad business. Either way I still have great respect for Med. A few years went by then I brought up the idea to Per since Med was concentrating more on his music thing and running his tattoo shop (Tuff City Tattoo in the Bronx) at the time. It seemed fitting for me and Per to do it. We filmed one usable thing that I never used. Then him and me had a falling out which had nothing to do with the DVD or even graffiti for that matter. I gave it a year out of pure respect for him before I started even working on it. I just couldn’t let my intent to see this through go to waste. I busted my ass to learn what I learned just to do this DVD the way I wanted to see it done. 2 years later my mission was accomplished. Truth be told, no one “helped” me or gave me any “ideas” on how to do it or format it. I have a brain and this is what I do. It wasn’t that hard to figure out what topics I wanted to see covered. Like I said before, graffiti has changed and I feel like I contributed something positive to my culture. I’m just happy to be in it and glad people recognize and consider my work top notch. I gave back what took me many years to figure out. I let people who wanted to know more, a way to see how I paint and my way of doing things. If you derive even a little bit from this DVD it’s a good thing. Rest assures that this isn’t the last DVD I put out so stay tuned.
SASTER: Tell us about the limited edition going on, the ‘Burning New York’ book?
EAZ: The Future of Graffiti wall I did was a full-page feature within the ‘Burning New York’ book among other walls I was on. I was also within the ‘Broken Windows’ book they put out previous to this one. I never had the chance to meet the authors until recently so when I finally met up with Jim and Karla to get my copy we just started talking about things in general. They are exceptional people and very focused like myself. The conversation steered into the possibility of me doing a limited edition cover, which sounded like a great idea. Over that next week I was showing them progress shots of the cover as I was doing it. Thankfully I had enough time to dedicate to it because if I was going to do it I wanted to do it right and not play myself. They loved the end result. I felt like it was a good thing to do and to show my interpretation of how I would have done the cover. There is also a reason to do other names besides ‘EAZ’, which is a good exercise so I take advantage of that as well.
SASTER: Is there anything different that is in your limited edition?
EAZ: The cover sleeve was designed and illustrated by me and the inside cover is hand drawn with an outline of a name of your choice. Its part of the deal. They are all signed and numbered limited to 50 copies. Thankfully it’s doing very well considering it’s only been about 2 weeks out. You can see more on the book and other things I am up to at my site http://www.eaz-one.com or check out my myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/eldigital2
SASTER: Has the Graff scene quieted down a bit, or is it picking up for you?
EAZ: I have never been really known for being “in the scene”, meaning, I don’t really attend events or gallery shows all that much. I have clients to contend with and a ton of things in life I want to accomplish that has very little to do with Graff. Even with all that going on I will always take the time to paint with friends or rock little one-man productions if weather permits.
SASTER: Any advice you want to add?
EAZ: Stop sniveling for crumbs and start doing shit that gets you ahead and up. Whether it is worldwide or all city. Just do it. Don’t sweat what the next man is doing. Try to make power moves, do you and be happy with what you have. No one else will do it for you.
Love to all my friends, family and haters near and far.
