Interview with Eko
Posted: August 25, 2015 Filed under: Graffiti, People | Tags: Eko, FlourescentSmog, Graffiti, Hull, MrJoe, Paris, Pinky, Sickboy, skeg, Spam, Whip, Xenz, Ziml Leave a comment<Facetime Beeeep>
Spamdog Hiyaaa
Eko Whhhhgk..Hello!
Spamdog hahaha Alright! How ya doin? <laughing>
Eko I’m alright
Spamdog hahaha <Eko’s big smiley face appears on the screen within what looks like a home studio lair, his beardy face wearing a skipper’s wooly hat and a massive grin>
Eko Put yer camera on!!! Eh?
Spamdog What? Can you see me?……………..
Eko awww it’s reconnecting………here, let me turn you in’oo… Ah, there you are…. I can hear you…Let me turn it up on my computer…a-hello!
Spamdog Hiiii how ya doin?
Eko “Poor connection. This video will resume automatically when the video improves”… <long inhaling sound…with trumpet noise from Eko!>
Spamdog I can hear you……..
Eko How ya doing? How’s things?
Spamdog Yeup… its good. Shall we go on… shall we just go on audio then??
Eko <80s yuppy voice> YAHHH we can just GO ON AUDIO!
Spamdog <same voice> GREAT, I really like… I really fancy that ahahaa
Eko amito..<voice distortion>
Spamdog eh?………………………..gggreat………..what’s going on? ………..<hums to self> hmmm ………..let’s try this again…………..<Facetime Beeeep>………………. <Facetime Beeeep>………………. <Facetime Beeeep>………………. <Facetime Bee… HI!…..
Eko Hello
Spamdog Hello can you hear me?
Eko <faint voice> I can hear you
Spamdog You can hear me?
Eko I can hear you YEAH!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?!
Spamdog No I can’t hear you! What did you just say? Uhuhee hee hee
Eko You can hear me!!
Spamdog Ha, haaah so yeah, how ya doing?
Eko I’m alright. I’m not bad. It’s errr school holidays
Spamdog Yupp
Eko Is it school holidays where you are?
Spamdog Yeah it has been. I’ve been off for like over two months now
Eko Holy shit!
Spamdog Yeah…
Eko Yeah… wow! How come it’s so long?
Spamdog Erm well….Just that’s the way the school holiday works out here
… but anyway, I’ve got two months off it’s my birthday in…erm…thirty….eight minutes
Eko Aw no way!
Spamdog Yeah huhuh
Eko HAHAHAHAAAA!
Spamdog hahaha yeah…
Eko No way!
Spamdog Yeah! I remember… er I was gonna say… I remember when I was living in Bristol and you came down for that…for my birthday…I’ve got a photograph of you looking up… up to the top of the flat when I was living on the top floor. But erm..
Eko Oh yeah!
Spamdog Yeah.. but tell me about how was the Humber Street Sesh thing?
Eko It was good fun man. Really nice to meet ermm all those local kiddies. Well I didn’t meet all of them… like..
Spamdog Wassis name SKAG or summat? SKEG!
Eko SKEG? SKEGGY?! Eees nice.
Spamdog It’s such a wicked tag man!
Eko Yeah… erm… he’s cool…Do you know Joe? Do you not know MR JOE?
Spamdog I know him a lot from online but I’ve never actually met ‘im
Eko Oh Okaaay so he’s amazingly lovely as well
Spamdog Yeah?! huhuh
Eko And then there’s another guy called WHIP who’s not online but who is like…
Spamdog He’s not online?!
Eko Ha ha! He’s not online!
Spamdog He’s not online?!
Eko He’s not onliiiine!!! I know!
Spamdog He’s not aliiive!
Eko He’s not online cos he’s not alive…errr… and er…he’s like errr… he’s really lovely guy as well and umm..
Spamdog hahaha
Eko ummm and Graham was kinda going like “well, this dude totally reminds me of SPAM!”
Spamdog What?!
Eko Yeah, well…. Cos he like, well he kinda does and he doesn’t. He does and he doesn’t.
Spamdog Alright
Eko So they’re a really really amazing bunch of dudes actually
Spamdog Yeah I really like their work. The first time I saw it was when I was looking on the internet for a warehouses video. I’ve been tranna get in touch with people who’ve got a copy of the Heartlands VHS cos I wanna dub it over on to DVD. And the amount of people who I’ve asked who have been like “yeah I’ll do it” and then nothing happens. But anyway I was lookin for that and I typed up “Hull Graffiti Warehouses” and then I found this video of them like you know their pieces, you know, those three you’ve mentioned
Eko yeah
Spamdog and they were like fucking fresh. I really liked it. So I got in touch with that, wassissname Joe kid and erm yeah I’ve been chattin with him quite a bit but I don’t know the other guys so well.
Eko They’re really really really really super amazing guys
Spamdog huhuh
Eko It was.. I think I needed to go back up North or I needed to go to Hull
Spamdog yeah
Eko And erm have like a real erm…like positive really lovely time
Spamdog yeah
Eko and those guys were just so GENEROUS!
Spamdog yeah
Eko just like really generous with their like… they didn’t know us.PINKY knows them quite well. PINKY’s hung about with them all
Spamdog yeah
Eko and they’re just like us, they just like honestly…just like us lot man
Spamdog uhahaha
Eko It’s uncanny! It’s so weird! They really are..And it was cool…
Spamdog Is it like the err A Team and the fake A Team (Season 3 Episode 10 Showdown) right?
Eko right… I dunno
Spamdog The way you said that guy was like SPAM uhuhuh
Eko Well just like yeah no… well that’s what Graham was like saying… I mean for me they were like just.. What it was it just reminded me of what we were all like
Spamdog yeah
Eko yknow like… like… the kind of… friendliness
Spamdog Yeah, I d…I know what you mean
Eko Friendliness and a kind of… warmth that I’d kinda forgotten which was inherent in all of us I think. And I think you know, that’s what people that we met… Y’know especially when we all went to Bristol
Spamdog yeah
Eko a lot of people were like “you guys are so friendly” so y’know
Spamdog yeah. There weren’t kind of barriers. People were like “here’s what I do and let’s get on with it and have some fun with it and bein open about what they were doin
Eko yeah
Spamdog and that, that’s hard to find and that’s what makes a good creative group is when you’ve got that… what’s the word…you know…
Eko openness?
Spamdog yeah but there’s another word for it… im struggling, kind of…. (integrity?)
Eko ayyy and Batty, Batty was there as well. Batty came up and he was something…
Spamdog What?!
Eko Batty was there, Batty came up yeah. So it was like erm, he stayed with us
Spamdog tsssss
Eko So it was good to catch up with him and erm
Spamdog yeah
Eko and he was saying how like, “everyone just dances” and I’m like “dude, I’ve said this about Hull for years. Like everybody in Hull goes out and dances and nobody’s stood around, y’know or, or, nobody’s bothered if you are dancing, nobody’s bothered if you are duh-dah-duh-duh-dah-duh-dah-duhrrr” it’s just like everyone gets on with it, this doesn’t really happen in Manchester, it’s because in like Manchester, there’s a…
Spamdog too cool
Eko too cool for school they feel like they’ve got summat to prove
Spamdog yeah
Eko everyone’s like out-cooling each other and it’s like… so he’ just fucking danced all weekend and had a really fun time
Spamdog yeah
Eko and err that was really good to hear cos you know he like.. those guys went to the… although I didn’t know them then
Spamdog yeah
Eko those guys all used to go to the Welly and all that stuff as well so…
Spamdog did they?
Eko yeah no, so it was, yeah Batty did… Batty, Dom and TRENT and all those people you know like,, ROYAL?
Spamdog Oh yeah yeah
Eko Yeah yeah so err.. I mean I never knew those guys then I knew them all later in London ironically <sucks air through teeth> so…
Spamdog Well I was looking at Batty’s like Hold No Hostages thing man it was fucking… yeah… yknow it’s weird how things.. I dunno.. er how thing’s fly by don’t they but everybody says that! Everybody says that and then they’re like <idiot voice> “Oh it’s sooo surprising!”
Eko yeah
Spamdog but it fucking is. It’s like one minute you’re doing all that stuff and then.. I still feel like those things are still alive in all of us but I feel like.. y’know I just like… that could kick start any moment again. I feel like the same really. How about you?
Eko Yeah! I mean that was what was so wonderful about going up North
Spamdog yeah
Eko was erm… there was a real…y’knowitwasliketherewaslike… me Graham… Graham…Batty… Pinky and Lonny
Spamdog yeah
Eko and then loads of other people as well and ahm and a few of my old crew were around and it was like… it was like erm… tch…yeah it was like good, like the good ol’ days man it was err It was a lot of fun and I laughed and laughed and erm you know I paid for it when I came home
Spamdog hahaha
Eko bee’in forty one tranna live that lifestyle but I think you know, I think with err… city of culture thing… I think there’s gonna be lot’s of excuses to be up North you know?
Spamdog yeah
Eko Lot’s of excuses to be back in Hull and erm… it’s been a real good precursor. It’s made me kinda go “oh this is brilliant. This is great. Y’know I really wanna come back here, I really wanna meet these guys on their own terms and go painting with them”.. you know… Can you still hear me?
Spamdog Yeah I can, y’know y’know that I’m recording yah?
Eko Oh brilliant!
Spamdog <Telfinder Fingernip voice> I’m recording you right now uhhh!
Eko Ohhh I love it!
Spamdog Haahahah
Eko What y recording with? A tape cassette deck?
Spamdog Yeah the same one that I did with Kool Herc, yeahhh, no no just with the erm internet, no with Audacity
Eko Yessssss Audacity… hmmm. So yeah that was wonderful
Spamdog yeup
Eko Annn I ca… And actually, for the first time ever, <loud> HAH!! </loud> I’m really looking forward to going back whenever we… whatever happens next.
Spamdog Yeah? Yeah! I wanna go back now!
Eko And there is … yeah man
Spamdog I’m gonna go back. That’s kind of my plan really. I haven’t told anybody but… That’s what I’m gonna do… yup
Eko Yeah?
Spamdog Yea-ah! Yeah I’m gonna go back there. I’ll probably..
Eko How’ s that gonna work? What ygonna do?
Spamdog That’s gonna involve being in Australia for one year…erm… and then coming back after that.
Eko You… you you.. you cut out on me then
Spamdog Can you hear me?
Eko yeah
Spamdog yeah it involves going to Australia and then coming back after that
Eko right…okay…
Spamdog to become fully qualified
Eko oh right yeah
Spamdog so yeah
Eko right
Spamdog gonna do it gonna do it
Eko And then you’re gonna move the family back to England? Is that the idea?
Spamdog Dunno dunno yet about that……….so…
Eko <booming voice> HAHA !</booming voice> Okaaay!
Spamdog Hahaa
Eko Huhuhu
Spamdog Anyway…Let’s talk about something else! Hahaha Yeah! So eerm… Tell me about your work. What are you working on?
Eko <draws in long breath> errrrrr… so… What am I doing right this minute?
Spamdog yeah
Eko or…or…right… What am I doing…
Spamdog Cos you always said to me, just, you always said to me, like don’t stop doing stuff and I totally did. I’ve totally stopped drawing and I got like I realized I didn’t even wanna sketch and draw and stuff.. but I’ve started doing that in the last couple of weeks and you know I’ve got back into it so I’m gonna do that
Eko Yeah. I think, even if you’re just drawing, even… I mean that’s why graffiti’s great.. because with graffiti its pre…with graffiti you’ve got a brief… you’ve got a brief there forever
Spamdog Yeahaha To get up!
Eko I’ve said this before. You’ve just got this brief in front of you whatever it is… With me it’s three letters. So I’m never gonna sit down in front of a piece of paper, a blank piece of paper, and go “So what the fuck am I gonna draw?!”
Spamdog Well yeah that’s the funny thin…
Eko I don’t even need to think man <talking over each other!>
Spamdog Well that’s the funny thing people always say. Oh writer’s block..
Eko Wooh! You’re sounding craaazzzzzy! <distortion on the audio?>
Spamdog Yeah I’m just saying about writer’s block
Eko Ohh right. Yeah, I don’t believe in writer’s block
Spamdog Yeah I’ve never felt that in terms of being able to create things and it sounds as though you’re the same right?
Eko Yeah I don’t ff, I don’t think it.. I think cos like once you draw, cos if you draw then you don’t get writer’s block
Spamdog Well, yeah I suffer from being a lazy bastard sometimes but not from writer’s block!
Eko yeah…YEAH…yeah…oh definitely. I mean sooo listen. I’m still like really into sketchbooks so I’m still filling I’m li…. I’m drawing now while I’m talking to you
Spamdog Wicked! That’s how it should be, right?
Eko I’ll flip those pages to you now
Spamdog I’m gonna…
Eko Yeah so drawing…You know, still drawing lots and lots, butum… so errm…
Spamdog heheheh
Eko I guess erm… I’ve s… It used to be I would draw to inform whatever I was gonna paint.
Spamdog yeah
Eko But these days I don’t really…I don’t paint so much, yknow I don’ go out and paint wall so much
Spamdog Do you still feel like y’wannoo?
Eko Sorry. Say that gain you keep cutting out
Spamdog Do you still feel like y’wannoo?
Eko Yeah, I would love to. Yeah. I mean I … I..
Spamdog Why don’t you?
Eko Yeah..no..I mean. The problem is that umm hahhhh <big sigh!>
Spamdog That’s a long sigh man…
Eko yeahh
Spamdog time?
Eko ‘cos it bothers me
Spamdog Well, th, it shouldn’t bother yuh
Eko no it does, it bothers me that I don’t paint
Spamdog Yeah but none of them guys do.. y’know.. all the other guys, well maybe the Grahams do but like PINKY ZIML and GASIUS them guys don’t paint.. they don’t paint regularly. Like I’m fucking… the only place to paint here, my excuse here right..
Eko yeah
Spamdog ..and it’s not even an excuse because it sounds like I’m putting it off and in fact I really wanna paint.. the thing is, there’s no Hall of Fame apart from ermmm, there’s one major one in,, and it’s like two hours to get there on a train and a bus and it’s a major kinda fucking trek to get there ermm
Eko yeah.. So I’ve got a similar, I’ve got a similar sort of thing where..
Spamdog uhhuhu ok yeah
Eko where, where, yeah, where
Spamdog You’re cutting out. Oh bugger. Hello? I can’t hear you at all mate. Oh this is weird. Hello… hello.. <to self> I’ll draw a head. I’ve started sketching… What is going on??? I’ll try calling back…<Facetime Beeeep>
Eko Hellooo?
Spamdog Hey!
Eko Heeey!
Spamdog Hiiiii. That’s better.
Eko Yeah. Shavabittttt.. yee go on
Spamdog No no. It’s alright itwasjust cutting off
Eko Yeah it is here as well. So I don’t know what you heard. I can’t remember what I was saying. What was I saying?
Spamdog Oh. We were talking about something about painting?
Eko Oh
Spamdog Where do you paint? Wanting to paint.
Eko ..about walls
Spamdog Yeah, just wanting to.
Eko It’s not like, like oh y’know, is not like, iss, iss not like “oh those guys don’t paint” so you know, it’s just like.. its its ooffh, I’ve still got things I wanna paint
Spamdog Yeah
Eko It’s not like the thing of going err erm “Oh I should just get out the house, go out and go and paint”
Spamdog yeah
Eko Or y’shouldn’t worry about it cos these guys don’t paint anymore
Spamdog yeah
Eko duh-duh-duh-da-duhr. Waanna go out and have that physical experience of standing in front of a waaaaall and tussling back and forth with it until it you know..
Spamdog Until it works
Eko until it works or whatever or dunt work or whatever really. Just the thing of going out and erm… erm.. being outside and being erm… cuz I cuz I cuz I draw so much
Spamdog ye-ah
Eko I could go out and paint something different every day
Spamdog yeah
Eko and that, and that kinda bothers me a little bit that… and I think, and I think what would happen would be actually I would be progressing way way more if erm I painted some of this stuff. Dynuuhr I mean?
Spamdog yeah I think so. Yeah yeah I do and I I feel the same man. I feel the same about it. I think that you’re similar in that way. Like just that errrmm that connection and I always really liked the social thing about it. We’re talking about people, straight away, you and me. Like, I’m supposed to be interviewing you for like this erm for what is it? Fluorescent Smog or something for SICKBOY’s thing
Eko uh-huh
Spamdog and you know. I don’t know, it’s a bit of a weird thing. When I’ve done interviews before I’ve just typed ad verbatim whatever people have spoken and it comes out pretty cool but in this case the firs.. anyway I was going off track, but the first thing is..
Eko mmm
Spamdog we always start talking about people you and me. I mean. I think that’s a really big thing you know in erm… I don’t know if it comes through in like, your work? What do you think? That’s just a question that I’m thinking up
Eko yeah, no, not r.. fff I don’t know man. I think the deal is with erm… dyu mean like.. euerr, dealing w.. dyu mean like in terms of like the social .. dyu mean in terms of like the social think or like..
Spamdog I don’t know what I mean!
Eko ..people who inspire you?
Spamdog uhuh huh huh
Eko well yeah I mean, that’s alright
Spamdog huh ha I was thinking about you as a person I guess and then I was tranna think if there was some kind of link but then if someone asked me the same question I’m not sure if I could answer it! Err or give them a suitable kind of response so…yeah, but y’know, let’s talk, let’s just talk about that man, let’s talk about what, y’know, how important you think that social aspect is for you as a recreation, as an activity, rather than a end product of something that you make
Eko <sucks air through teeth> yeah I know, it’s like going fishing isn’t it?
Spamdog yeah huh huh huh
Eko which kinda trivializes it but I think that’s fine
Spamdog ye..
Eko you know it’s not erm.. we’re not building hospitals
Spamdog yeah
Eko or defibrillators .. or like fucking.. erm.. I don’t know, shit people need
Spamdog yeah
Eko its purely its purely just for the just for the, its purely like a selfish kind of like endeavour isn’t it?
Spamdog Yup it is
Eko like er…. Which I think you realize when you have kids. When you have kids you realize what a selfish… I mean that’s bein an artist that’s essentially…
Spamdog your drive
Eko you’ve got, you’ve gotta be very selfish about these things. But yeah, I think without trivializing it, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, and I’m not being facetious but I mean like that idea that like yknow that erm errr that is what I love about it. That is one of the things that I love about it. It’s the thing of being outside with people, enjoying, enjoying erm…the space and the erm.. cos you always got to be.. nearly always going to be interested in spaces to enjoy this stuff
Spamdog yeah right
Eko there’s something, there’s something about like standing in front of a wall or standing in a space, in the same place that mebees like I don’t know why, I don’t know how, you become really erm… you get ownership of that space happens really really quickly and you get to know that, you know that little bit of, that little bit of land or that little bit of wall, you get to know it intimately
Spamdog Yeah you’re thinking about it aren’t you? I always find, I don’t know about you, but when I’m painting I always like to look at the lines underneath and that always like kind of influences what I do. I don’t know. Some people would say that’s kind of biting. I don’t really give a fuck but, like I always look at the kind of shapes a a a and you can see the outline of other peoples’ stuff underneath it ermm
Eko yeah
Spamdog but when I’ve been marking out <talking over each other>
Eko well yeah that was always a nice thing…
Spamdog cos I freestyle. You know, cos I’m freestylin’ so I’m sort of following what what I feel like an then I’m s.. seeing things in y’know sort of re… re…. reusing sort of mixing up the shapes that you already see in front of you
Eko But isn’t that, that’s quite a healthy little game to play? Don’t you think?
Spamdog Ye-ah
Eko cos youre kind of, because you end up you end up kind of like, its almost like, not drawing with your eyes shut, but you’re almost following a predetermined path and then mixing it in with the present. You’re like time-travelling between two periods! You’re like “Ah I’m gonna…
Spamdog ahuh huh
Eko …follow this bit here and I’m gonna come back to me and what’s in my mind or I’m gonna look at the drawing in front of me….
Spamdog yeah
Eko …which was drawn a week ago” you’re like time travelling between all these different ermm…
Spamdog Cutting things up!
Eko ..in…yeah! cutting up cutting back between… I think its… We’ve done that before
Spamdog yeah
Eko that’s a really interesting experiment to do when you’re painting isn’t it when you’re painting a wall? And the other one is to nick peoples’ fills
Spamdog Yeahaha
Eko and see if you can like like tastefully integrate parts of peoples’ fills
Spamdog yeah but people don’t like that’s like an oldskool big no no!
Eko <booming> Hha ha ha! I knoooow! </booming>
Spamdog Are you taking the piss?!
Eko I know! We did it, we did it recently and somebody was a bit upset actually
Spamdog Really?!
Eko Yeah, no names mentioned
Spamdog ahahaha
Eko it happened in Bristol. And it was purely meant in a… It wasn’t.. you know, it was… It’s kind of like yeah…It is weird that someone would find that annoying on quite a kind of…
Spamdog I don’t know but like… <talking over> how
Eko …generic
Spamdog I know it is, and I’ve seen something on TV with EINE talking about how like graffiti writers follow those rules and stuff and it’s a very kind of… as a discipline it’s kind of.. you know, you know e e it’s quite rigid and er you know not… but then… but then I kind of think it’s like a discipline. It’s like a martial art or something that, you know, if you, you know, It’s almost like you’ve gotta have these rules that you can break them, but then you know if you don’t have that then you just, like, you just end up being like a fucking wanker you know! hahaha
Eko hahaha
Spamdog like a lot of fucking erm like a lot of fucking aerosol artists and stuff that, like the people that don’t really get it anymore you know in the same way that you, you lot definitely, your generation did, and me a little bit erm… dya know what I mean?
Eko YEAH I do! And and and it and it AHAH HA but it is nice to…
Spamdog mwuhhaaaa..
Eko …kind of go past all that and kind of go… I think that’s what happens when you’ve done something for as long as you have you know?
Spamdog yeah
Eko you start looking at it you start going “hang on, there’s more to this than meets the eye” and um and I guess once you erm.. once you erm like I wonder! I wonder actually, once you actually master the can in…
Spamdog <sniggers>
Eko …terms of like…
Spamdog wh wo who?! haha
Eko just whoever
Spamdog ha ha ha when you said that “mastering the can” I just imagined like I dunno like SEEN “here’s the can…. I mastered it!!!”
“How long’s it gonna take you to master the can kid?!”
Eko HAHAHA! No no no look! Alright I’ll backtrack! What I mean is…hahaha once the can Once the can in your hand is forgotten about, meaning that you’re painting with it and using it and it becomes like an extension
Spamdog oh yeah ok sorry
Eko you’re not worrying about you’re not worrying about like the ins and outs of “oh I push the button now and then the line comes out” when you’re younger
Spamdog hahaha
Eko when you’re younger when you first start you’re like “oh right I’ve got to push the button and move my arm at the same at the same time” so once you get past all that nonsense cause you’ve got used to using the can…
Spamdog That takes a few weeks though dunnit? You know…
Eko … <booming> Te heh heee he he! </booming> yeah a few weeks! Yeah man!
Spamdog A few hours!
Eko Oh dude! It takes yeeears that!
Spamdog Dya reckon?
Eko Years and years and years. Yeah yeah definitely
Spamdog What shall we say? What shall we say? “It takes hours to learn and years to master?!” there ya go
Eko Ohhh god…. Yeah…
Spamdog Whatever
Eko So anyway anyway so like um.. What was my point what was my point?
Spamdog Oh shit
Eko My point being that once you get to that place then you start looking at the lines underneath the painting, from the painting before. Or you start looking at the cobwebs that you’re spraying over
Spamdog yeah
Eko Or you start lookin at the hole in the wall or you start looking at your feet while you’re doing it
Spamdog hah
Eko You start daydreaming you start time travelling and all the rest of the shit that happens when you become proficient at something and you lose where you are at that moment and you go to that place you know? Where everything kinda flows. So ehm.. y…<Yawns>
Spamdog Hehehe
Eko Huhuhuhuhu What time is there where you are?
Spamdog It’s erm 23:47
Eko What does that mean? At night?
Spamdog Yeah
Eko What’s that near mid-n… oh it’s nearly y’ birthday okay
Spamdog yeah nearly my birthday
Eko so nearly midnight
Spamdog a bin listenin’ to some Ninja Tunes Funkungfusion you remember that?
Eko huh huh No! I remember Ninja Tunes. I don’t remember that particular track
Spamdog It’s like an album, compilation album anyway…
Eko hmm
Spamdog that’s off off, off track so…. Erm……….fucking hell let’s paint! Let’s go’an paint! I wanna go and paint
Eko Yeah
Spamdog That’s all
Eko I wanna go paint too. That’s it. Can’t do it.
Spamdog Yes we can!
Eko We can’t time-travel properly
Spamdog We don’t need to do that!
Eko We need to inter-dimensionally time travel between you and me
Spamdog yeah
Eko and wherever you are…
Spamdog <yuppy voice> We just need one of those USB can, can spray can controllers and we could do an interactive piece with light beams and project it
Eko huhuhuh
Spamdog Maybe in like, a nice café, in London I don’t know </yuppy voice>
Eko hehehehe sounds good
Spamdog smells good… what you drawing now then? I can hear you, I can hear you scriblin away there. I’m sort of drawing with a biro pen now cos I thought that’s a betta way to kindof to like fill in like you know, time as well as talkin. Talking nonsense really, myself
Eko yeah well I’m drawin,,, I don’t know what I’m drawing. I’m drawing anything… I’m just drawing, but I don’t know what I’m drawing… so errm… errmm so anyway you asked me earlier what I think I’m doing?
Spamdog yeah
Eko ooo…errrr…bin…. Ma…bu bub bubububuuhhh So what have I been doin? I made a sss made this thing with SICKBOY
Spamdog yeah?
Eko So… I don’t know if you know what it is but it’s like a p.. a pipe. Like a erm… old school kinda clay pipe
Spamdog Oh right?
Eko Sooo… yes there’s a clay pipe there’s a clay pipe and er.. and er so the thing with the clay pipes is I kept finding the clay pipes
Spamdog So hang on a minute…you’re talking about clay pipes and like, isn’t that the logo for this website kind of thing that SICKBOY has done?
Eko That’s… that’s more of ermm a smoking pipe isn’t it?
Spamdog Yeah
Eko That’s, that’s more of a modern, more of a modern wooden bowled err err the shape of that is a modern, well not modern but y’know relatively modern in comparis in comparison to like a clay pipe. You do get modern pipes that are a similar shape to the fluorescent smog logo but yeah I would say that that was more of a… modern pipe. So clay pipe is you know, is kinda the white bone ermmm old.. are you still there?
Spamdog Ye-ah! I’m still there! Yeah yeah yeah I’m jus yuh…
Eko yuh so it’s got like a, so it’s a errr… and they were made in err, they were made they were mass produced. So they were like Clippo™, not even Clippo™ you know we call them throw away lighters. You know throw away lighters?
Spamdog Yeah
Eko They were made, they were made in erm, they were mass produced and they were made to be thrown away so if you broke um it was no bother you would just peg it and go buy a new one and they cost they cost whatever they cost erm… a penny
Spamdog Kind of like a corn-cob pipe or summat?
Eko Like a what?
Spamdog Corn cob pipe
Eko ………yes, yuh y yeah!
Spamdog <laugh> and you can chuck it away right?
Eko Yeah yeah yeah, well no. This is the thing. They were totally disposable. It was like a mass produced disposable item
Spamdog Yeah
Eko That’s why you find so many of them. That’s why so many of them turn up on the banks of the River Thames
Spamdog Oh ok
Eko And that’s why they they they turn up in rivers quite a lot err and they just they just turn up in gardens you know, that you dig in and they’re.. I just kept finding them. Literally. “What is this sticking out the gound?! What’s this fucking pipe?!” And I uhm I found one and I like, I fo… I found one.. we were were on Millennium Mills which is this site in London which is this big err.. It’s like a big mill that they use for filming and we were on set doing some bullshit thing to earn some money, and when we were on set. And err I went, we went for a little rest and we were by the docks, these old school docks I found like a load of clay pipes* A load of duck heads…
Millenium Mills
*Clay pipes are commonly found on the banks of the Thames. This blog recounts how one comber, after being attacked by PC monitor lobbing scallies even chanced upon a dress sword alongside these pipes http://100pages.me/thames-beachcombing/hazards-and-clay-pipes.aspx
Spamdog What?! Duck heads?!
Eko Like duck heads. Skulls of ducks
Spamdog Oh skulls, yeah
Eko Skulls. Duck skulls…
Spamdog hahahaha
Eko And er we had some fun throwing duck heads at the ducks! Errm and I took these pieces of pipe home. Anyway, this stuck in. You know like, something happens and its mebee like, kinda like a silly thing or a fun thing that happens..
Spamdog yeah
Eko but for some reason it sticks in yer brain and it it, er as an event or something. It’s like mebee… I don’t know why… but anyway. So this thing stuck in my mind and I kept finding pipes and I kept finding pipes and I’m like “What the fuck I keep finding pipes” I did a little bit of research and started looking at clay pipes and they’re amazing considering that they are.. that they were a throw away errr object and they were erm they were as cheap as chips and er… and er common. The amount of artistry that went into them yknow
Spamdog What are they made out of? Wood?
Eko No, they’re made out of a clay
Spamdog Clay. You said yeah
Eko yeah like a white clay. There’s various ways they would cast these things erm err… There’s a few places in England. There’s places in Ireland. There’s a place in Ireland well know for making these pipes and people buy them and they collect them. I I I don’t think so many people smoke through them cos it’s quite a harsh, it’s quite a harsh smoke apparently.
Spamdog yeah
Eko So so anyways. I have all these bits of pipe hanging around and I was buy.. I bought some pipes and they started t… like these things do, they started turning up in yer drawings erm er.. so pipes and duck heads and duck skulls and beaks were kinda turning up in ma drawings erm and er erm and then I started to like start cobbling these things together in the studio with like little bits of old PEZ™
Spamdog hm
Eko you know PEZ™?
Spamdog yeah the toys. The sweet dispensers?
Eko Sweet dispenser. And so I thought this was interesting because you’ve got like a throw away item that was this clay, really beautifully modeled and then you’ve got these modern throw away objects, these PEZ™ that err similarly a lot of time and energy goes into them there in terms of them being sculpted and erm these two things are both collected. There’s like a hundred years that separates these two objects
Spamdog Yeah
Eko and they’re the type of thing they’re the type of thing you can find in s.. yknow they’re throw-away again. So I just threw the two things together and made this pipe and designed this pipe errr. And it only existed it only existed as a..as a… as a… erm.. as an art, as an artwork erm. And then I showed it to SICKBOY and I said to SICKBOY “Can we make this?” and erm he, he, he went for it so y’know. So I wanna make lots more of these pipes but I wanted to make… so this thing I’ve done with SICKBOY is probably about as commercial as I get. It’s like a mass-produced, commercial..<says as an aside> it’s not mass produced there’s only twenty five of them </> but yeah, it’s like err it’s like err It’s quite simplistic and oftentimes my work is quite laboured so I like that about this. It’s kind of a simple err stylish, stylistic, stylish kind of… and it’s a beautiful object. This thing is, yknow when you pick it up errmm, it’s a beautiful, it’s a beautiful shape. And it feels like it’s…
Spamdog It’s a clay pipe?
Eko So yeah. It’s a clay pipe that is the edition I’m making with SICKBOY. It’s not made of clay. I’ll just say that, put it out there. It’s made of a resin.
Spamdog ah-aaa!
Eko b’cus the process is…
Spamdog <hullie accent> ahr it’s med of rezin mate!
Eko uhuhuhuhhuhuuhuh
Spamdog Did ya smoke it straight awaay?
Eko It’s med of rockie black
Spamdog heheheheh
Eko It’s just all rezin. It’s got little bits, little bits of Darth Vader stickin out of it!
Spamdog ahahahahahahah bit of bleach to mek it guhr further mate!
Eko a bit of vinyl record, bits of old vinyl record
Spamdog ahuhuhuhuh
Eko ahm yeah, so its made of its made of East Hull rockie
Spamdog hahahahaahah
Eko uhahahaHAAUAA! Which would be a really nice, really nice stuff to sculpt I reckon!
Spamdog It would probably dry more quickly…
Eko Yeah…<considering the notion> I’ll have to get a couple of nine bars… and, and sculpt some pipes
Spamdog Ohh…
Eko Yeah no, so, yeahhh no and it’s funny actually. I’ve stopped smoking as well.
Spamdog What? Everything?
Eko ..it’s interesting.. yeah everything.. y’know that I’ve pretty much stopped smoking pot weeelll, apart from when I draw sometimes I will smoke pot. But yeah, no I’ve stopped smoking pot, stopped smoking cigarettes erm which has been a big deal
Spamdog What, you umm like roll-ups and stuff?
Eko Yeah yeah. I’ve stopped smoking. About fuckin time I hear you, I hear you say.
Spamdog No no no, it’s like whenever it happens it happens right?
Eko yeah. So that’s what I’ve made with SICKBOY and I’ve made a box with it to erm ahh and there’s umm and there’s a piece of print that that goes in the box with this thing which is kind of a folded map..
Spamdog <interrupts with nobhead voice> HEEEY! I’VE JUST REALISED! THERE WAS SOME IRONY THERE! THERE WAS IRONY!
Eko …<a pause that says “oh god…”> I missed the irony
Spamdog DID YOU DETECT THE IRONY?
Eko No…
Spamdog The iron… YOU’VE JUST TOLD ME,
Eko hahaha
Spamdog THAT YOU’RE.. you can see it can’t you? THAT YOU’RE MAKING A CLAY… A, A , A , MODEL PIPE
Eko yeah
Spamdog AND YOU’VE JUST TOLD ME..
Eko {both in unison} THAT I’VE STOPPED SMOKING!
Spamdog …
Eko yeahh
Spamdog THAT’S IRONIC!
Eko ..whu..HAHAAHAA Yes!!
Spamdog huhuhu
Eko hahaha
Spamdog that’s GREAT! </>
Eko that’s out of, that is IRONIC! That yeah…..the mystery
Spamdog ahahahaha I think that’s great anyway, you were telling me about the map in there?
Eko Yeah anyway I’ve made a map, a little fold-out map that is in there with this thing as well. So yeah like, that’s what I’ve done and that’s what I’ve made. So um yeah errrrrrrm. That’s me, yup.
Spamdog I love you mate
Eko That’s me, that’s what I’ve been doing and umm. What else have I been doing? Bit of painting. Not much. Been painting canvasses, not much. I painted a big canvas but it, it really hurt me to do it!
Spamdog <laughing> How d’ya mean?
Eko <laughing> It was painful! You know, sometimes stuff’s just painful innit?
Spamdog ..like do you mean building it?
Eko Well it’s just painful! It’s like “Oh man! What is this?! What is the painting?! This is fucking awful!”
Spamdog Oh I’ve had that happen a couple of times yeah.
Eko “What have I done?! Oh uhhhhhhr no!” Y’know? And you just.. there’s no backing out. You’ve started it, and “auhh I’ve got to finish it”.
Spamdog Did you salvage it? Did you kinda turn it around?
Eko Nooooooo I finished it and I’ve kindav gone I’ve kindav gone “Yeah man, it’s, it’s …. Awful!”
Spamdog heh!
Eko <Booming laugh> HahahaAHAHAAAA! </>
Spamdog Yeah sometimes, sometimes you’ve.. Don’t you ever have work like that and then you leave it and then you come back to it and you think “That’s fucking amazing! That’s really good! What was I onnabout?! That’s the best thing I ever did!”
Eko I think… I think when you’ve made something really quick, that happens to me. So if I make something. If I go into the studio and I make like twenty things in the day, they’re really simple and I walk away and I let’em dry, put em away in the cupboard and then I’ll come back to ‘um. That’s happened to me loads. Stuff that I’ve done really quick and I’ve gone “Oh man! That’s dope! I’ve gotta return to that but I think…I think because I’ve because I’ve laboured over this painting for two whole days ermm… I just yeah, I just, went somewhere that was a waste of time erm and err.. <yawns> but y’know there’s bits of it that I like. Little corner bits that I really like and I should just paint the rest of it white
Spamdog <laughs>
Eko just leave that little bit there. So I might do that there.
Spamdog When you’ve…when you’ve painted with me in the past you’ve said. You’ve talked about bits that you like painting and you’ve said, I always remember you saying that you really like painting b, blocks and areas of colour?
Eko <trying to recall>……..right
Spamdog and I was like “I kind….
Eko <interrupts with booming trademark roaring laughter> HAHAHAHA I love this! People do this to me all the time!
Spamdog No, I…
Eko My mum always… my mum always used to do this to me
Spamdog <laughs>
Eko I wonder if I suffer from like, some kind of dementia?!
Spamdog <laughs>
Eko like some kind of, real intense memory loss… that mebee makes me think that like there’s big swathes of my life that I ought to do stuff..that I don’t even remember doin or knowin about or…
Spamdog <interrupts> Well, I don’t know but but, but you said it, at the time, you said it with a lot of conviction
Eko <finishing sentence>… yeah
Spamdog I was thinking “Wow!”
Eko I’m always told this
Spamdog <laugh>
Eko I’m always told this and I go “wuh..I never said that!” <booming laughter!>
Spamdog I re…
Eko “whatyuonnabout!” My mum would always go ‘a me. She’d say summat like “You really don’t like lamb chops do you?”
Spamdog pwuhh huhuh
Eko “Mum, I love lamb chops!” “You’ve said to me for years that you hate lamb chops! ‘I couldn’t go anywhere near a lamb chop..’” and I’m like “They’re my favourite!”
![lambchop[1]](https://cafechottomatte.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/lambchop1.jpg)
Just for the record, Eko loves lamb chops
Spamdog No, you defi…
Eko And Casper does it! She’ll say “you said da-duhr-duhr-duhr-da-duhr” What are you onnabout!
Spamdog Maybe you’re doing it on purpose! You’re just trying to mess with everyones’ head! That’s what it is subliminally.
Eko <chuckles>
Spamdog You’re tranna fuck with everybody that’s what it is!
Eko Hnnnnnnnnnn I don’t think so… So what is it I said? Remind me what I said.
Spamdog Well I’ll remind you since you can’t remember anymore! <laughs> huh huh What was it? We were talking about letters for fill-ins and you said.. I said “I really like doing details, you know I wanna put loads of details on.. little doo-dads and details” and… y’know that was the thing that me an SICKBOY and err PONK were doing at the time and you were like “Blocks! Areas of colour!” and I was thinking “Wow!” err yeah you, you know, because like all the things that you and er PINKY and erm you know ZIML and the other guys, PARIS and XENZ said.. and I always remember them. They always stick in my mind but… yeah they don’t always stick in your’s that’s for sure! <chuckle>
Eko <booming lung laughter!> HAHAHAHAHAAHA hahahaa
Spamdog <laughs>
Eko I was probably, I was probably I was probably just being contraire
Spamdog <laughs>
Eko If you were, if you were doin pretty like, wild fill-ins, I was probably goin “na na nah I’m not doing wild fill ins!” I was probably being a cunt going “nah no no no no no nuh”
Spamdog <laughs> yup just being a rebel!
Eko NO NO NO NO NO NO NO it’s gotta be… just white
Spamdog Just being a rebel, one of those people who wants to say the opposite, whatever anybody says
Eko A contrarian!
Spamdog Yeah
Eko Cont, cont,,cont I can’t even say it! A cron..A con
Spamdog You’ve gotta be careful how you say that!
Eko Yeah…. A cunt
Spamdog Hahhahahaha
Eko yeah… that’s definitely right
Spamdog No
Eko No but yeah but no yeah.<piss take> “Yeah ~ no!” What a load of nonsense!
Spamdog It is!
Eko It is! I think the minute you say stuff like that, you go like “Oh man I really wanna do a really bugged out wild fill in!”
Spamdog yeah
Eko <talking over> well that’s always the way innit?
Spamdog That just made me wanna do lots of blocks of colour and stuff.after that. It’s like “right, I’ll try that one out!”
Eko yeahh
Spamdog and err
Eko yeah
Spamdog and what are we..
Eko How didya get on with that?
Spamdog Ermm yeah, I can’t remember. I think that’s a long time ago
Eko <chuckles>
Spamdog So, I’ve never been, I never really, you know ZIML always said to me when we were starting you know like “do your outlines, don’t try to do too many straight lines on them because you can’t,,, you can’t err do it! <laughs> so I was like yeah I won’t do it. You know that’s a good way to do it and that basically became my whole style!
Eko What? Straight lines?
Spamdog No, no! That’s what I’m saying! My whole, my whole style was built on the fact that I wouldn’t be able to do that except one time that was when I did a piece that was total, totally wildstyle and I did that in Korea and that worked really well but, erm I always you know. You didn’t seem to have any problems with it? Drawing straight lines. I could do it now but I feel like I could do anything now
Eko <laughs>
Spamdog I feel like I could do like, you know, even photo realistic stuff. That’s all in vogue now isn’t it?
Eko Is it?
Spamdog Let’s do that all down the side of a building!
Eko I think it’s depending on… I think it’s all in vogue.. It’s just dependent on what you errr allow yourself to see.
Spamdog yeah
Eko Dyuknowhat I mean?
Spamdog Yeah
Eko It’s like that, I think it’s like that thing when people go “Oh man! Whenever I look at the kitchen clock it’s always 23:23”
Spamdog yeah
Eko Dyu know?
Spamdog yeah
Eko And it’s not… it’s not. All it is is when you see it, when you see it you recognize it as being an interesting moment and you bank it. You go “Oh yeah that was it! I saw that!”
Spamdog Yeaahh isn’t tha…
Eko <interrupts> Whenever I, whenever I’m, “Whenever I walk into your kitchen it always says 23:23!” and you go “Well, no it doesn’t. You’ve just remembered the times and you kinda build…
Spamdog cos its significant
Eko like a mish… like a mish… a significance and the mystery of it
Spamdog well, isn’t that what they say déjà vu is about?
Eko same….yeah
Spamdog cos they say <talking over> with déjà vu what happens is like, you sortta see something and you take it in, and you don’t register it. Then you are doing it and then it feels like, you know, you’ve done it the first time but in fact you’ve actually done it, you’ve observed it, or whatever it is, or done it twice but your brain hasn’t really registered it the first time….
Eko …….yeah that sounds about right
Spamdog yeh
Eko yeah definitely and like, I think it’s the same when you’re looking at <Facetime trippy lag distortion > aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaarrrrrrrttT
Spamdog Woh! Your voice went really mad then!
Eko yeah your voice goes weird pretty regularly!
Spamdog <laughs> hyeahh
Eko <laughs> yehhh erm. I think it’s like, it’s always bin’ there but all of a sudden you go “Oh I’m really aware of that style now”. Or I’m really aware of that painter. Or… I think the in’ernet is..is…is class for doing that. Like Instagram, I’m becam.. rr…… really.. I’m really obsessed with Instagram
Spamdog Me too!
Eko Are you still……? An ‘a an ‘a an ‘a think it’s really valuable a.. aa and the reason I think its really valuable is because I’m sfttt<distrortion> ‘am becoming exposed to more artists now, from loads of different walks than I ever have been and I think it’s really interesting becus’ you like… fr.. fr.. When I first started going on Instagram the only people I followed were graffiti writers
Spamdog Mmmm
Eko I’m just like “graffiti writers graffiti writers” and you know when you do that fing where you go to that one where that little… like a little ss… not search tool but it shows you like people who you…
Spamdog “Explore” or something?
Eko …. It shows you people… Explore yeah. It shows you people who you follow, stuff they’re following. And if you just follow graffiti writers then all that you, all that that thread kicks back at you, all that that algorithm gives you is graffiti writers
Spamdog that’s right and everyone’s thinking about it
Eko …yeah. Yeaah. So……so what I’ve been doing is I’ve bin mekkin sure that Ive been following all sorts of different types of artists, and all sorts of different types of people, and galleries, and galleries as well, galleries are really good people to follow, and curators are really good people to follow <inhales breath> ‘cus they like all s.. all manner of shit so it’s broadening. So I’m finding loads of stuff, I’m finding loads of artists that
Spamdog mmm
Eko that I would, never of ever bin open to, or would never of… Cus I don’t go looking for it, I’m not like GASIUS who seems to have an endless supply of people who ‘e’s looking at or following
Spamdog Yeah! <Talking over> Like tell me about it man! He comes here and he’s like, he’s got his shopping list of like galleries that we’re gonna look at! Like..
Eko Yeah
Spamdog He wasn’t so much like that this time ‘cus he wasn’t like, went and looked at some anime cells and bought a few of them and did a few things like that but erm…yeah
Eko yeah. But he’s got a constant list of things that he’s kindof into and that he’s lookin for
Spamdog yeah
Eko whereas I’m much lazier
Spamdog <laughs>
Eko almost to the point where I don’t wanoo, don’t really wanna look, it’s actually, for the longest time I thought it was unhealthy to look
Spamdog yeah
Eko but actually, no, because of Instagram I’m going “Oh my god! This shit’s incredible wu..well why haven’t I seen this?!” and it’s like “Well, becus you ‘ant ‘bin lookin!”
Spamdog Yeah! <laughs>
Eko You know, you ‘ant bin lookin and you avent bin aware and you avent bin like… You’ve just not been lookin furrit! It’s like the clock thing when you walk in’oo the kitchen all of a sudden I’m looking to see if it’s 23:23
Spamdog mmm
Eko all the fucking time
Spamdog mm
Eko so, l..yeah I’m really fucking obsessed with Instagram and you know the,, I’ve already got a little fear in the back of my mind that “shit, is this gonna go like, is this gonna go like the route of all other… like, photo sharing apps?” so I’m thinking all the way back to…
Spamdog like Flickr?
Eko I’m thinking all the way back to Fotolog
Spamdog Oh yeah! I remember Fotolog before Flickr
Eko Fotolog. Exactly, Fotolog.
Spamdog That was shit!
Eko I bet you… I bet you HONET’s still got a Fotolog!
Spamdog <laughs> Really?!
Eko <laughs> Yeah! Honet’s Fotolog was amazing! Still.. I think it still is. Rosey always had a really good Fotolog. And then Flickr.. Was it then Flickr???
Spamdog Yeah, it was Flickr and now it’s like
Eko Flickr
Spamdog an Flickr’s dead now. I just stopped paying my subscription for it cos it’s just like a waste of time innit? You know it’s like…
Eko Yeees
Spamdog It’s good for like, I dunno, like putting on groups and like, certain content, but like you say, that kinda chance element of like adding people an then, having the algorithm that will chuck up loads of interesting stuff. That’s what it, that’s what interests me too as well. I spend fucking ages on it. Like looking at all the , all that stuff and then, you know sending d’, also direct messages on that thing is pretty cool as well. Just cos you flip a.. cos you chuck someone a picture..
Eko yeah I..
Spamdog You just chuck em a picture and then let’s have a chat. It’s quite a good way to start a conversation
Eko I don’t know how to do that, but anyway…
Spamdog yeah no, they don’t make it straightforward man. They don’t, it doesn’t, on the interface it doesn’t look so easy but in the top-right hand cor…no in fact. You know when you’re about to upload a picture?
Eko yeah
Spamdog yeah there’s a a.. as you’re uploading it
Eko s’there is it?
Spamdog as you upload it you go to like the size, and sort of zooming in and out and all that shit and then
Eko yeaah
Spamdog and you notice that at the top there’s two tabs. One of them’s green and one of them’s blue. I din’t even fucking see it for ages, but then if you click on it. One of them says “Direct” and ermm one of them is like “Followers” or something…
Eko ahhhhhhhhh right right, I’m with you
Spamdog So if you click on that. If you click on one of them then you can get a little sort of tab button where you choose one or multiple people on it and err you can send pictures on it.. so, whateverrrrrr! It’s there
Eko yeah. Oh, that’s good. OK. Yeah but no, I kinda already getting…….<line cuts>… feel like oh man it’s…… <line is dead>
Spamdog Oh no, you’re cutting out! Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! It’s cut ….er…I’m gonna c..call off cus I’m not hearing you anymore….. <Facetime Beeeep>……………<Facetime Beeeep>……………<Facetime Beeeep> <sighs>……………<Facetime connect> Hii!
Eko we went.. we lost each other
Spamdog Could you hear me?
Eko No…
Spamdog Ok…. Wah…yeah
Eko yeah
Spamdog Grrreat!
Eko So that’s intrestin
Spamdog yup
Eko Instagram, Love it
Spamdog Love it
Eko So, what else? Have you got any other questions?
Spamdog Oh er…haha <laughs>
Eko <booming laugh!> AH AHAHAAA HAAA HAH!
Spamdog Ok <Mr Important voice> “Have you got any other questions?! Don’t you know I’m busy here!
Eko <booming laugh!>
Spamdog …I’ve got some fucking drawings to do!” </voice> Errrr… I can’t think, you know, er like, I’ve done a few interviews like. Interviews with people who are like, the guy who was doing tentacle porn err anime err in Japan
Eko Yeah I remember! Yup!
Spamdog Yeah and then… we did one with GASIUS and a few other people I always just kind of, think of questions while we’re talking. Ermmm <nervous cough> ahemmm, so let me just have a little think….I’ll have a think then…
Eko ohh he’s thinking! Errr, let me ask you a question
Spamdog Yeah
Eko Is errm, you don’t mek any, you don’t mek any films anymore?
Spamdog No, we’re mekin ‘em. Me and Si, have bin mekkin a couple of films erm…
Eko ‘ave you?
Spamdog awww the latest one is on the chottomatte dot com err dot co.uk thing
Eko okay, okay, I ‘aven’t seen one for a…
Spamdog aww you gotta see it you gotta see it. You might like it!
Eko and who is the, who is the kid you do it with?
Spamdog Yeah Si, Simon. He, he knows Batty as well! He knows Batty somehow… because he’s from Rochdale and he knows er erm like, Batty was the one who you know, was the sort of link. And we were talking about that and then we were talking about, you know, degrees of separation… the Kevin Bacon thing and then, and then that was Kevin Bacon in the, in the piece, errr d’you remember we did it like aww I don’t know err if you know like we did a piece on the top of the place that I was talking about, on the top of err there’s like a skate park and a graff place at the same time. And we painted Kevin Bacon with breasts in a, in ay onsen bath with Slobodan Milošević
Eko ……………..
Spamdog Have you seen that?…. oh no! <realization that the line must have cut> <Facetime Beeeep>……………
Eko Hello
Spamdog Hiiii What were we talking about? <laugh>
Eko errrrrrrm……oh! Simon!
Spamdog Yeah!
Eko ‘E knows Batty!
Spamdog ‘E knows Batty
Eko How does he know Batty?
Spamdog Errrm……I’m not sure….I’m not sure how he knows him….
Eko ‘e din’t study in Hull? He’s not part of Dom and TRENT and all that lot is he?
Spamdog No, no, he studied in Manchester, he went to Manchester…He’s from Rochdale, he does er Skag, Skagbirds
Eko Oh right
Spamdog Yeah there’s er Heroin Skateboards and errrr he did, with a guy called Foz
Eko Yeah
Spamdog I don’t know and then…I don’t know, he knows Batty for some reason. Err…
Eko Well Batty’s from Rochdale!
Spamdog Well there you go! That’ll be why!
Eko Yeah, yup cool. And erm….I noticed some film. Some film that Simon had… are you still there?
Spamdog Yeah!
Eko This is really important. So, he did, he had a little film on his,eughhhgh I think it was on your, on your, on your blog or whatever
Spamdog Yeah chottomatte
Eko And it was him, it was him skating with a Japanese guy and they were doing really fliddy, off-key weird shit
Spamdog That’s right yeah
Eko And they were doing it with er, ab dahhh really nice Velvet Underground track you know, really fucking loved that bit of movie. I really loved it. I was like “Who is this? Who is this dude? Who the fuck is this DUDE?!”
Spamdog Yeah
Eko Who is this skater? So anyway I found him. I went and found him and youknow, I now know that he’s Go Miyagi and that he’s super-famous
Spamdog Yeah
Eko skater from Japan. No, he’s from ermm
Spamdog ye-ah
Eko one of the islands?
Spamdog He’s from, he’s from Japan, yeah. I think he’s from Osaka? Or Okinawa I dunno.
Eko It’s something like that, and erm, that dude is soooooooooo amazing! ‘E’s so amazing. He just inspires… I mean, you know ees so wi <cut> ggidy <cut>
Spamdog Oh no it’s cut! Ah go on. It was cutting out a bit then…
Eko <intermittent cut>..so it’s weird when you, I think it’s always weird when you get someone <cut>
Spamdog NOOOO!
Eko <responds to “NOOOO!” > No, cuz it’s like, he’s a skater, he’s a skater and it’s like going, a painter going “Oh it really inspires me, listening to like Radiohead duhr-dah-duhr” and it’s like “Oh, shut up!”
Spamdog <laugh>
Eko Banging on about it. It’s like, that’s not what inspires you, other painters inspire you
Spamdog yeah
Eko and the world around you, inspires you. But <lets out a gasp!> him. Seriously. He just fucking blows my mind.
Spamdog I’m gonna have to check him out a bit more then.
Eko HE BLOWS MY MIND! He does a really, there’s a really amazing video of him, with his crew, and with some amazing music as well. I’ll send you, I’ll send you the link to that ‘cos he’s just off this…out of this world man!
Spamdog yeah
Eko just some of the moves he pulls! Some of the moves, some of the shapes he makes, I’m totally down with. I’m like “yeah
Spamdog yeah
Eko yess!”
Spamdog Is it kind of off-key stuff?
Eko Yes, yes completely and utterly weird as fuck
Spamdog <laugh>
Eko And it’s so weird, cos Batty was going on about him, this guy, to me. Batty was talking about Go Miyage as well
Spamdog Oh really?
Eko Yeah that’s so weird that your mate knows him.
Spamdog Yeah and I think he…
Eko <interrupts> so it’s thirty degrees, six degrees of separation is it?
Spamdog So yeah, that’s what I was chattin’ that’s what I was tranna dribble on about. Wghg You know they’ve got that Kevin Bacon? You know, everybody knows Kevin Bacon within six degrees of separation or something and then..
Eko yeah
Spamdog We were talking about it and then I used it, Kevin Bacon with breasts, in an onsen bath, with Slobodan Milošević. And then we painted it…
Eko …yeah
Spamdog yup
Eko You painted that?
Spamdog actually painted tha…
Eko he paints as well that kid?
Spamdog yes, we painted that, cos we were talking about it
Eko niiiiice
Spamdog yeah
Eko niiice. So what’s the deal there? I mean is there jttttjtttttttjjj… is there no like um.. What’s the art scene there? Cus have you got a high brow, low brow thing going on?
Spamdog Well it’s a bit weird, basically the mainstream art scene is basically you’ll have on the top floor of department stores, sometimes you’ll have a floor, where they’ll have like an exhibition of some like big, you know, mainstream artist and then you’ll have like, there there most of that shit now is pretty lame and then, then you’ve got stuff that’s in small galleries in like Aoyama or Daikanyama in Tokyo and err
Eko yeah
Spamdog but you know, that’s kind of low-key. I don’t know. GASIUS stuff is kind of. First of all he was doing stuff that was kind of like affiliated with a shop or kindof
Eko yeah
Spamdog yeah
Eko <to someone in the background> yes, I’m on the phone
Spamdog yeahh
Eko yeh
Spamdog yeah
Eko carry on
Spamdog so, what’s the scene like? I don’t know. Quite… different, it’s quite different. I don’t… I can’t really compare it, cos I don’t know what it’s like in the UK anyway but.. yeah
Eko But I mean here, if you wanted to, if you wannn… there’s not as many as there used to be but…
Spamdog yeah…
Eko There are loads of cool, little… galleries <to someone in the background> I said to you go out then </> sorry I was just talking to ma kids < to someone in the background again>I said we could go out and eat if you wanted!</>
Spamdog Here mate…
Eko You dint wanna go out an eat did you? <inaudible reply> <under his breath> oh god…
Spamdog Mate, we better go!
Eko They’re just hungry
Spamdog yeah?
Eko Alright buddy, well happy birthday!
Spamdog Yeah! Cheers!
Chotto Matte 