Cruel 103 Interview.

Hello from Part Time Vandal, Tells us about you and what year did you begin painting?

Hello i am Cruel103  ......... my friends call me cruely, im a European writer and very proud of that.

I was a graffiti writer by 1985 but i have criminal damage chargers and cautions that pre-date this, in junior school we wrote on desks and we where all breakers and poppers, we loved cardboard and lino and clouds and bubble letters,fat laces and hip hop, but i would say i wasn't a real writer till around 85 when the fever took hold, after that only graff mattered to me.

It was a different world back then before the internet and mobile phones and paint shops and money ,non of us had any money, there was very little around in the 80's on our estates, it was the thatcher era and the minors where on strike, all the factory's where still open  in the city centre but not they where soon to close  ,even the air we breathed was different, more grimey from all the factory smoke and coal fires i remember it used to get real foggy all the time and the winters where great for getting up it snowed heavy and deep, non of the shops in the city centre where even open on Sundays we had free reign and we loved it.

We racked everything we needed our paint our clothes our food we even forged our travel passes so we could spend all day travelling the city racking and getting up, times where hard you needed to be tough to be a writer back in the day because there was always someone ready to try and tax your shit, it was kind of a right of passage and i soon became the one doing most of the taxing so i dont see it as bad, it was just the done thing.

Who or what influenced you?

what influenced me, that's a good question ..... i would say acid ganja and alcahol mostly and any other substance i could get my hands on special brew was a cult among writers from my area and era we drank it like it was our religion, and the fumes the vibes  , subway art of course influenced all us first generation UK writers and style wars was huge to us all.

Where and what year did you first paint panels?

I painted my first panels in 88-89 with the same crew i paint with today, in fact it was Wicca187 who first took me to the yards so nothings really changed, the first time i painted panel's it was new-years eve, we had a bit of a posse even my younger sister came and a few other girls too, we slept in the carriages after we painted, it was a great time one of the most memorable nights of my life still to this day, and  my memory is fucked but i remember that night like it was yesterday ,I felt that feeling for the first time, its indescribable to me and I still feel the same today after a night painting panels, I can only describe it as sacred and holy , I call it the "stillness" now, but back then I was way to young to understand the significance ,when time seems to almost stop and every sound is magnified, precious  moments of clarity and magic like nothing else, in a world so devoid of meaning.

This is what a lot of people dont get at all, the art of writing is not just in the painting its in the action ,the "action" is the art more than the finished piece ,this is what I have come to understand and this is why you can never capture the essence of graffiti on canvas or any other medium.

the ACTION is the art, its so simple, yet so hard, and its taken me long hard years of life and not just graff to realise this, but the realisation has changed my whole world.

You can see it on some writers a mile away because there's very few out there who realise the significance of the action, and even less who comprehend the fact that this is where the "art" part actually is.

And you can quote me on that because iv never heard anyone communicate this fact and up till today iv kind of only expressed it to a few people who I speak to about art and life and about what happens to our memories when we die and crazy shit like that. the things you only talk to close friends about when your drunk or melancholy.

Through the years which has been your favorite city for painting walls?

man I dont have a favourite city for painting walls I would paint any wall in any city any-time without prejudice, I dont really feel the walls at this stage of my life, specially hof walls and I carnt afford the paint to waste anyway, maybe if I could afford paint I would feel different but that's just how my life is, every penny I get literally goes on doing what I love, and that's not painting pretty pieces on walls, my art is not pretty it is a reflection of myself and all my flaws and human weaknesses I keep in the mix, because its me and I am not ashamed of being very far from a perfect human.

And which has been your favorite city for panels?

favourite city for panels ...now if I told you that every toy and his dog would go there and hot up the spots, so I would have to say I love them all especially the ones I have not painted yet, if it dont run im usually not that fussed to paint it ,I dont paint for photos I paint for love and a big part of that is to see it run free.

The UK im not fussed with painting anything here at the moment especially not panels, I prefer to go to countries that have a more enlightened opinion of art in all forms.

We understand you are part of the AMP syndicate, tell us about AMP?

AMP syndicate is a crew like no other crew I have come across, we are a syndicate, we have no leaders or followers no president, we are all as much an important part as the next, we dont subscribe to the graff V.I.P bullshit ..we care very little for what the graff scene has become and we will paint with anyone who has heart regardless of any other fact .....we dont see ourselves as old school or new school or any school we way bigger than the bullshit, we paint simple pieces that are easy to read , we dont like the show off graff  thats most prevalent in the UK now days ,we dont do concepts or have portfolios non of us have been to art school and we dont know what skinny caps where even invented for ...seriously who buys skinny caps, we mostly like chrome and ravelling together and we see the person before we see the piece ..if your a twat it dont matter how good you are you can fuck off, it you have heart that's all we care about.

We AMP family,we do anything for each other we make time to get together because we all value our friendships and they come before graffiti because we have mostly known each other since the very start and in some cases before 1988 when amp was formed.

Who is your favorite panel beater at this present day?*

favourite panel beater ..ha ha .. ill have to come back to that one later its 6.37am and im tired and grumpy and I dont feel like having any favourites at this moment.*

How about walls?

walls........... that's easy Bref is my favourite style icon on brick ....he is graffiti at its most pure, unashamed and humble and his pieces have more heart than most crews have put together, i love his style, it is our city, and more importantly it is all his own and it is all inclusive.

Its different every piece but you have to look and to know him to see it , so that also makes me love it ..that style is as old as the hills and as current and up to date as right now, its like the little black dress on a beautiful women , its classic.

after Bref i would say, also i think Horfe has great individual style and he gets up aswell so that kind of makes him stand out from the crowd, theres alot of parisienne writers with exceptional style.

Sonick also from France.

In your view is there any writers or crews we need to keep an eye on in 2013?

any writers or crews to keep an eye on ...... I only keep an eye on who is up in what cities these days, and for my money Sonick from france is winning there at least in most cities iv visited anyway.. he is King and everything a writer should be, and im speaking about his work only, as I dont know the guy.

*back to favourite panel beaters ....Opak wufc .. ..Pluto wca..  Noe1 lmk.. Mser mw and "THE" crew.. i like the stuff coming from Malmo too NER and of course Taps and Moses is prolific and with great style and there also up in Europe aroud most central stations.. .JBCB make nice panels, man there's a lot of great German train writers with above average style..i mostly like bubble styles and straight letters...  I love all panels. even the ugly ones are pretty ...I can only speak for what iv seen with my eyes there's some good and prolific writers that never release there work and are not internet darlings so dont get alot of credit from the 99% that dont have a clue what's going down.*

Like I said before I dont subscribe to this celebrity writer bullshit .. I rate these I have mentioned for their work not there internet persona's and iv seen every one of them up, apart from that I couldn't give a fuck really unless I know them, and tomorrow I might just change my mind and not like anyone, im a grumpy old cunt, and  most of the time I would like to fight my own shadow.

I am not afraid to give credit where its due, so I speak my mind because im not looking to make any friends im a faceless name with a spray can...  iv read a few interviews and 99% are lame, these writers are all so scared of upsetting anyone and they have nothing to say just like there graffiti has nothing to say, as-long as im not that kind of writer I will be happy.

Is there anything you would like to achieve in 2013 that you haven’t already?

yes there's a lot I would like to achieve in 2013 im never satisfied im always looking for more and better actions and my style changes as I do, because I try and put myself into my work and everyday I feel different so my graff must reflect this, now im living in Europe full time we can get busy, writers who say that they have nothing to prove or achieve have given up on graffiti ...I hear it all the time with the so called old school writers especially .."I have too much to loose" "I have nothing to prove" yes because your a long time dead already ....what is this the new mantra of the below average writers .... yes you have lost your balls already and it shows in your graffiti, and then there's the young writers that only know HOF graff I feel for these guys because its like they have never felt the rain at dawn, im sorry but I can only speak my truth as I see it and i dont sit on fences.

your very welcome to disagree with me after all I dont even exist im just writing on a surface and there could be hundreds of people who write cruel or at least 7 or 8 people who knows.

Many writers end up getting into trouble with the law, what is your view on writers being behind bars?

Sadly prison is part of the life a writer chooses you can do all you can to avoid it but it gets every prolific writer in the end ...I was in jail when I was 15 for graffiti ...iv been in jail for other things too im crooked as fuck, I was born bad, but the time I spent inside for graffiti im not ashamed of that I dont regret that.... I only regret getting caught.

The other stuff im not proud of.

prison is shit, all it is, is literally a waste of time, prisons are just full of people who carnt function in society and a high percentage have drug problems and mental health issues,  prison is where you go if your poor and you dont dont subscribe to other peoples rules, so if you are the king of your own world life can be hard sometimes ..... prison for graffiti is like that parent you see that beats there kid in the supermarket, everybody knows its wrong but no one does anything about it.

The way I see it going to jail for graffiti is a noble sentence if there is such a thing and graffiti writers are more like Robin Hood than Al Capone.

I am old and I never break the law so I dont have to worry about that any-more..and if the other people who write cruel make crimes that's not my fault  ... but I feel for all the writers that get locked up because iv been there and I feel it changed the course of my life for the worse, I think its even harder for the young kids, that shit upsets me a lot.

Every writer has their own favourite story, tell us yours?

My favourite stories I keep for my friends now a days, because they are our stories, not just mine, and we have not finished our story yet by a long way we are here for the long run not the short term, that's why you wont see us scrambling with the rest of the circus to sell out.

And last but not least is there anyone you would like to shout out?

Yes I have shout outs .. to All My People I say "may the road rise up to meet you, and the sun be always on your backs"  and remember "There's many a slip between cup and lip"

The journey continues, the dream lives on, we are all slaves but some of us realise it.

Much Thanks "Part Time Vandal blog" and i am truly sorry for the sin of speaking my mind and answering the questions that you never asked along with the ones you did, please also forgive my grammar and spelling as i dont give a fuck about proper english.