It was an absolute pleasure to be able to delve into the depths. Make sure you hit this fella up and learn.
Firstly, who and what is King Adz?
King Adz is a creative mask I hide behind. King Adz is a bastard child born out of the advertising world, hence the name. I once thought I was the king of the adz, but now I’m just a wandering artist trying to express myself. The books, the films, the paintings, the parties are all just there to keep me from losing it completely. A bit of madness is good for one’s soul. Too much and you’re fucked. If I’m not expressing myself then my mind begins to wander and that’s when I get into trouble. I’ve been on the straight-and-narrow for 10 years now and never felt better. I’m almost at the stage where I can express myself on whatever platform I choose. Almost. I love the smell of a challenge in the morning.
Here in Down Under we’re pretty excited to get our dirty mittens on your latest book, Street Knowledge. Seeing as we’re a couple of months behind the rest of the world, give your Aussie followers a quick low-down on what they’re in for.
Street Knowledge is 25 years of my life condensed into 320 pages. It’s about the journey I’ve made through the different elements of street culture (music, art, fashion, advertising/design etc) and the effect that they’ve had on me, and – more importantly – on culture as a whole. There are some big old names in the book (LaChapelle, Banksy, Obey, etc etc) and from the attention they attract I hope to provide a springboard for fresh new talent. More about this later on… The actual book took 3 years to create and an around the world trip. Ultimately there was some stuff I couldn’t get in there, as some people’s management refused to take part (Beastie Boys, DJ Shadow, the Tintin estate) and so I had to work round that.
Anyone who knows what you’re about would know that you’re a master of multimedia and have created projects for all kinds of forums, from blogging to downloadable PDFs and film. Why do you prefer paper and bindings?
I like to feel something substantial in my hands, as I’m so bored of staring at a flat screen. Film used to do it for me, and before that, advertising, but I seem to get bored easily. Recently I’ve gone back to painting, as this seems to hush the voices in my head crying out to be heard. It’s also nothing to do with street art or anything like that. I recently did an interview in the US and they described me as a ‘Graffiti Legend’ – I laughed my tits off as I’ve never done a single piece of graff in my life. My art has nothing to do with anything like that except that I sometimes use paint out of a spraycan.
I’ve been painting since the 1980s (I had my first exhibition in London in 1989) and this for me is something that is so important. I also cook everyday, which is something I love so much to do – it’s a non-art art. I’ve made films, written books, cooked some food for lots of people, thrown some nice parties, helped promote some brilliant talents (most recently Aussie, James Dodd) and now it seems I’ve come full circle, back to me. It feels weird to just be concentrating on my ‘talents’ but there you go. I’m also writing two books at the moment: one about Youth Advertising and the other a street food cookbook, so plenty on my creative plate so to speak.
It seems common for people to simplify the phrase “street culture” as an umbrella term for sketchy communities and vandalism, but in your self-directed interview for Thames and Hudson (http://www.thamesandhudson.com/adzinterview.html) you cited some well-respected influences from film, literature, design and advertising. How do you feel about the negative connotations associated with “the street”?
Those negative connotations are what make’s street culture so important, vibrant and alive. Those things that the middle/chattering/aspiring classes hate are what I love. I often seem to upset people as I don’t know how to behave in certain circles and by now have given up trying. I’m a creative with a cause – I’m fighting against suburban normality and what is expected of you in a ‘civilized society’ (a society that wages war against civilians etc). This is what has driven me from the get go – a reaction to being told not to go against the grain.
You grew up near London, a city well known for the vibrancy of its street culture. What is your first memory of the way that culture impacted you?
Discovering Reggae via a Capital Radio show called Roots Rockers in 1980, which led to my introduction to Eek-a-Mouse and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, then going to the US on my own when I was fifteen, which really opened my eyes. Going to the Mud Club and Heaven regularly in 85, 86 and 87 and discovering how influential queer culture really was. This opened up my eyes and led me to raving (I’m raving) in a field in Elstree high as a kite on MDMA in 1989 in the second summer of love. Discovering street art in 94 when it was properly underground and then living and working in South Africa when Mandela was in power and seeing the real-deal street life in the Cape Flats, going to Johannesburg and hanging out with some seriously talented people… There are too many to list. Street Knowledge is my document, my answer to this question.
Inspired by an exciting 25 years of your life, Street Knowledge encompasses a myriad of street influences from all over the world. Is there much disparity between the street cultures of different countries, or do you see it to be an internationally uniting force?
What I really, really, like is how the global street shit is given a local twist in each different territory. ‘Local is Lekker’ is how they sum it up in South Africa. On one hand I love how street culture has spread and united the youth of the world, but on the flipside I don’t like the globalization. I like stuff that you can’t find on the internet. I love having to mission to discover something real, in front of my eyes. Street shit and subcultures are out there but a lot of people are just reading stuff on Wikipedia, then examining photos on Flickr and then watching a YouTube clip. This isn’t anything like how it is in reality. This doesn’t mean you get anything about the street. Culture isn’t something to consume, it’s not about ordering shit off the internet to show your mates how tragically hip you are.
How have you found the manifestation of Australian street culture to be different from that of the rest of the world, given our distance from the more artistically thriving international communities?
That distance is a blessing and a curse. I absolutely love the Australian twist to all aspects of street culture. From Dlux’s art to Raph Rashid’s food van, it’s all fresh culture served with killer attitude. What more can I say? I love the Aussie spirit and would like to spend more time down under for sure.
What do you hope to achieve by compiling your documentation of global street influences? Do you think it is important to close the culture gaps between continents?
I have never thought about what the documentation could achieve. It’s more like an apprenticeship. In the last decade I’ve got to hang and work with some of the greatest names of our generation (Banksy, Obey, Tony Kaye, Tama Janowitz, Irvine Welsh…) and all the time I’m learning from these masters. The act of creation is all one big idea for me – whether it’s books, film, an advert, a painting, a pie. One of my most recent discoveries is that I have to stop trying to just do one thing at a time as this isn’t how it works. Everything is connected.
A lot of the writing you do about the street, including Street Knowledge, places an emphasis on the importance of nurturing the burgeoning talents of young people, but in Australia there is little community encouragement of the youth to explore their creativity via graffiti and the streets. What experience have you had of international attitudes towards the youth and their involvement in street culture?
I’ve learnt that it’s down to people like me to do that. There is no external force that will encourage new talents. Art schools can’t do that as they are too firmly rooted in bureaucracy and tradition to produce any really exciting work – especially when this work often involves illegal damage to personal property. If someone has talent and they’re cool with me, then I will do all I can to help them progress. I don’t care if they make trouble or even throw shit on a potters wheel. It’s all good to me as long as it’s all creative.
Finally, apart from me, what do you see when you close your eyes?
I see all sides to everything: The Police explosions; the rage of the downtrodden. I see the shootings and the terror that travels along to the glowing skyline, with the fresh air soothing my outlook and calming my soul.
via http://primomag.com.au
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