As his extraordinarily complex pieces burst and ripple with texture, tortured shape, organic brilliance and an intangible bridge between the sublimely spiritual and 2000 AD on acid, Solo One is busy building extraordinarily strong graff in the community relations. Having taken over the ball court of the Stockwell Park Estate and lovingly sprayed and curated it into a glorious urban gallery a million miles away from the soulless glitz of the commercial launch, he is infusing graffiti directly into the heart of the community consciousness where it belongs, through inclusion, open hearted passion and strict quality control. His work is a phantasmagoric trip into the world of controlled chaos as patterns writhe through space and whistle into an explosion of spiraling visual mayhem. Thoughtful, driven and insightful, we had a word...
We know your a big comic book and cartoon fan, so how do you think the graphic novels of today compare with graphic novels of the 1980s?
I don't really read comics now but I was really inspired by 2000ad, Epic illustrated and various comics from the eighties. I used to like The Independent newspapers political artist, and the bog-side artists were a huge inspiration on me and all the political murals in Northern Ireland.
You started painting in 1987, roughly the same period that spurned the Acid House movement. Did you go down the hip hop path or were you a House head?
I was into all music. I ran a radio station from 92 till 97 so used to like the majority of stuff British artists were putting out. The station was called Mix FM, you can see it on www.piratearchive.net . I had no time to rave, the radio was a busy operation. I used to love underground music, mainly hip hop as I found the Acid house thing full of drug addicts. Some raves were about as entertaining as watching a hamster go round a wheel.
Where were you painting in the late 1980s and who with?
I used to paint with Alert, Crase, Pulse and Vop crew in London. Anything that came out at night I would paint with.
We heard you were run out of your home town Hinckley by police due to your nocturnal painting habits?
Sometimes you can become way too popular for your own good. Didn't have too much of a Police problem as lets face it if you get arrested there's somewhere to sleep. You got a choice of breakfasts at Hinckley, I was always a Continental guy.
Tell us how you became known as The Sticker King of London.
I wanted to do a art project where you take a functional item and change it into something else and make it popular. The aim of the sticker project was to make it popular and force the Post Office to withdraw them. I succeeded there after putting about a million up over 4 years.Getting up is the esscence of graffiti and you should experiment with differant concepts. I was featured in a book on crime called ' Cultural Criminology Unleashed' by Jeff Ferrell on glasshouse press. That was a academic study on crime and I made it. The art project finished as I wanted to get back into painting.
We know your a big comic book and cartoon fan, so how do you think the graphic novels of today compare with graphic novels of the 1980s?
I don't really read comics now but I was really inspired by 2000ad, Epic illustrated and various comics from the eighties. I used to like The Independent newspapers political artist, and the bog-side artists were a huge inspiration on me and all the political murals in Northern Ireland.
You started painting in 1987, roughly the same period that spurned the Acid House movement. Did you go down the hip hop path or were you a House head?
I was into all music. I ran a radio station from 92 till 97 so used to like the majority of stuff British artists were putting out. The station was called Mix FM, you can see it on www.piratearchive.net . I had no time to rave, the radio was a busy operation. I used to love underground music, mainly hip hop as I found the Acid house thing full of drug addicts. Some raves were about as entertaining as watching a hamster go round a wheel.
Where were you painting in the late 1980s and who with?
I used to paint with Alert, Crase, Pulse and Vop crew in London. Anything that came out at night I would paint with.
We heard you were run out of your home town Hinckley by police due to your nocturnal painting habits?
Sometimes you can become way too popular for your own good. Didn't have too much of a Police problem as lets face it if you get arrested there's somewhere to sleep. You got a choice of breakfasts at Hinckley, I was always a Continental guy.
Tell us how you became known as The Sticker King of London.
I wanted to do a art project where you take a functional item and change it into something else and make it popular. The aim of the sticker project was to make it popular and force the Post Office to withdraw them. I succeeded there after putting about a million up over 4 years.Getting up is the esscence of graffiti and you should experiment with differant concepts. I was featured in a book on crime called ' Cultural Criminology Unleashed' by Jeff Ferrell on glasshouse press. That was a academic study on crime and I made it. The art project finished as I wanted to get back into painting.
READ FULL INTERVIEW IN LSD MAGAZINE issue 6
ALSO FEATURING INTERVIEWS / ARTICLES FROM THIS MOTLEY CREW
Ananda nahu, The Correspondents, Solo One, Soulflux, The Orb + Youth, Jerm IX, 69 DB, Raymond Salvatore Harmon, Rennie Pilgrem, The Yes Men, Resto, Chaz, Neurodriver, Lokey, Elate, Dhear One, Page 51, Umek, Karma, Andrew Tiernan, K-Guy, Richard A Webster, William Parry, Andy C, Jesus Greus, Push Pony, James Lightning Wilks, Dominic Spreadlove, AK - 47, Mr Sofalumpkins, Mat Banbury, MikkiM, David Corden, Ian Milne, Punch Music, Hudson Zuma, Wayne Anthony, Sirius23
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