GRAFFITI
At this point in history, graffiti has become a worldwide
phenomenon, and Europe is making a serious attempt at
replacing New York City as its mecca. London's graf scene is
thriving, thanks to pieces like the ones pictured below and a
dope magazine called Graphotism that documents the interna-
tional scene as well as playing matchmaker for lonely writers.
Within a few hours of calling them, I had a case of sick Spanish
paint, a wall, and an international crew of writers to kill it with.
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Clockwise from left:
South African ripper
Gereth Skewis wallrides to
fakie in the basement of a
building on Baker Street.
Vandalism. Not only are
the roads backwards in
Britian, but everyone
seems to prefer doing
tricks the wrong way too,
off the nose instead of the
tail. Toby Shuall, nollie
180 heelflip at South
Bank. Toby shows off his
English dental work in
front of the London Eye
ferris wheel.
Adon
TOBY SHUALL
Have you lived in London all your life?
On and off, but I live here, yeah. I've trav-
eled around quite a lot, but I've always
lived near here.
You're starting your own clothing
company, right? Tell us about that.
I've made a few T-shirts and some
hooded tops. It's called Suburban Bliss,
and it's just a few drawings that I came up with. I draw a
lot, and people have seen it and said it looked all right, and
I thought I'd try it on some clothes. So I borrowed the
money off my brother.
What's the idea behind the name?
It's just a sarcastic statement. Where I live is super mellow
and you never see any grief. It's boring, but at the same time it's
blissful because you don't get in any trouble. But I'd get bored
if I stayed there all the time, so it's not really bliss.
You've spent some time in San Francisco too?
Yeah, and Santa Cruz. I've been to San Francisco three times
for about three months each time.
It seems like a lot of the skaters we've met here are from
other places besides London; is that pretty common?
It is, at the moment. Most of the people I grew up skating
with all gave up. There are a couple of people I still skate with
who are still good, but mainly the old-school guys all quit. A
lot of people move to London who aren't from London, sort
of like SF. It's good for skating; skaters move here from all
over England, because in terms of street skating there's a lot
to skate here.
What differences are there between skating here and
in America?
The police is the major difference. There's only one part of
the city of London where you get real grief. The main skate
spot that I skate every day is opposite the police headquarters,
but you don't get tickets or any hassle. I've actually had police
sit down and watch me. The police here are a bit more mellow.
When they come up and bust you, you can speak your mind if
you're polite and just walk off, whereas in America you just
have to grovel.
How do you feel about skating cobblestones? Does that
get to be a pain in the ass?
It can be, especially if you have little wheels.
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