The Krah - Graffiti Artist Interview

December 2008

Interview with The Krah, a graffiti and street artist originally from Greece but now living in London who is part of the 101 Crew and SR Crew.

Graffiti piece by The Krah and b. - Brick Lane, London

How old are you?

I was born on the year that Sid Vicious died and I am still alive!

Where are you based?

I live in East London.

How long have you been painting / writing?

I started getting creative in 1997, before that I just did tags.

How did you get into graffiti and what made you start painting?

My brother is a writer and most of my friends are writers so it was only a matter of time…

Where did you paint your first piece?

At my school, back in Athens, the students had squatted it in protest so I found the chance to do my first characters on a wall.

How would you describe your style?

A not so conveniant blend of imigrant underdog stylee coupled with my natural frustration with life and a sprinkling of insanity… or something along those lines!

How did you choose the name The Krah?

It's a play on the Greek word "krahzo" which means to criticise in an aggressive manner.

Do you write under any other names?

Only on Tuesdays.

Do you write with any crews and if so which ones?

I'm in the 101 Crew and SR Crew, both of which are bastardised international crews

Have you done many collaborations with artists overseas or travelled abroad for your art and if so then where is the most exciting or interesting place you have painted?

Back in Athens I was part of one of the top bombing crews (The SR Squad), so when crews from abroad came to paint they would paint with us. Lots of writers came to paint with us, such as the Banned Crew from Spain, SDK from Paris, Bitch (EWC) from Germany, Ioye (900bc) from Paris and many more.

When I was interailing around Europe years ago I met and painted with lots of writers, that was fun and they showed as their train guards.

When I first came to England I was painting lots with the NT Crew. Now I paint with Milo Tchais from Sao Paulo (Brasil) as well as lots of English writers, I like painting with writers from other countries because each country has its own style.

Graffiti piece by Dr. Ren, The Krah, Fors, Kai1 - Brighton

Graffiti piece by Dr. Ren, The Krah, Fors and Kai1 - Brighton

where is the most exciting or interesting place you have painted?

London of course!

What are you feelings on the graffiti scene in London and the UK at present?

England has lots of really good writers and a lot of them are living in or have moved to London. England was one of the first European countries that got into graffiti so there is a rich history and lots of artists that have evoled the graff scene.

At the moment it seems that most of the younger writers don't respect anything or anyone… tagging over other writers, dogging writers better than them with throw-ups and just acting like toys. These younger writers think they are being all bad ass and wish they were gangsters by robbing people and acting like twats but that's not what graff is about. As I said though, thank god not everyone is like them and there are a lot of good styles out there.

These younger writers think they are being all bad ass and wish they were gangsters by robbing people and acting like twats but that's not what graff is about.
The Krah

You are originally from Greece, how is the graffiti scene over there and how does it differ to the scene here in the UK?

Each country has its own styles. In Greece we are lucky to have the good weather on our side, we have lots of very good bombers and lots of good mural crews. I find that we are more influenced by the European and Brazilian scene where as the English have been more influenced by the American style.

In Greece bombers tend to use more colours in their pieces then use silver more on track sides (check out: Nowon). I have noticed that some writers have started writing with Greek characters lately and I think that is good. We have crews such as Errorism that have a heavy influence from graphics (check out: Errorism).

There is not a big scene of stencils and posters like here in the UK but we have some good street-artists, such as:

…they started of doing graffiti but now have moved on to paint and paint-brushes on the streets.

It is hard to tell the differences when it looks like there are so many different styles in both the scene in Greece and the scene in the UK.

Have you ever done any commercial work and if so what would you say was your most well known piece?

I have done lots of illustration work for magazines, childrens books and adverts. I worked as an animator / illustrator for a on-line computer games company and in the summer I did an advert for Nokia which was on a billbord on the Central Line exit of Oxford Circus Tube Station… that was nice.

Nokia advert by The Krah - Oxford Street Tube Station, London

Has graffiti become a full-time career for you now and if so was it a long journey to get to this stage?

I started off doing commissioned murals for shops and other businesses for the money and for the cans. Then I got my first job which was illustrating T-shirt designs for a skate wear company in Athens and since then I have always found ways to get money from my art in order to survive. It is a full-time job and sometimes it feels like you never get a break but it beats working nine-to-five, really I'm living the dream! I'm hungry, but that's a small price to pay.

Is there any one point in your career you would class as 'your big break'?

I don't think I have had it yet, I think it's better that way as it makes me work harder.

What do you see as your greatest achievement to date?

I have mastered losing myself in my drawings allowing me to travel in other dimensions.

What are your thoughts on graffiti being just a likely to be found in a gallery as on the streets these days?

Is it so wrong for artists to make a living? Not that old chestnut! If you're a writer (a true-school writer ie you bomb, paint, and generally represent) and someone likes your stuff and wants to buy it then why not? I think you will find that the people who have serious problems with this issue are those toys who couldn't sell their arse in prison even if they tried… so fuck them (excuse the pun)!

Have you had your work displayed in galleries and if so is there any one exhibition that stands out from all the rest?

I have had lots of shows in lots of different galleries and other venues. I really enjoyed painting off of the canvas and onto the wall at the last show I did which was the Mutate Britain show.

The Krah artwork at Mutate Britain (2008)

There seems to have been a sudden surge of interest in graffiti and street art recently, why do you think this is?

I think that the public always liked it but they were uncertain as to whether it was ok to like it, however, once you got major art dealers and important galleries interested then that gave commercial "credibility" to the scene so now people are willing to spend good money on graffiti / street art.

There is a very fine line between those who view graffiti as art and those who see it as vandalism, what are your views on this?

It's a bit of both… that's the nature of it… like it or lump it baby!

Do you prefer doing legal or illegal pieces?

What do you think?

Have you ever 'felt the long arm of the law' because of your art?

Yes… but I ducked and got away…

Do you try to keep your identity anonymous where possible?

Yeah I have 5 passports, I change my apearence every day with wigs and fake beards and I communicate in code. I tried to burn my fingerprints off once but it made wanking almost impossible…

Do you see yourself as an artist or a graffiti writer?

What's the difference?