The Soul Safari

Words With NOIR

Noir: background and basics

Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself. When did you start writing?

I am NOIR. I’m a forty-something graffiti legend that has traveled the world, spraying my name on as many things that move as possible.

I first started sketching in 1984 when the Hip Hop explosion came to Britain. Whilst most of my friends were beatboxing, spinning on their heads and rapping, I decided I wanted to take the artistic route of the movement and concentrate on graffiti.

Who were your early inspirations, both worldwide and on a local level? How long was it before you started developing your own style?

I guess with a copy of Subway Art and from watching films like Style Wars, my main inspirations came from the subway legends like SKEME, FUZZ ONE, SEEN and SHAME. For me, it was always the letter form that excited me and one I wanted to take and develop myself. I was lucky enough to travel across London at a very young age so I could see how London was developing with styles. Cats like URGE and 3 HAND, COMA, FUEL and SET 3 were my early inspirations, but then writers like CAZBEE and KAST took it to the next level.

I liked the artistic element in their graffiti but I also loved the hardcore bombing styles of DRAX and ROBBO. When it comes to style, I develop it all the time. I like the organic process of watching styles grow and you bust the nuts out of the letters, get bored and then start all over again. If you look back at my career, I can safely say I’ve never had just one style but a thousand styles… Infinite styles.

You’ve painted everything, but when did you realise that steel was the way forward for you?

I first started painting steel in 1988, but it was the odd random freight train, daytime lay-up at Stratford or some sneaky railway museum in Ongar. I was just a kid smelling that axle grease and exploring the old train carriages. I never really thought that I was ‘getting up’ or making a name for myself. I was just a kid growing up and having fun. In the late ’80s and early ’90s it was more about hitting walls and doing full scale productions with the ERZ boys. After 8 years of being on the terraces, joining the chemical generation and dancing my way around the world with 2 BAD MICE, I decided to get back into graffiti and this time focus on the real element of the movement; trains.

There’s a big disparity between writers who stick to mural work and legal wall space and those who are out to bomb or paint steel. What’s your standpoint on the divide between the two categories?

It’s an age old argument that will never be settled and there will never be a definitive answer. Personally, graffiti belongs on steel and will always belong on steel.

Quickfire Question Round

1) Most full-on/close chase?

I think the most intense and close raid was a fun night out in Gillingham. Its one of the chapters in my book, Addicted To Steel, so folks will have to purchase a copy for the in depth report on that one.

2) Anywhere you didn’t get to paint that you wish you had?

I guess I covered most bases on my travels but places like Dubai, Sri Lanka and Chicago escaped me.

Were there any London yards you didn’t get to paint?

I painted them all.

3) Toughest London yard?

I guess most real writers would say Gloucester Rd, Farringdon or Brixton, but I always had issues with Liverpool St, Kennington and Tower Hill lay ups.

4) Favourite writers, both past and present?


5) You briefly mention filming some of your missions: is there a video in the works?

There are several productions on the go at the moment. However they are not your usual run of the mill DVD productions of yard missions etc. This is more of the story behind why folks like us paint trains. It mirrors some of the elements in my book and delves into the thought process of why we do what we do. It’s aimed at a wider audience and will be showcased at a number of film festivals including Cannes.

Addicted To Steel

Your original website had lots of stories behind the imagery – a book seemed like a logical step forwards. When did you decide to start putting a book together?

It’s something that many people used to ask me. They always used to mention the site and then in the same breath ask when was I going to write a book about it all. I guess whilst you are active it would have always been difficult to put a book together without baiting myself or others up. When the guys hung their boots up and I was sent to HMP Wormwood Scrubs, I decided it was the right time to put some ideas together and see about writing my memoirs.

How long did it take to get everything into some sort of order and ready to bring together into a compiled format?

From conception to the project being completed, it took around 4 months of solid writing. I had 12 years’ worth of missions to choose from but my memory wasn’t so great. I had to whittle down the number of stories to around 49 as I didn’t want to bore the guys reading it.

Was there much that didn’t make the book? Anything particularly significant that you had to leave out?

There was loads that I left out as some of the missions were unknown to BTP and I couldnt afford another trial on trumped up charges just to see me go down again.

From a legal point of view, did you have any concerns with putting everything down on paper? Or do you feel that you’ve moved on so much from those days that it was no longer anything to worry about?

Everything that is in the book is fully known by BTP. The next book will involve many more missions and conclude with the million-pound police investigation and trial that led to my imprisonment.

If people liked the first book then the second will blow you away.

You can purchase ‘Addicted To Steel’ by Glynn Judd here: