How do you feel about the graff' scene in Paris?

Everybody: There's a good scene going in Paris. We got hit by the wave from New York pretty early, along with other European influences. People like ODACE, ALIEN, DARK, CLICK, the C.A.S. and T.B.A., as well as T.B.A, absorbed that fierce energy that was coming out of graffiti. Over the years there's been a lot of fine production done, despite the particular risks in Paris. Right now there's a problem with a certain lack of respect, but everyone has to figure out who they should respect and who they want to respect them.
Our basic principal is not to do anything to other people we wouldn't want done to ourselves. We have a harder and harder time understanding people who are driven by jealousy. But at the same time we meet people who have the same spirit as we do. The whole thing with the 'Gare du Nord' piece left a bad taste in our mouth. There was so much work, by so many people, and the train company just paid some guys to paint over it. That stretch used to be the European Hall of Fame. People came from all over the world to write there at night. It's bad enough that the SNCF had it painted over, but what's much worse is that the company was able to pay to some writers to do that. We have respect for GOR and his color pieces on train lines back in the days, but there's no way we could do something like that and keep our self-respect. People don't usually admit to things like that.Many people feel crushed by the weight of fines they can never pay and don't see any way out. But this guy, facing that, decided to collaborate. Graffiti is like a wave. Some people know how to catch it and surf on it; others are caught by the breakers and end up on their knees in the sand.

NISE:In 1994 I did a whole car showing coffins, and I wrote in one of them, "Graffiti is dead." Everyone with me was shocked. They were from all different groups. But it was just how I felt, and I explained it to them. People don't bother to put any style in their pieces any more. When you paint block busters that have no style and are badly proportioned and badly done, graffiti dies. (SENSE:) As long as I live in an urban environment like Paris, graffiti may be dead but when I feel like emptying cans, I'm gonna do it. (Everybody): When bad blood is going around, we just try to avoid it. We know who we are, we like to paint together and that's our thing.

How do you feel about the difference between pieces in places where it's tolerated, and places where they're really illegal?

NISE: It's not really graffiti if it's tolerated. Graffiti is something you do in the dark with your eyes wide open. When you feel that adrenalin rush, you know it's graffiti. Some people have become legends in their own mind, wasting their talent on permission pieces.

A lot of illegal pieces are not on a quest to look good. Does quantity count more than quality?

Everybody: The guys painting trains today tend to keep count. They want to paint as many trains as they can. The only problem is that what they count is throw-ups or just big, sloppy letters, as if that was a piece. We're not bean counters. We know some people paint a lot more trains than we do. But we don't call it a whole car when all we've done is fill in the windows and done a few outlines with no background. You can paint more trains than anyone else, but if what you do is just a few ugly letters done fast and sloppy on some corner of a train, then other writers aren't going to be impressed. We se that kind of stuff every day in advertisements-why bother doing the same thing but less well? Even if a train doesn't get around too much and you only have a short amount of time to paint, you have to be neat. We don't do four throw-ups and fool ourselves into thinking we just painted four pieces. We do throw-ups when there's no time for anything else. To get your name up with block letters, you have to know how to make them proportionate. If you're going to write, you have to respect what you're doing. Some people don't bother trying to find out if someone else is already using their tag. Or worse, they use a different name every time they paint a train and don't care what it is. We always use the same names on trains. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to read the blockbuster letters we do on trains, even if the spelling can change.

LADY AZY from M.C.S. gives her point of view:

AZY: My vision of graffiti is the same as everybody else in the crew. I don't see why it would be any different. Of course it's harder for women and some people can't deal with it. The stereotypes are hard to get over, even for women. As a woman, I can write with the M.C.S with no problem, even if the stakes are higher for me. But a night spent illegally writing is a lot more exciting than any lame so-called hip-hop nightclub. Lately I've been writing
with NEDIE. I like piecing with her because we see things the same way. We go out, the adrenaline flows. I also write with guys whom I trust, because you never know what can happen. (RENO:) It's very interesting to have women writers who have their own sensibility. A woman who paints in our world has to respect it, whereas a lot of guys who pain don't necessarily respect each other. (AZY:) I have a lot respect for LADY PINK's work. She's always stimulated me.