Omsk167 Interview

What do you write? Where are you from? What crews do you rep?

Omsk167: I write Omsk167 and i come from Saxony, northeast Germany. I rep CSF as my main crew since 1994 and for a few years now I’m also part of the German based MTA Crew.

How long have you been doing graffiti for?

Omsk167: For 16 years I write Omsk167, all I’ve done before 1993 isn’t worth to mention…

Where does the name Omsk167 come from?

Omsk167: Omsk is a city in Russia i has been before the 90´s for a little time. I’m dedicated to Russia, its my favorite country and i just love it..

What influenced you to start doing graffiti?

Omsk167: As far as i remember it was not Wild Style or Beat Street or any particular Movie or Magazine. It was just the fact that my neighborhood was bombed hard that days and i was just impressed about it.

How would you describe your style of graffiti?

Omsk167: German and Classic

How would you describe the graffiti scene in Germany?

Omsk167: To be honest, i cant really describe that in words. The big mix of every single kind of graffiti and streetart in germany makes it hard to explain the so called local graffiti art scene. Germany still exist as one of the most active and creative scene when it comes to graffiti and art in general, but, on the other hand it all turned due the past years into something very different, as German history are as well. If you remember, back in the days of the “Weimarer Republik” when Germany was splitted into little states. In the 17th century Germany was just a word, consisting of more than 300 little states. Every single state tried to make its own politics, own culture and at least own wars. This is basically how i would like to describe the german graffiti scene these days. But hey, of course we got Berlin, Hamburg, Saxony, Munich, Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, the Rhine Area, every single part of the country got its own big history if you know what i mean. Remember such big names as Loomit, Shark, Chintz, Enro, Hot and Chen, Bisaz or Amok. And of course german writers and graffiti artists still setting standards, look at Razor and his COS Crew, Daim, Kacao77, the Bandits Dresden or Can2 since the 90s, DSF, the BAD Crew or Flying Förtress, Mozes or Taps these days, since day one Germany published hundreds of medias like Magazines such as Stylefile, Videos, even the biggest graffiti event with more than 10.000 Writers from all over the world gathered in one place was held in Wiesbaden back in the days, yes Germany is a big impact of hyperactive and creative monsters and is truly the heart of European graffiti art, still.

Who are you usually painting with?

Omsk167: The friends and cool cats I meet while traveling a lot, always tried to hookup with some fresh local writers all over the places i has been to, this depends usually of course on some points but in general I don’t really give a fuck on who it is and how much fame the writer got, I always appreciate a nice mate showing me a bit of his part of the world, apart from this i paint a lot with some friends of mine from Copenhagen and of course my crew mates back home.

Have you done any traveling with you graffiti? Where have you been?

Omsk167: Yes i travel a lot, since the late 90´s i went to many places all over the world, from LA to Melbourne, many times to Russia and almost every single european capital i have visited lately. Always good to travel yeah.

Do you have a favorite city you’ve visited?

Omsk167: Moscow is still my favorite, such a fresh city. Los Angeles impressed me a lot, thanks Toomer I know now what to do while somebody knockin on your door.

You’re involved with the release of the newest Can’t Stop Fanatics DVD. Can you tell us about it? What can we expect to see?

Omsk167: Its a DVD about Trainwriting, the 3rd part feature a few german writers, my boy Break from Melbourne, UFS from Moscow, my Crew, a lot of nice footage from beautiful Vienna, Italy, France and some more stuff, But the release is moved to an unknown date this year due some serious problems I cant really explain here, but it will be out soon and meanwhile there are so many DVDs to watch so nobody gettin that bored or worry about the delayed release I think, btw I really look forward to see criminal minded 2 the trailer is very good…

What would you rather paint, a wall or train?

Omsk167: Train

Who’s graffiti have you been feeling lately?

Omsk167: King of Swing, Swet. That dude is still on point…he is kicking the most fresh stuff i have ever seen. But to answer the question right, I feel what Faith47 do, she is an amazing artist, that makes sense to me..

Do you have any good chase stories to share with us?

Omsk167: Dont go East Europe, keep staying West. The time of invading countries such as Poland, Czech, Slovakia Hungary or Romania by painting trains easily is over, the security and cops over there don’t play…

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

Omsk167: The Burning Saxony Project is ready to kickoff this year and Omsk167 is part of it, its a collabo by a few artist from Saxony such as Slide, Andy K, Serk, MadC, Enjoy, Carpaso and few others. I’m sure you will recognize that project very soon. Apart from this, travelling a lot, visit South America and get my ass back to LA asap…

Any last words for the Senses Lost readers?

Omsk167: I didn’t really check out Senses Lost before, but it seems worth to look over daily so i will do that in the future as much i can. The Internet turned into the most important source to get updates on whats happening in the world. Especially the blogs do a good job on that. Hurtyoubad, the 12oz Forum and Blogs, IloveGraffiti, DutchDamage, CodeRed, WhatYouWrite, Graffnews or whatever you call them, thanks for keeping me in the loop…And for all that kids out there, keep your hands off stinky Chinese spray paint.

Check out more Omsk167: www.myspace.com/omsk167

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