Yesca Interview

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

Yesca: I write YESCA. The crew I care about the most is TSA which i have been writing since 1996. I also write in AP crew which has become my new family in Japan.

How long have you been doing graffiti for?

Yesca: I have been writing since 1991 but was so toy that I would barely consider those years. It wasn’t until I met my mentor and best friend ESENS TSA in 1996 that I really considered doing pieces. ESENS moved to Vancouver from Los Angeles and definitely gave me the spark that I still carry until today. We used to do big 300 colour pieces with stock tips that were generally hated on, but I was having the time of my life. After that I moved to Halifax for school where I learned how to paint cleaner thanks to DOSER, LOPE 4,CHILE and DABS.

Why did you choose to write the name Yesca?

Yesca: It’s pretty corny.A few of my under-achieving friends and I and I would smoke joints every day during lunch at high school. We were fans of everything pot- related including Cheech and Chong- where we first saw the name on the van completely made of Cannabis.. We used to say we were the Yesca clan because we were such devoted pot heads. From 91 on I used to write YESCA CLAN and little characters around the school, and on all my notebooks. I really liked the way a Y and A pointed opposite directions, and eventually adopted it as my own name. I thought about changing it, worried that people would think I was trying to be latin. But actually yo soy un gringo con mucho sabor y puedo tocar los bongos mejor que tu. I could change it but i still love the letters.

You’re now living in Tokyo. How long have you been living there?

Yesca: 6 years now with no plans to return to North America.

How would you describe the graffiti scene in Tokyo?

Yesca: I love it and I hate it. I think I became a lot realer here because i really became a bomber. In Vancouver my focus was always painting tracksides for the Skytrain line and of course freights. But those are super chill compared to even catching a tag in Tokyo. It is the most populated urban agglomeration on our planet. 31 million. More people in my city than there are Canadians. Getting over here takes more planning and coordination. In 2003 WADE OPS GNF and I were on a mission to paint almost every night.. Along with my Japanese guide NOKE CLK, I also painted a lot with ACRE DFM AP and ICER5 NME AP. they put me down with AP. In the inner city there is very little piecing- tons and tons of throws and tags. A ton of chrome. That year we were really pushing 20 minute coloured straight letters on tracksides to stand out. And really, a trackside here is worth 300 Canadian ones. I still have stuff running on the Yamanote from then (as well as new stuff with my homeboy HOST TSA AP) and that is the busiest train line in the world. I am not into clean trains in Tokyo because the fines can be close to a million dollars, they don’t run and no cute -girls will see them- but a lot of foreigners who are only stopping by hit them, which is definitely ill. this kid HACK got mad press for doing a Shinkansen panel during the G-8 summit.

How does the scene differ from Canada?

Yesca: There is a sense here that going over someone is always a diss, no matter how hard it was burnt. Tags don’t touch. If you even clip an underline or quotation mark people act like you raped their moms. There are no legal walls at all, which I kind of miss. Everything is done in the middle of the night. I haven’t hit a daytime in a long time. Other than that it’s all good! Butter spots aplenty!!!!! also- good sushi and so many cute girls.

What’s the one thing you miss the most about Canada?

Yesca: Sorry 3-Rusty freights, good bagels and Montreal smoked meat sandwiches.Almost everything else I can get here.

Was it easy to find and meet other writers out there?

Yesca: Not at first. CAUSE B from Seattle introduced me to some homies, as did PLUSONE EMS from Vancouver who I randomly bumped into. When I moved to Tokyo PLUS already had the Shibuya area on lock.

Have you done some traveling with your graffiti? Where all have you been?

Yesca: I have left traces in Japan, Hawaii,Indonesia, Guam, The Phillipines, Seoul, Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan, Thailand, Borneo, Mexico and the mecca NYC.

What’s your favorite city to visit? Why?

Yesca: Taiwan was a lot of fun to bomb. pros to HOST,DABS, CURLY, SARKS,ASESR, SPOOZ, SERVO and CHEK for showing me around. I think things have heated up a lot now, but there was a period a few years ago where it was a graff paradise. Cheap paint, cute girls and buttery spots.

Have you run into any situations where you’ve been chased for doing graffiti? Can you share any stories with us?

Yesca: plenty of chase stories-but how about a “the time I got nailed” story. I got locked up for 8 days for painting a rooftop. The jails here are dehumanizing. They use boredom as a weapon. Some of the days in there were the worst of my life. It cost me a lot- my job, girlfriend, apartment and a ton of cash. I was in a cell with a serial rapist who looked like Golum and a train molester with a skin disease . The good thing is that I was they biggest dog in the kennel- no one was going to fuck with me (ONLY IN ASIA). I only got caught because i was too drunk (15 ryes deep). I really suggest using caution about the amount you drink when you paint. We al know it’s fun but jail isn’t. Now if I am faded I just stick to tags.

Who’s graffiti have you been feeling lately?

Yesca: More than skill level I admire a good person to paint with. Someone who you know won’t rat you out no matter what heat they are under. Because of that I mostly admire the people in my crews because I can trust them. and because I know what their graffiti means to them. So TSA and AP mostly… If you are talking strictly style i have a long list. I feel privileged to have come up in a great time for Canadian graffiti. I have always seen it as interesting. When I was in elementary school I always saw J_ZONE tags everywhere in Vancouver. I used to draw his name on the buildings in my drawings. In Canada definitely OMEN, OTHER, TAKE 5, ACROW, STAGE SIGHT, KWEST, NME crew, OPE, FES, BACON, SUEME, ASESR, GUTS, TECK, TARS, KREWS, DEDOS, VIRUS . In Japan QP, VERY, DISE, DEPAS, CASPER, LEO, FYGMA,SUIKO, SKLAWL,SKOL, WA2, PHIL, FATE,ZONE,KRES,REWS,PELON, PUTS, TENGA, EMAR, WANTO an SECT. I will leave out the rest of the world because I don’t live there.

How often are you out painting?

Yesca: I was doing a trackside piece a week for a few months this winter and spring with HOSTER, but he is in Taiwan right now so I have been doing super chill walls about twice a month and just catching tags. I am busy making films, illustrating, playing in 2 bands and spending time with my girl but i never do any of those things without a juicy marker and bag full of stickers. Not bad for an old coot.

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

Yesca: In the Northern hemisphere not a lot! I am sill focused on painting up my new playground. Come through!

Any last words for the Senses Lost readers?

Yesca: 

---

More Interviews >>