'MADRID REVOLUTION'

We at Montana Colors are proud to have sponsored the launching of the book MADRID REVOLUTION, an editorial project which paints a picture of the beginning of Madrid’s golden age of graffiti on trains and subways, with an exceptional graphic documentation of more than 800 photos, laid out over 170 pages. The people in charge of narrating these 20 years of intense emotion, are those who lived it first hand. There’s no need for introductions, we’ll just leave you with some names: Introduction by Javier Abarca (KOAS TPV), and accounts by TRASE, KOOL, TALK, SUNE, BACIE, HEYSM, THOR, SEC, LOSE, SHA, SPOK, WAINE and POSK, amongst others, each one representing different crews, different generations, and different ways of living their love for graffiti on rails. After three long years, the Madrid Revolution Team have managed to develop and complete an editorial project which is essential for understanding the recent history of our native graffiti.

Eight years since the publishing of the last book on graffiti in Madrid (“Madrid Graffiti”), where did the inspiration to create Madrid Revolution come from?

With the topic that interests me, which is graffiti on trains, I think there’s more to its history than what was told, and more material should have been released explaining what happened in Madrid. There was more people who felt the same and who tried to launch a similar project without success. I’ve been working on this for three years.

So, you don’t think that what happened with graffiti on trains in Madrid has been extensively told in the past?

Yeah, mainly because ‘Madrid Graffiti’ was done by two people who weren’t really involved in this world, or at least one of them wasn’t. For that reason, lots of people didn’t offer to contribute their photographic material. They weren’t writers who had lived first hand what the book spoke about. I have had the good fortune to live during the periods which this book is about, I know the people, and generally, they all really went out of their way to help.

(Jast, 1987)

(Secret, 1991)

I see that you put the book in chronological order

Yeah, that was important, that people could see the evolution from the beginning, see what was done, and what continues to be done up till today. It was important to show the evolution and that, particularly in Madrid, the style on the trains was being lost. I think people are more interested in putting photos on the internet or saying that they do 100 trains a year, in place of really finishing each piece well. I know that the Metro and Renfe are difficult, but taking care to do the piece well isn’t too hard; it seems that a lot of people just don’t want to do it, they simply paint and don’t care about the result.

(1992)

(Jabo & Suso, 1996)

We spoke with Sento a little while ago, and he told us that a true “style writer” was someone that works the paper really well and then knows how to then move that to the wall or the train carriage.

Yeah, it’s really important. I mean, lots of people know how to draw and then get to a train and do what they have in their head as quickly as possible. I don’t think the task is to apply 10 colors in 10 minutes, the task is to create a clean and beautiful piece, even if that means putting down two colors in the space of 10 minutes. The quantity of colors you leave means nothing if the piece has no style.

(1995)

(Tala)

Back to the chronological order…where did you begin?

In searching for the oldest that there was in Madrid; the typical well-hidden photos showing the veterans, which are never revealed or are lost in family homes; I tried to find them all.

(Bacie & Juan, 1994)

Who was the first person you called?

I called a ton of writers who almost don’t paint at all these days. I spoke with KOOL and JAST from QSC, with ALIEN from Aluche, with people from PTV, with KAOS (who offered to do important work with the intro to the book), etc… I knew I’d have plenty of material, because I’ve been obsessed with sorting out the photos, asking for negatives from people, and I keep lots of photo albums of trains in Madrid.

(Seone & Kool, 1988)

From what year till what year does the book deal with?

The first photo is from 1987, and the last is of the end of 2010.

Using these dates as a reference, which period was the best?

From ’90 till ’96. For me, the ’90s were the best years, in which I really lived, and I think a lot of people feel the same. My aim wasn’t to release a book with lots of unedited material; I tried to show the best of each year.

(TBC, 1998)

(Sune DRN)

You decided to release a book, instead of a periodical…

Yeah, because I had already decided to stop making fanzines, which was a headache more than anything else. I decided to do something serious which would actually reach the whole world and could proudly sit on a book shelf, instead of in a box, forgotten with other magazines.

The book design really draws the eyes; what was it that you wanted to transmit?

Mainly, I didn’t want to deceive people with a super modern design which, in the end, doesn’t really offer anything. We opted for a monotone design, classic but with lots of material. So far, people have liked it.

You mainly wanted to highlight the documentation, no?

That was the hardest part, getting people to speak and create the texts. Some people gave me their piece in the space of a week, and for others I had to wait 2 years for them to send me 10 lines. I got a bit of everything, though I’m still waiting for a few more texts.

How do you think people will receive Madrid Revolution?

Truthfully; very well. Not just the older crowd, but the younger crowd too, those that have been painting for just a few years. This is all very new for them, since most of them haven’t even seen in circulation some of the trains which appear in the photos.

(Sha, 2006)

In other cities with a strong scene, like Barcelona, a book like this has yet to be created…

Something similar about Barcelona should have come out ages ago, with the history of graffiti on walls as well as trains. For me, it’s one of the most important cities for graffiti, if not the most important, for the style created there, as well as the quantity of writers. Apart from the ´90s in Madrid, which was a great period for train work, Barcelona is the most important city for graffiti.

(Spok, 1998)

(Zant, 2002)

From your point of view as a graffiti writer who has been painting without stop for years, do you think that the fervor for painting trains is disappearing bit by bit?

It’s not that it’s disappearing, but that there are more things stopping everyone from painting as many trains as they’d like to. For me, graffiti is on the back-burner at the moment. When you’re young and you live in your parent’s house, you try to paint all the time, but at this age, you have your own family, your work, and you have to think about other things. You think a little bit more on whether to go out to paint for 10 minutes is worth risking the 5 or 6 thousand euro fine.

(Nehs, 2002)

Any anecdotes or interesting things to tell us about the creation of the book?

I think people were surprised by the ‘special’ group of writers which we portrayed, as I think people were expecting to see the well-known faces that are always talked about. I wanted to show people who maybe painted less than the well-known ones but who painted well.

(Sea)

For example, one of the special reports I particularly like is dedicated to POSK, someone who didn’t paint many trains, but the ones he did do were beautiful.

(Posk, 1998)

If you had to give us the name of a writer who has painted all their life and who remains active now, who would that be?

For me, that would be POCHO (SEMS), from Alcorcón. This is a guy who began painting in the ’80s and who hasn’t stopped since. He’s obsessed with graffiti, his life is graffiti, and so, he deserves all the respect I could give to any writer.

(Sems – Pocho – & Colh, 2006)

What feeling are you left with when you finish a book like this, which you’ve been working on for 3 years?

It’s hard to describe the sensation, because after so many years of looking at the same photos, texts, and other material, you don’t have the same excitement which you had at the start. The good feeling comes when you have the book in your hands and you can finally see that it has all been worth it.

(Deon, 2002)

And do you still want to create a new folder on your computer, titled Madrid Revolution Vol. 2?

I have a few things already prepared. Right now, I’m in the process of gathering old material of some writers who didn’t send it to me on time for this book. Also, this summer, a limited edition of T-shirts has been released, with the image of the front cover printed on them.

I’m also still working on the blog.

(Hear, 1998)

Why “Madrid Revolution”?

‘Revolution’ has two meanings in this context; what went down was a revolution in Madrid, and also, the book lets people see the evolution of graffiti from the mid-’80s to now. I want people to see and compare the style of the ’90s to that of nowadays, and to focus on the style they did back then, even though it was easier to paint back then.

(Vicios, 2006)

As well as the fact that painting techniques have evolved…

Of course. There are pieces from the ’90s that had just 3 colors but took 1 hour to create, whereas now you can easily put up 5 colors in a matter of 10 minutes.

(Bin & Kane, 1992)

(Mata)

What do you think Madrid has represented for graffiti outside of the country? Are there as many foreign writers in the city as 10 years ago?

I think Madrid represents quite a lot…we were the first to utilize the famous ‘palancazo’ technique (Ed: pulling the emergency break to stop the train, so as to have more time to paint it), which is one of the complicated ways of painting the Metro. Foreigners like the idea of coming to Madrid and painting one of the Metro trains, though not everyone manages to do it. There’s more people from other countries coming in these days, because people see videos and fanzines from Madrid, and want to come so that they can have a photo of their piece on the Metro for their album.

(Sec, Know, & Thor, 1993)

* Choose your local MTN distributor and order MADRID REVOLUTION book now!.