Tempt

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Our next Featured Artist is one of LA’s most influential and inspiring artists. Growing up on the streets of L.A. and heavily influenced by varrio writing and his pears

Introduce yourself and the crews you represent.

I write TEMPT. My crews are K2S-STN, LOD, 213, NCW and WTM.

Those are some HEAVY crews. You’re a legendary graffiti artist, tell us how your journey into our lifestyle began?

Well, it was the early 80s, and like a lot of kids at the time I got into b-boying, but I sucked. Then one day I saw Style Wars on TV and that was it. All I wanted to do after that was write graffiti. I was already familiar with it because back in the late 70s (when I was about 10 years old) I used to put my placa up around my neighborhood in flat black spray paint - Lil Tony 13 - but this time around it felt more exciting. At first, I was just doing it on my b-boy crew's ghetto blaster, our linoleum, my pee chee folder and stuff like that, but it very quickly escalated to the streets, buses, etc.

Was there someone at the time that took you under their wing?

From 83 to 85 I wasn't a connected writer. I didn't have anyone to show me anything, so I was just trying to figure things out on my own as best I could but I didn't let it stop me from getting up because I had mad heart for this. In 86 I met Defer K2S because we took the same RTD bus route home from school every day. We lived in the same neighborhood, and he taught me pretty much everything - letter style, where to rack, rapidograph and design markers, etc. He also took me around to all the yards so I could get up. He later put me down with STN. I always cite Defer K2S for giving me a solid foundation.

You've done it all in graffiti, what was the most fun for you, bombing or piecing?

Every aspect of graffiti is fun to me - the peaceful, creative feeling you get from piecing as well as the adrenaline rush you get from bombing.

Every time I see a Tempt piece the sharpness of the outline is one thing that stands out to me, did that come with time or was it something you practiced?

When the first generation of LA writers started getting up in the early 1980s, we didn't know about fat caps. We just used the stock tips that were already on the can. So, when you took flicks of early LA pieces, a lot of 'em look fuzzy. That's because the stock tips we were using had a lot of overspray - you couldn't get a crisp line. When we finally got down with fat caps (around 1985 and 86) LA writers went crazy (at least I did, anyway). Also, I was running with the dudes from K2S-STN by this time. They were some of the best and most innovative writers in the city, and it went without saying that if you were gonna be down with homies from the crew then your shit had to be maaaad crisp, and your straight lines couldn't just be "kinda" or "mostly" straight. HELL NAW!!!! They had to be EXACTLY straight. This was the 80s. Things weren't all soft and supportive like today. If you couldn't come correct, your people would tell you to your face how wack your shit was, and you'd be clowned for weeks, if not months, afterwards. Well, I didn't want that happening to me, so I worked on my can control every chance I got. It was also important for me to have my shit be sharp because I came up in the Eastside plaqueaso writing tradition where your writing and penmanship had to be crisp, so I wanted that to be reflected in my graffiti pieces.

In the 80's in Los Angeles, You were either considered an East or West side writer, what would you say was the differences between the two sides, if any?

Westside writers, generally speaking, had a NYC look to their styles - a lot of arrows, b-boy characters and eye-catching colors. Eastside writers used thicker, more angular letters, muted colors and complicated fill-ins. I'm a fan of both, but Eastside style comes more natural to me.

Your “T” throw ups has so much flavor, almost looks like a character. How did that iconic “T” come about?

I did characters occasionally, but I was always about letters first and foremost. I didn't start off as an artist, I started off as a little kid that was into writing placaso graffiti around my neighborhood in the late 70s. So to me, characters and background were just the icing on the cake but the icing is pointless if the cake itself sucks. 

I'm not sure how I came up with my first "T" throwie..... I think I was just aimlessly doodling one day and it just showed up outta nowhere. It's weird how that happens sometimes, isn't it. Anyway it was easy to read, it was fat and you could see it from far away, so it just made sense to start putting it up. A few months after that I put a "lean" to it and added the exclamation mark, and that's what everyone on LA's freeways saw from about 1987/88 to about 1991. By then I was getting bored of painting it and looking at it, so I came up with the "TE" that I put up ever since.

Graffiti was put on hold for you, when you were diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig disease). Has all the experience you've lived while painting, help you cope and stay as strong as you have while you fight this chapter in your life?

Yes. I have a lot of great memories that I'll take to the grave - I have absolutely no regrets. Those were some of the funnest times in my life!

That's awesome. Is there any words of wisdom, you would like to give someone that's struggling

With ALS, and maybe doesn't have the life experience or strength that you have?

Well first of all, I'm not strong. I'm just a guy who got stuck with a terrible disease that took my life and my freedom away, and if I think about it too much, I get really angry and depressed. So I try to avoid thinking about it too much. I just do whatever it takes to get me through each day - I watch movies, stand-up comedy, whatever it takes. I don't have too much advice for others who get ALS, just "hold on tight 'cause you're in for a helluva ride!!!!"

Youve painted A LOT, any of the pieces you've done stand out above the rest?

my favorite pieces are the one I did at the Sunset and Sanborn yard in Echo Park in 1992, and the one I did at Belmont Tunnel in 1997

What makes them your favorite. Style, circumstances or just because?

You know, when I show up to paint, I almost never bring a sketch - 95% of the time I just go off the head. So, I never know what's gonna happen or even what colors I brought with me to the spot. To me, it's more fun that way because you're taking a big risk that way - sometimes you fail miserably and other times you hit the jackpot and amaze yourself by rockin' something incredible! I like that whole process of going up to the wall (or whatever) for the first time and feeling that fear and self-doubt you get from not knowing what's gonna happen. Then, as you start painting, you begin getting into a rhythm. At this point you start loosening up and trusting your instincts, and before you know it things start to come together naturally. At that point your only job is to get out of the way and let the work paint itself. However, that can only happen when you're deep in "the zone". A lot of times I have difficulty getting into - or staying in - "the zone", so I usually don't like how the work turns out. But in these pieces and a few others, everything just came together almost effortlessly.

Graff has come a long way since your early years. did you ever think it would evolve into what it is now?

As far as today is concerned, I think that what young people are doing now is pretty amazing.

You spent time traveling up Northern Cali, Santa Cruz in particular, how much fun was that?

Oh man it was a blast - especially for an LA writer! You didn't have to worry about what neighborhood you were in or getting rolled up on, or getting shot. I don't know how it is today, but back then northern California had a pretty chill vibe. The only place you had to watch your back was Oakland. Other than that, up north had gangs and other shit but nothing like LA. Southern California in those days was like a Vietnam.

Loko, you have time for a few questions?

This was the last question we asked Tempt, for a few days later, we found out the horrible news that he had passed away. 

You will be missed Tony

RIP TEMPT