UncouthYouth got in touch with Drax to ask him a few questions. Drax has painted all
over the world and is part of the infamous london crew World Domination.
I have tried to ask questions that havent been covered in othe interviews.

Anyway enjoy the interview after the jump.

UncouthYouth: Who are you ?
Drax: Drax (DX) Draks (DS) and a host of other dubiously spelt versions of that name.

UncouthYouth: Do you have any amusing old tags or crew names?
Drax: Some of the spellings I’ve used for my name are pretty bad.. Draqz (With a London Underground symbol for the Q was er! Ill-advised) Drakse (With a French flik over the e ‘pronounced Drak-seh’ was er! Totally gay) Dracks (just didnt look right) Ive never really had any other name. I used to be in a crew called Tone Def Krew (TDK) Which sounds daft as a graff crew but it was actually born out of a Cambridge sound system of that name and it’s a cool name for a sound system. They later became the infamous Tonka sound system that rocked many a mad rave in the early 90’s. Me, Seize and Furra had a short lived crew called (BN) Bad Nooze (Crap name) and Me and Elk had an even shorter lived one called BFV (Bat F**k Vandals) (Awful name for which you can blame Elk- No idea how he talked me into that one) In essence it was a pilot for PFB which we started a while later with Robbo)

UncouthYouth: Would you say graffiti is an addiction?
Drax: Yes 100%. I’m still addicted. and like any other addict I have to stay away from my old haunts, friends and habits if I want to stay ‘clean’, Fortunately most of my friends (Like myself) are a bit long in the tooth now so we dont exactly hang out in a graff enviroment on a day-to-day basis. That helps. and I keep myself busy with other stuff so I dont ‘relapse’. I am 100% still addicted to the feeling of writing my name on a wall and ‘like an arsonist’ even more so to the feeling of riding past anonymously and viewing my work. In England I am now a recovering addict that manages to not walk the streets at night writing on walls. I still paint and catch a few tags/throw ups but I resist the desire to be “UP” as when I succumb to that it can be all consumming and then like most of life’s excesses, something that you love can be the thing that destroys you. When I go abroad I am “a writer”. I carry paint, pens etc and try not to miss an oppurtunity to piece, tag or bomb. Abroad! Im only somewhere for a fleeting moment so my addiction does not have the time to consume me. Yes! graffiti writing is an addiction but not all writers are addicts. I am. To the grave.

UncouthYouth: What do you think of the jail sentences being handed out for graffiti these days? Im pretty sure you turned up at the Courts of Justice last valentines didn’t you?
Drax: Yes I was there. I thought it disgusting that a young man should die in prison over “graff offences”. How can the powes that be in this country pontificate over “pios zealotism” in Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea etc and imprison its youth for what amounts to no more than an over exuberant sense of self expression? I’d truly love to see the sons (Or grand sons) of the judges that give prison sentences for graff end up in prison themselves for such an offence then watch the hypocrites whine and protest or more likely use their “old boys” network to get them released. It disgusts me. Society has the right to protect itself but it does not have the right to destroy people that dont play by its rules… House arrest. Community service. Cleaning trains in a “Im a graffiti twat pink suit”. Fines etc. It has the tools. Imprisonment for such offences is the weapon of a vindictive state and a state that lacks compassion for its own people is doomed to fail. . . . Nonces, drunk drivers, wife beaters and tax evaders get an easier ride than graffiti writers. That will not be forgotten and when the oppurtunity arrises the sinned against, angry, dissenfranchised, miss treated and discarded practioners of this sub culture will happily and prejudicially DESTROY THE SYSTEM.

UncouthYouth: Would you encourage younger generations to go out and paint illegal graffiti?
Drax: NO. Graffiti writing should be left to find the individual not the other way round. I show younger members of my family/circle what I do/did if they decide to write I’ll advise them accordingly. But that’s it. To encourage anyone to do something that could quite possibly kill or destroy them would be morally bankrupt.

UncouthYouth: Have you ever regretted being a writer?
Drax: Never. Not even for the tiniest percentage of a nano-second. For better or worse it has shapped the person that I am today. I do however regret that I didnt start writing in 1980 when I first became intrigued by the phenomenon of names on walls. I lost 5 years and feel that Ive been trying to make up for it ever since.

UncouthYouth: Do you think being a graffiti writer can ruin your life?
Drax: Undoubtably. But it can also ‘make it’. You have to know when to step back and re-stratagize/moderate/adapt ect. Its nuts thinking that you’ll walk the streets for ever writing your name. That behaviour will one day destroy you. Writing is something to embrace as a means of uplifting, fullfilling or reinventing yourself, the day it starts taking you apart is the day to walk away or at least “step sideways”. If you ever see me again out there writing,bombing all day every day then be assured that for some reason I have embarked on the path to self-obliteration. Im not saying it will or wont happen. Im just telling you why. Graff can give you life. But it can also take it away.

UncouthYouth: If when you were younger you wanted to “be somone” why did you choose graffiti?
why didnt you want to be a rap star or someone more in the public eye?
Drax: Like most writers that at one time or another have been prolific I was shy, un-assuming and meerly a dreamer. I did not have the desire or confidence to embrace those worlds. Writing offered me the chance to live my dreams encapsulated in a bubble of anonymity. That suited me. It still does. I hate having my photo taken in a graff context. Not because Im secretive but because I do not have an ego that goes beyond “the name”. That’s a monster. I’m still just “lil old me”

UncouthYouth: What would you say was more important for you. The fame you have got through graffiti or the experiences?
Drax: As a writer: The Noteriety (Its not for me to attach the word fame to myself). As a human being: The experiences (the buff can never take those away)

UncouthYouth: In graff what gets your vote quality or quantity?
Drax: QUANTITY. . . Writing for me is the art of getting your name up. Any art school kid of creative designer could probably produce quality work. Getting up takes dedication. Being artistically talented doesnt. If you can be both thats great. Quantity alone will suffice but having the ability to write a few nice tags or do a nice piece means very little.

UncouthYouth: What writer do you have the most respect for and why?
Drax: I respect many writers for different reasons: To name a few: Elk, Robbo. JA. Cast. Oker. Sub. Zomby. Wane COD. Egs (Finland) Seth and Metro KOA (Australia) Crash 151. Fuel. Prime. Skore. Tox. PIC. Arek (Baltimore) High and Rhyme(Amsterdam) Nema. Some are up, some are amazing artists. Some have style to die for. Some are just awesome people. Too many names to mention really, It’s unfare to name just 1 but if I really have to name the writer I have the most respect for it’s Reas AOK WD. Trains. Walls. Style. Travel. Dedication. Success and Humility. If I had a natural artistic bone in my body he’s the only writer I’d want to be.