When I met up with Robin Shannon and David Storey at the studios at Rose Hill, we chatted for a full hour, so I knew a lot would end up on the cutting floor. It would have been nice to delve more into my thesis, as that's what led Robin to me, but it's totally understandable that the focus was more on graffiti as a general topic. When you get into the weeds of something like I had to for this paper, it's easy to take for granted that everyone knows the difference between a tag and a throw up.
It was also really awesome to return to radio after what has essentially been a decade away from it. I graduated from St. John's University in 1997 with a degree in journalism, but before I cast my lot with (what were then dubbed) the ink-stained wretches, I worked for the radio station there, as a DJ and as music director. Even if this wasn't live, it was great fun to sound off on a fun topic I care deeply about. Would have preferred that I didn't say "that's something I can get behind" twice at the end, but that's just the perfectionist in me.
And how about Storey? Does he know his stuff or what? We had never met before this, but I felt like we we had a great rapport. He's obviously a lot better at deploying phrases such as "altruistic transgressive action," which I'd never heard of before but definitely agree with. And Robin was a great host who made us feel comfortable from the minute we sat down. The entire experience definitely made me want to do more publicity and talk about graffiti. I hope you'll give it a listen.
On a more somber note, rest in peace 5 Pointz. I'd always suspected you weren't long for this world, seeing it actually happen, well, there aren't enough expletives in my meager vocabulary to express the rage and sadness (rageness?) I'm feeling about your loss. I may have more to say on this later, after I've been able to process it further, but for now I'll just say that NYC is a lot more boring today than it was three days ago.
