Rubin, NTA

Name?

I write Rubin. Earlier I used to change my name from time to time. Ramse is one of them. Earlier names from the eighties are Cendo and Darek. I also have an legal name that I´ve kept through all the years.

Crew?

I´m a member of the NTA-crew (Night-Time Artists). Besides me, the other members are Sace, Oboe and Mets. NTA has no greater meaning. An older writer, named Clear started it. It was through him I got interested in graffiti. In that way it´s fun that the name he came up with still is alive.

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For how long have you been into graffiti?

I got interested in graffiti around -84, before I was 9 years old. I started bombing in -85 and up til -91 I only did a few pieces from time to time. My interest in graffiti has always been equally big through these years and it will always be a big part of my life.

How many pieces do you think you´ve done?

I´ve done about 250 real pieces, plus all the fast ones. I´ve never thought about counting the exact amount. For me quality comes first, but I appreciate writers that rather paint more than good also.

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Who do you usually paint with?

I paint a lot with Just One and Sace. I painted most of all alone 94-95. It´s a special feeling to paint by yourself. You don´t have to feel rushed and it´s much more calmer.

Do you often use sketches when you paint?

I almost always use a sketch when I paint. Sometimes I´ve had an image in my head for a longer time that I don´t need a sketch to do, but I often have some kind of sketch. There are periods in life when it´s nice to paint without any preparations, just take a bag of colours, go out and see what happens.

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How do you get your paint? Are there any special brands or colours that you prefer?

I buy or get colour from legal jobs. It´s about fifty-fifty. About brands, I usually paint with what I have. I don´t go whining over what brand the colour is, I adapt to what I have instead. Unfortunately I can´t say that "Quick is best", cause I haven´t painted much with it. Auto K, Belton and Spraymasters black I like a lot.

Ever got caught?

I´ve never got sentenced for graffiti in any kind of form, but I have been caught by the police several times when I´ve been painting, but never judged for it. Never had to pay a dime in fines.

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Are there any of your pieces that you like more than others?

Those of my pieces that I like the most are often those that I´ve laid less time on. I can for instance like a fast silver more than something legal that I have spended a lot of time on. Pieces from -93, when all boundaries and limits for what you could do disappeared I like. Then there are also pieces from -95 that I like.

Legal - Illegal graffiti?

I think there shall be a clear line between legal and illegal graffiti. It´s hard to explain what I really mean, but "real" graffiti that is legally done don´t have the same value and respect from the perspective of graffiti. It´s two different things. In some kind of way you can always see if a piece is legal or not. When you paint illegal you do it on your own conditions and when it´s legal you have to compromise. My heart is in the illegal graffiti, but in the legal part there is money to earn.

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Inspirations?

I can generally not tell where I get my inspiration because it vary from time to time. Often you take small things from earlier pieces and do something new of it. Then there are things that influate you wheter you want to or not. It´s unavoidable. For some kind of reason you get drawn in some direction.

Music? Hip-hop?

I mostly like everything that´s not commercial, that is on various top charts. Trance and ambient from 93-95, before drum n' bass and jungle broke through I like very much. Doors is one of my "all time favourites". When it comes to hip-hop it´s only old-school for me. I quit listening to hip-hop around -90.

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Where have you painted?

I´ve painted all around Sweden and also abroad. Greece, France and Finland are a couple of countries I´ve painted in. Hopefully I have painted in London when this interview is done. I often paint in Copenhagen because I travel there on concerts often. Else I don´t bother so much about painting when I´m abroad. Is there time and space for it I usually paint.

Haven´t seen so much of Rubin lately. You have calmed down. How come?

I have more or less taken a voluntarily brake. With that I mean that I haven´t painted so much. On the other side I´ve been involved in a lot of other projects. I´m just about to finish a job that I´ve been working on for four months. Another job is waiting for me this summer. The music, which is my favourite occupation I´ve also dedicated more and more time for. Since two years back I´m back studying again. I´m hoping to and trying to get into a design education with concentration on graphical design.

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Do you think there is any difference between the graffiti today and how the scene was before, when you started painting?

It´s a big difference now compared to when I started painting active. Then it was important that what you did really got well, nowdays it´s more like you don´t care so much about that as long as you just do something. The first pieces I made were all very carefully done. The graffiti was also more hip-hop related earlier than it´s now. Today graffiti in Sweden has very little to do with hip-hop. You get together on jams but much than that it isn't.

A lot of writers have like limits or respect for what or where they paint. Do you have any?

Private property I don´t mess with. But if I see a wall which I think a piece would do fine on I think it´s ok. Nomatter where the wall is or who owns it. If it´s an ugly wall it should be coloured. Then I don´t care about what other says. Noone asks me if I want to see all commercial around us. Those architectures that wrote all fucking concrete, those are the ones who should be considered as criminal, not we that put colour on it.

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Any special "graffiti memories" that you want to share?

A funny occuerence was when two cops ordered a painting from me and payd me well for it. They were´nt interested in happy characters or something like that, they wanted real wild style. The painting hangs in their livingroom now.

What about the future?

The future for me lies in the music and to be able to develop as a writer at the side of that. Times have changed and I have realized that it's hard to be as active as I was earlier. It's very exhausting to be out painting almost every night and to have time for everything else at the same time, but I´m never gonna quit going out painting. There ain´t no lack of ideas anyway. I´ll just have to see whay happens. You never know...

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Last words?

I wanna give shout outs to: SACE, JUST ONE, METS, DIOR, CLEAR and all other writers I know in Gothenburg. POWER in Seattle. Everyone from Canslit in Norrköping, the snowmen in Pawnshop and last but not least my beautiful Bambi.

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