Who is Deshamer? Where is he from? Is he from this world? I am an old school guy from the south of the Netherlands that lived the full time graffiti life in the early nineties, stopped for a few years from 1998 onwards, did a few pieces between 2004 and and 2006 and again between 2012 and 2016. But 2017 is a great year so far and I am enjoying painting again, just like I did in the mid-nineties.
When and why did you start at graffiti? In 1985 I started with writing MR.BLOND on some park benches in my neighbourhood, when the Style Wars documentary was aired on tv I was like: WTF‌this is so cool, I want to do that too! Sadly there is no subway system in this part of NL and I knew nobody else who was doing graffiti so I started painting on walls close to my home. Humble beginnings with painting
my first graffiti names FARAO and STEP on walls only, it took a few years to move on to trains. By that time my graffiti name was SHAME which evolved to DESHAMER in 2 years. I just kept on adding letters to make it better and it opened for endless possibilities. I can use the full DESHAMER name or shorten it to DESH, SHA, SAHME, DESHA or DESHONE or write it backwards as in REMAHSED. But over the years I also used many other names, not just to avoid law enforcement but also because a new name comes with new options of style. Of course it means that not many people have a good understanding of everything I did, but maybe that is better in the long run.
Deshamer, who is your best friend at graffiti world? Over the years I met so many great people because of graffiti. But to name my best friend I can’t just name one, so I will name a few: FUME, CES53, and MILK.
These are the guys that I still regularly meet and paint with and we are friends for over 25 years and hopefully for the next 25 years. All of them are great guys to hang out and to paint with. They all have their unique style and know how stuff is done.
Master, can you explain the evolution of your style please? I started of with simple straight letters which evolved into complex wildstyle pieces. Later I added things like arrows and bits to it and letters where not just a bunch of straight lines but also contained curves. After that my style has gone everywhere from a more swing style to abstract. Basically, anything that I was interested at in a certain period could be
found back in my style. As such my time at the Willem de Kooning art academy certainly added a more artistic touch to my style. It even lead to the use of normal brush paint, silicon mastic and Posca markers on a whole car in 1993. From a style perspective I think 1995 was my best year. I painted wildstyle DESH pieces where in one piece the outlines could be multi coloured just like the highlights and all could be used as fillin as well. In many cases I did not have a
Deshamer, what are the colors you use most? My personal favourites are green and blue so I think I use those the most. But I paint with anything I can lay my hands on for free or for cheap. On the other hand I like chrome a lot because it puts more emphasis on the letters as there is no complex fillin to coverup a lack of style.
sketch but just did it freestyle, here is where years of dedication paid off. I also think it was a truly original style.
Any tip to do a masterpiece? A masterpiece can only be defined by others and I am not sure if I done any. But in my humble opinion it takes years of dedication to master a spraycan and to create your own style before someone is even ready to create something that others might call a masterpiece.
Something you love to see in pieces and other things you hate? Not really something in particular but I love originality above all. Having said that, I prefer a simple piece where the writer shows of his ability to create stylish letters above those that make really complex wildstyles only to hide bad letter style. But again, it takes years to master style and understand the complexities
of different fonts and then to connect all that in a half way decent piece. Many claim to be king of style but only a few really are.
What is your crew? How long have you been with the crew? Who are the other members of the crew? My most important crews are (or were): TBG, SBMC, RCV RSWC, OMT and CFH.
special project when we were in Berlin in 1991, but I guess most of you know about that one. :-) I still use CFH, TBG and RSWC today to show where I am coming from and maybe we might be tempted to use OMT one more time‌.who knows, only time can tell. :-) Only CFH (Clowns From Hell) is still an active crew with writers like CES53, MISTER, VINZ, JAKE, CARE just to name a few. TBG (The Beng Geng) was a crew I founded with POSK and ACIDE in the late eighties. RCV (Rock Crime Vandalism) was a Rotterdam crew in the late eighties with members like CES53, ESHUA, SISM and many more. RSWC (Rolling Steel Wheel Crusadors) was founded by CES53, SISM, ESHUA, DART and myself on the night before we did the first wholecars on Dutch trains, after that more writers joined. And OMT (one More Time) was some
At trains it is essencial but in these days, do you see teamwork in graffiti? Although sometimes it is just great to be out painting on your own, it is more fun to paint with your friends. When doing a legal wall it is fun to drink, chat and have fun together while creating a nice collaboration. On trains and especially when doing wholecars teamwork pays of, not just in the quality of the wholecar but also with regard to security. A good crew can be very effective and fast if all want to contribute to a good end result and not
just think about their own part. Teamwork was the basis of the OMT and Berlin was the right place to show of all that we had learned over the years.
What is your favorite train? And the worst train for you master? My personal favourite is the DRUM (The Drive-by) top-to-bottom wholecar from Berlin 1991. It was painted in the Friedrichsfelde Ost yard in East Berlin.
The trains were parked in long rows with only 4 feet in between and without a platform. As such we were painting like DONDI (the photo in the Style Wars book) with our feet on a small ledge on both cars in the row. CES53 helped me (after I had helped him the night before with a BOX or a JACK wholecar, remember the teamwork comments above) with the background so I could concentrate on the letters and the fillin. It took us about 30 to 40 minutes while SPEED was painting a top-to-bottom piece on the car on the right. The best part was that the train was running the next day and we got to ride and surf it and make some great photos while in traffic. After that they again stored it for some time in the Friedrichsfelde Ost yard. It was fun to see our wholecars there from a distance while local writers were running in the yard trying to get good pictures of our wholecars and being chased by security.
The left image shows the DRUM The Drive-by wholecar in Berlin central station. The right image shows CES53 painting in the Friedrichsfelde Ost yard, I think while painting the BOX that was part of the BOX DRUM MORE whole train, but it shows the way it was done.
What do you think about the move of graffiti on the trains to the art gallery? nk it is a natural move that I did as well; you start with painting on walls and trains and once you master it people will come to you and ask you to do art work. The best would be to keep doing both but many made the move to the gallery never to look back. In the mid nineties I did the Willem de Kooning art academy in Rotterdam and it was my goal to become a professional artist. It never came to that as I started a summer job in IT after I graduated, which I am still doing to this day.
Shame, some tip for the beginner on trains please? Practice on walls a lot before even attempting to paint trains. When possible go with someone you trust and has who some experience with painting trains. Make sure you know when to go, clean your cans from fingerprints, wear gloves and something to cover your face, keep your eyes and ears open, start simple and don’t expect it to be a burner. When painting enjoy the moment as it is an experience of a lifetime and make sure to come back.
The eternal fight: illegal vs legal. How do you think about it? For me it is no fight, just two different ways that coexist. I have always done and enjoyed both. Legal because it is a great way to practice or create big artworks while enjoying a beer and have a chat and a laugh with friends. Illegal
mobile phones to stay in touch with each other before, during or after painting. On the other hand, although many yards in the nineties already had fences, gates and security, there were no motion detectors and cameras that are there nowadays to secure the place. However, I think regardless of that there will always be possibilities to paint trains and get your name up.
Can explain the difference about paint trains at 89’s and paint trains now a days? Although the action in itself is not much different, the whole thing around it has changed. In those days there was no Google Maps, Earth and Streetview that help with finding yards and layups. It was all done by riding the train extensively and looking out the window or via word of mouth. And we did not have internet and
Brother, can you name one of the most original writers of the moment? That is hard to say as I don’t have a good overview on the graffiti movement in total at the moment. Many claim to be original but are just copying from what was done in the past by others. Talk about originality and in my eyes there are only a few who are truly original, one of them being my friend CES53, the stuff that he painted over the years is not only truly
original but also remarkably stylish. FUME is another example of someone with his own original and unique style.
C’mon brother! Tell me about about your actual and future projects? Hehe, I did more graffiti in the last 6 months than I did over the last 20 years. But my future projects are classified information only for my friends to know, but keep your eyes open as I am back and bad. :-)
Very thanks for this interview brother, true honor for FatsCap Fanzine, can speak with an train oldschool master. Do you want Difficult question as I like so many different music styles, it all depends on what I say anything for all writers broam doing and with who. But let me give a ther? What kind of music do you usually listen? Who is the best band of all times for you?
few examples; Trance (Ali & Fila or Above & Beyond) when driving, Funk (Kool & the Gang, Kurtis Mayfield) when enjoying a glass of malt whisky, Hip-Hop (Jay Z, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth) when drawing or painting, Drum n Bass (Goldie, Ed Rush) when driving, different channels on DI.FM when behind my computer and Lounge music when with my lady.
Thanks FatsCap Fanzine for the opportunity to tell my story and show some of my work. For those that are interested in my past, current and future work, be sure to follow me on Instagram: @deshamer. graffiti. Respect to all writers, keep up the good work and a shout out to all my friends, you know who you are.