BLEN: WHY SAK? AND WAS IT THE ONLY NAME YOU HAD?
SAK: before "sak" I went through a series of names starting back in 79 it was "dizzy d" in 80 it was "hypo" in 81 to 83 was "active" (after alive 5 cia/fba) then a short time in 83 was "rake" then from that point on except for one time writing sak, I did a "Pil" PIECE.
BLEN: WHAT CREWS ARE YOU REPPING NOW AND FROM THE PAST?
SAK: well from the past was (mbt, fba, TNB, toa, sic, tat, msk, otb, tac presently--mbt (of course), tmt, fba, tds, tnb.
BLEN: I SEE YOU JUMPED TO FREIGHTS FOR SOME TIME NOW. HOW WAS THE CHANGE? IS THERE ANY SIMILARITIES ABOUT SUBWAYS TO FR8’S? IS IT EASIER OR IS IT THE SAME OLD THING?
SAK: very similar, IT almost has the same feel minus the running compressors of the subways, ESPECIALLY PAINTING alongside my old COMRADES and friends Kc 1 and shame 125th, WITH those two factors IN PLACE, painting a moving object and with old time vets makes it all the more authentic and rewarding. but i HAVEN’T done a freight in a few years now, GETTING too old for that stuff now.
BLEN: IT WAS COOL TO SEE YOU STILL ROCK WITH KC. HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN PARTNERS AND WHO ELSE DID YOU WRITE WITH?
SAK: kc was one of my last partners in the mid 80s before he moved to the west coast, then my last PARTNER after him was run (rip) A dear childhood friend, I’VE painted with A LOT of people over the years, like rac 7, dero, poem, and A lot of other top writers of the 80's.
BLEN: I HAVE TO ASK WHERE'S RIZE, SWAN, SHAME AND DERO?
SAK: rize, i speak to from time to time, HE’S doing big things and is a supervisor in the transit authority, (how Ironic), swan I haven't heard from him in 10 years, as well as dero, SHAME is still around, we are in contact.
BLEN: I KNOW YOU HUNG UP THE GLOVES IN LIKE ‘87 MAYBE...WHEN DID YOU START WRITING AGAIN AND WHY?
SAK: my get high was rolling steele, for the world to see, NOT some stagnant wall, WALLS are ok but i DON’T get the same charge out of doing them, I put my all into painting a train when i was painting them,
BLEN: I REMEMBER SEEING YOUR PANELS IN THE ONE LINE DID YOU HIT ANY OTHER LINE AND WHICH WAS YOUR FAVORITE SPOT?
SAK: being that the 1 line was my home line, i did most of my stuff there, but after AWHILE OTHER writers started hating on me by CROSSING me OUT, so i started to hit other lines, you know broaden my horizons, A real writer ventures to other lines and leaves his comfort zone for awhile, MY favorite spot was the ghostyard because in that yard, you could hit the 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 lines not the 7 line, THE as bs ccs, on occasion a jj or ll. plus i DIDN’T have to really worry about beef with other writers there because that yard was exclusively for crew members TNB, tat, tac, THEN my second favorite spot, was the 1 tunnel, you could paint in private but every now and then you would get some knucklehead coming in there STARTING shit, THAT was an inconvenience of course. then there was the 103rd layup which was an underground layup, it was nice, there were 3 tracks AND THE trains were parked in the middle track, A LOT of people DIDN’T go there which was good but the bad part about that spot was it was on a curve in a dark tunnel and we had to be very careful AS THE TRAIN WOULD approach us on a curve, lastly was the 225th outside layup, PEOPLE from there windows or platform could see our shadows on the tracks most of the time it was sweet but i did get raided there real bad one time.
BLEN: DO YOU HAVE STORIES ABOUT THE GHOST YARD YOU CAN SHARE?
SAK: well for the most part the yard was like my playground, I had access to virtually all the irts and some inds, THOUGH i avoided the IND (letter lines) like the plague lol. basically if you weren't down you got beat down and robbed of your paint, THAT’S how times were back then, MOST the best artwork was done in that yard in 84 to 86, A LOT of writers drooled at the fact that they wanted to paint THERE but COULDN’T and if they did there were REPERCUSSIONS behind it, so "enter at your own risk” AND writers that did dare go in, paint and left without getting caught, THEIR shit would get destroyed because the ghostyard was a repair shop and DIDN’T necessarily pull your car out the next day, sometimes our cars would stay there for weeks at a time
BLEN: OLD OR NEW PAINT WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE TO USE AND WHY?
SAK: new paint because, one coat covers, and the color PALETTE is A LOT greater than back in the 80s plus with these special caps you can pretty much do airbrush type work, where only in the 80s you had two kinds of CAPS, that was the stock CAP (the cap that came on the can) and the niagra fat caps. only a skilled few were able to do near airbrush type work with these limited tools, I wasn't one of them, could never get that detailed but I came pretty close though. i never used markers to outline characters or anything, THAT’S a big no no in the graff world and is heavily frowned upon.
BLEN: I'VE SEEN MANY WRITERS THAT USED SILVERS ON SUBWAYS. MANY TO DO FLOATERS OR JUST SOME FILLS, BUT YOU ALWAYS CAME OFF WITH SOME DOPE PANELS. WAS IT PLANNED OR WAS JUST USING WHAT YOU HAD?
SAK: it was a combination of both, THAT’S how I kinged the one line, I always kept whatever paint i racked or was given to me to use on either a panel PIECE, top to bottom end to end, A LOT or writers would use their silvers to do tags and throw ups. i WASN’T much of a tagger or a throw up man, I did do a few throwups though.
BLEN: YOU ARE GOING SIMPLE ON THOSE FR8'S; PLANNING ON BRING BACK SOME OF THOSE SICK WILD STYLES ANYTIME SOON?
SAK: nah, THOSE freight days are over, I did do A LOT of simple CLASSIC b'way style PIECES as well as a few wild style productions.
BLEN: AFTER SO MANY YEARS WHAT IS SAK UP TO NOW?
SAK: well mi hermano...STRUGGLING but im maintaining...
I MUST SAY THANK YOU SAK FOR THE INTERVIEW AND VEIN. HOPEFULLY WE CAN ROCK A FR8 OR 2 WHEN I GO TO NYC.
well my brother, THAT’S probably very unlikely but I am flattered that you are a big fan of mine, the gloves are hung up again, I still love the ART FORM though. much respect to YOU. take care.
SAK HAS GOT TO BE ANOTHER FAVORITE IN THE SUBWAY NYC TRAIN DAYS OF THE 80S. I HAVENT SEEN ANYTHING FROM HIM IN YEARS BUT HAS HAD A WORLD WIDE IMPACT IN STYLE . TOGETHER WITH SWAN CEM KENN AND OTHERS THEY PULLED OUT SOME OF THE BEST CARS SEEN TO DATE .
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