Mike Giant Podcast

Mike continues to recall memories from living in San Francisco in 1995. Topics discussed include: 8th and Geary apartment, Kodik Joe, Clifton Carter, working at Think Skateboards, The Dirty Dildo, High Speed Productions, Conqr, RJD2, George Washington High School, Cram, regional handstyles, Club Deco, DJ Qbert, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, scratching in stereo, latex gloves, lying to cops, Psycho City, 4th of July, Fame Whore, Coliseum Yard, TDK crew, Dream, Meut, Friday nights on KUNM, Krash, painting on LSD, Susan Farrell, ArtCrimes (graffiti.org), nonsense words as tag names, symmetrical pieces, using brick walls as a grid, increased focus from cannabis use, consistent straight bars versus tapering curves, creating new styles, 20th and Illinois wall, Twist, Reminisce, KR, Sope and Felon, Front Street wall, Lords crew, Rules of Going Over, trippy Goth girl, The Blue Danube, Shoot a Tagger fliers, Tie’s murder, Amarjit and Narangkar, Sikhs, Sam Flores, painting trucks on Christmas night, refinishing and painting my 1965 Pontiac Tempest.

Mike recalls memories from 1995. Topics discussed include: Photographic memory, moving to 8th and Geary with Ben Lovejoy, America Online, trading porn, personal ads, Sugar Daddy, shoulder massage in the round, back door access, King Street Garage, Club Universe, raver pack, flag dancers, bathrooms at gay clubs, video sex parties, Alexandra, awkward threesome, college graduation, squirt isn’t pee, big Goth lady, Hamburger Haven, Robin Williams, Coors Yard, Emeryville, Bukue, Joker, Home Base raves, Lept and Set, individual dance styles, circle dancers, Ernest, San Jose house style, Greg Carroll, UFOs, heavy hallucinations, morning-after Denny’s, Flax girl, Don Fisher, Charles Manson, Sunday nights at Club Deluxe, Swing dancing scene, Tribal Japan tour, Bobby Ruiz, Carl Arellano, Kien Lieu, John Reeves, Zodak, Yokohama (actually Nagoya), Shiori, kyogin, no means no, care packages, shrooms with Carl, foggy death ride, raves in San Diego, DJ Quark, dykes dropping knowledge, Jessica, raver love, Merilee, shuffleboard, Wednesday boyfriend, candlelit bath, menthol gel, Jon, The Family, drying out lsd and deckled edges.

Mike recalls memories from the last half of 1994. Topics discussed include: Black and grey fineline tattoos in Albuquerque in 1980, weekend flea market, Catholic and prison imagery, tattoo magazines, Guy Aitchison, biomechanical style, first tattoo, Mr. Went, jail rigs, Sharpie backpieces, Joker IHU, graffiti armband, issues with visible tattoos, Gator, stretching skin, Mom cried, symbolic intensity, Everlasting Tattoo, bottle rocket battles, Mike Davis, Ed Hardy, simple vs painterly coloring, George Campise, Aaron Cain, robotic vs visceral biomech, tribal style, Borneo, Greg Kulz, Nalla Smith, shitty upper leg tattoos, Greg Carroll, Tattoo City, second armband, professional confidence, graffiti humility, how apprenticeships worked, cautious entry into the trade, shop styles, Chris Conn, Colin Stevens, what time of day to get tattooed, Think tattoo on E, MDMA therapy, Igor, Primal Urge, Marcus Pacheco, anti-cop tattoos, second level shop, Tim Lehi, Jeff Rassier, almost getting impaled, learning from tattooers, Adrenalin Skateboards, Sam Flores, Jaya Bonderov and bold tattoos.

Giant's interview with Alysha Nett. Recorded at Alysha's home near Kansas City, MO on August 18, 2022. Includes interjections by her partner Mike Fuentes.

Topics discussed include: Growing up near Wichita, creepy basements, tornados, Varsity sports, drunk at school, country girl stuff, MTV, music videos, Britney Spears, MuchMusic, Real World San Francisco, Wichita State, Woodstock doc, New Metal, male-dominated family, cinematography, Hardcore, Napster, MySpace, fashion, thrifting, youth sizes, Paris style, Fast Fashion, changing perceptions of tattooed women, “Lower Back Tattoo”, encouraged by tattooed father, Sabina Kelley, full suits, perceptions of tattooed people, hiding tattoos when helpful, balance of a bust, negative space, symmetrical tattoo placement, Junkie Style, My Little Pony, Lauren Windsor, cosmetology school, working at a salon in Wichita, Model Mayhem, Flickr, Tumblr, traveling as a model, Chicago, 17 in New York City, internship at a brokerage firm, hustling to achieve a goal, incentives, Waldorf Astoria, trading up, changes in image search, modeling for skate/streetwear brands, Philadelphia, the Chinatown bus, Mutter Museum, summers in LA, Moose Limited, working as a buyer, Fuct ad, monetizing/influencing, being a boss, Seasonless Southern California, anxiety, The Hundreds warehouse, REBEL8, move to San Diego, hosting SoundDiego on NBC, bus touring, meeting Mike Fuentes (Pierce the Veil), The Law of Attraction, The California Struggle, detoxing from social media during pandemic, creating healthy boundaries, sensuality, consistency, “brand-safe”, losing sense of self, moving to suburban Kansas City, daily routine, Lightroom and Photoshop, iMovie, Reels, tattoo vs lifestyle feeds, trust your gut and The Block Button.

Mike recalls memories from the last half of 1994. Topics discussed include: Working at Think Skateboards, Wade Speyer, Phil Shao, pre-drawn graphics, Eric Ricks, Dan “Cancerman” Drehobl, lip tricks, High Speed Productions, Paul Zuanich, being good at one thing, Fausto Vitello, The Widowmaker, meeting Jake Phelps, skater bar, Ben Lovejoy, getting hit by cars, Albuquerque visit, getting a tattoo from Dan-O, Wizdom, Balinese masks, breakup with first girlfriend, breakup sex, Printtime, Rubylith film, color separations, exposing silk screens, bent screens, vinyl printing, Stephanie, The Pink Projects, Officer Dave “Nasty” Nastari, getting mugged at gunpoint, Tribal Gear chain wallet, Lower Haight, Morgan, Sunday acid trips, Terence McKenna video, Folsom Street Fair, Icon, Candy Canes, Columbus and Broadway, Felon taking punches, 90210 and Melrose Place, Come Unity rave, The Idjut Boys, Cool World rave, Silvia, part-time ravers, Funky Tekno Tribe, Chill Zone, Energy Drinks, range of music at raves.

Live recording of a vinyl set by DJ Jae at The End Up in San Francisco on a Saturday night in 1994. Converted to MP3 from the original audio tape by Davis Livingstone in Boulder, Colorado in 2016 .

Mike recalls memories from the first half of 1994. Topics discussed include: Living in San Francisco, working at Think Skateboards, NYE at the Fillmore, phone card numbers, Cole EMB, writing letters, weekly international calls, 5 Fulton to 15 Third, roach coach, decaf coffee, sack lunch, $375 rent, Jae, circle dancing at raves, sound/body connection, The End Up, piss breaks, Think posse, buying LSD at Molotov’s, sending LSD in graffiti blackbooks, Western Union on Upper Haight, 737 Bush Street, smoking on the roof, sexy French neighbors, Cindy Crawford workout, Clay Street flat, beef with Kept, 3-week race, Sope and Felon, graffiti pits, raid in SOMA, Kept arrested, raid in Embarcadero, Sope and Felon get arrested, bailed Felon out, lying to cops, fight with Kept, dissing each other, Kept beef with Revok, Fate, apologizing to Kept years later, trip to Exeter, snorting E, phone card friends, 12 Westover Road, discovering acid house in London in 1990, discovering Jungle, breakbeat techno, Camdentown, Flame, getting pulled over, Jenny, Good Vibrations, Femalia, map point raves, DJ Spun, Bay Area rave style, painting freight trains with Jase BA, flat black Mazda Miata and ghost cars.

Mike Giant discusses his experiences in the fine art world as well as how to navigate it. Topics discussed include: Agree, Futura, graffiti writers moving into galleries, art “investors”, 1991 Albuquerque Museum mural show, connector photos, reasons to work with a gallery, stable of collectors, trusting in value, Sharpies, 50/50 split, galleries responsibilities, no sell early shows, exclusivity, taking advantage of opportunities versus remaining loyal, Twist, dealing with museums, museums buying art for their permanent collections, getting graffiti in Juxtapoz, Damon Soule, selling artwork in upscale hair salons in the late 1990s, FecalFace, Sketch show at Juice in 2000, downside of galleries owned by wealthy people, ask galleries for references, better percentage of sales at alternative spaces, The Lab show in Baltimore, first solo show (San Jose, 2001), Bob Schmeltzer, WDWA show (Brooklyn, 2002), The Vandal Squad, BEAMS/Upper Playground in Tokyo with Bigfoot and Sam Flores, 5024SF Gallery, Matt Revelli, unpaid show in Denver with Andy Howell and Sam Flores (2002), 55DSL in NYC, MOCADC (2003), pill poppin, group shows, Misanthropy Gallery in Vancouver (2004), Sight, artist-run galleries, 111 Minna Gallery (SF, 2004), Doze Green, Show with Shepard Fairey at Voice1156 Gallery (San Diego, 2005), infamous gang fight, solo show at The Erotic Museum (LA), The Yoga Series, solo show at Nomad in Toronto, first show in Paris (Royal Cheese, 2005), solo show at Lab101 Gallery (LA), solo show at Colette (Paris, 2006), Karl Lagerfeld, Sarah, Fafi, Las Chicas de Burque series, solo show at Best (London), extending stays overseas, Hysteric Glamour group show (Hong Kong, 2006), White Walls Gallery, Andres Guerrero, Justin Giarla, Outre Gallery, solo show at Magda Danysz Gallery (Paris, 2007), three openings (VIPs, collectors, public), Drago Publishing, group show at Iguapop Gallery (Barcelona), getting paid by overseas galleries, solo shows in Australia (2007), solo show at White Walls (2008), solo show at Guerrero Gallery (2010), solo shows at FFDG (2012-16), solo shows at Black Book Gallery (Denver, 2014-17), solo show at ATAK (SF, 2016/17), Inner State Gallery (Detroit, 2016), 6x6’ drawing, online store created (2017), ease of selling work online, getting full value of work sold, difficulty in shopping your work to galleries, using galleries to grow the value of your work, Paris auction, JonOne, accumulation of money vs. freedom, the power of Instagram, withholding a gallery’s access to your social media following, BONUS: botched show at Magda Danysz Gallery (Paris, 2009).

Mike recalls memories from 1993. Topics discussed include: The Beach Zone, Rob Russell, sending a package of samples to Think Skateboards, Burton snowboards, Tribal Gear, ASR Trade Show in San Diego, Olé Madrid, first E high, moving to 1933 McAllister, Everlasting Tattoo, initial excitement, futon, Psycho City, skateboarding down Haight Street, hard bail, Dream TDK, Twist, Dug, Bum, ground tags, bus commute to Hunters Point, Thrasher, Printtime, surprise first day, Ben Lovejoy, the closet art department, Espo, On The Go magazine, Sope, Clay Street house, Jase, The Condor, Joker, Dubose Tunnel, IHU crew, Pilot silver markers, KRINK, green and red street boxes, daytime tagging, Josh B, living with alcoholics/coke addicts, Jagermeister, LSD, Felon, crooked Victorian, house parties, sticker tags, When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron, The Art of Sexual Ecstasy by Margot Anand, the perineum, breathing techniques, orgasm/egolessness, spaghetti for months, coffee and muffins, sack lunch, girlfriend visits for Christmas, Sound Factory, Doc Martin, clean E, Mark Farina, Mushroom Jazz, rave near Lake Merritt, security on E, dawn set, Dwel and Jolt, copping drugs on Haight Street, getting hassled, the lost shoe, raves in the soccer fields at Golden Gate Park.

Recollections of my early years as a graffiti writer. Subjects discussed include: High school PE class (1988), Subway Art, Breakin’ movie, John aka Tank, Frisco Bus Style, Castoner wildstyle tags, Dan-O (aka Wizdom and Omen), The Frontier restaurant, SHARP Skinheads, exchanging blackbooks, KWS crew, racking with Agree, the Garden Section scheme, milk crate towers, the Escape from Home Depot, 1978 Mercury Zephyr skatemobile, racking fat caps, tossing keys as cover, steaks for guard dogs, leather coats on barbed wire, Grey PVC, the garbage can scheme, IGT by Phase2, Can Control, Skills magazine, Tower Records, bypassing security at Hastings, Cek, losing my shoe to a cop, Doc’s fat cap business, coke demon, LA color schemes, cutting back, chrome effects, student loan scheme, malpractice suit, booze options, Christmas Eve mission, Custom Paint, Krylon racks, potential bomb, Writers Meeting at The Frontier, CMF vs GMW battle.