CD_

Firstly, for those that haven’t seen what you do, could you give us a brief description of your work and where you draw your inspiration from?

BUS98_

I write Bus98 amongst a few other words. I would describe myself as a writer with a strong focus on painting trains and walls for as long as I can with as much style and delivery as I can. Secondly and more recently through so much travel and exploring I’ve found that taking photos has been a crucial factor for me so I guess I can also add that I’m a photographer now too.

I find inspiration in a lot of places. Music often has a massive impact on how and why I create things, mostly Techno/ Electro/ Drum and bass for when I’m creating sketches or preparing for an action. The soundtracks from the 10 minutes videos, dirty handz 3 and Stockholm subway stories especially had a big impact on me early on with the link between music and graffiti. Of course graffiti itself is a really important factor too - especially the style writing movement and the crazy scene in Berlin. Crews like TCK OBS DRM MRN HSK BAD CYBER6 DFP have all really impacted the way I look at letters and how a piece should be executed. And of course I can’t mention any names without crediting Nick and Sin1 for really pushing the style and letter forms to a crazy level. I love seeing the people around me progress too. it’s always a big inspiration and drive for me when I see everyone in my crew doing well and painting a lot. it’s a big motivation.

CD_

When did you first get into graffiti and why?

BUS98_

1998 is my first memory of discovering graffiti and creating my first sketches and tags but I didn’t paint my first piece until 2005. I found graffiti when I was really young while on holiday in France with my family. We’d go there every year for summer and seeing the motorways hammered in graffiti and discovering graffiti magazines like GRAFF BOMBZ and EXPLICIT GRAFX really had a big impact on me as a kid. Soon after I started to notice graffiti everywhere, in the nearby cities and even some pieces in the small town I grew up in and I never looked back. It’s been the most important part of my life for as long as I can remember and I couldn’t imagine living a life without it.

CD_

How would you describe your style? Is it something you’ve worked towards or would you say it came naturally?

BUS98_

Emotional, fast, direct, stripped back lines and pure electro flow. 808 drums and a Juno 106 at 135 bpm.

Style is something that should never be compromised, I put a lot of time into getting my letters and pieces to balance and sit right on whatever surface I’m painting. I sketch almost every day to keep myself disciplined in that sense but when it comes to actually painting it’s always freestyle without a sketch which is crucial for the natural progression of my pieces and style.

CD_

Your pieces are quite raw, where do you think this aspect comes from?

BUS98_

Simply because graffiti should be raw! I’m not interested insuper polished cut backs and boring soft cap outlines. I like to see someones process in a piece and know they can actually paint. it doesn’t matter if your fill isn’t perfect or you missed some 3D or background as long as your lines are direct and put down right the first time. it’s all about letters and flow. it’s so boring and lifeless to see a piece when you can tell they’ve spent 4 hours fixing all their mistakes from having shit can control and no freedom in their style. Fuck that. I like seeing drips and errors left in a piece, that’sperfect to me. Pure expression!

CD_

Its seems like you travel a lot, would you say the country you’re in effects the piece you paint?

BUS98_

Absolutely, every country and almost every yard even has a certain etiquette and understanding that should be adopted when approaching. Before I’ve entered any spot I try and asses or gauge the vibe and how long I have inside, this is guaranteed to have an affect on how you’re going to paint and what kind of piece is needed. Sometimes you have 2 hours and sometimes you have 6 minutes, or sometimes it’s a 3 minute back jump with two other people. Everything is painted in relation to the circumstances you're in. Personally I usually prefer the outcome of my quicker under pressure pieces because I have less time to think about what I’m painting and the natural flow really comes into light.

CD_

You have a number of different aliases separate to graffiti, would you say each creative output influences or effects the other?

BUS98_

I used to try hard to keep graffiti separate from everything else I’m doing, but eventually everything becomes a crossover when you’re doing multiple things along side each other for long enough. There’s still rules and distinctions between everything but more recently I’ve allowed boundaries to be broken and introduced elements from everything into other things.

CD_

How would a piece done on a panel differ to one done, say in an abandoned plot?

BUS98_

The main difference for me I think is time limit and pressure. There’s a lot more to think about in terms of planning and accuracy while painting trains. Even though it can be a complete spur of the moment thing, there’s still always some kind of plan and guide line you’re sticking with in your head to make sure everything goes over successfully.

if I’m painting a chill spot or an abandoned place I don’t have any of that, its the opposite experience almost. in theory you have all the time you want to make a nice piece and take as many photos as you want. 

CD_

Which is more important to you?

BUS98_

I enjoy all aspects of painting and get great satisfaction from everything but ultimately painting trains is the most important for me, it’s like night and day really. its two completely different things. The amount of trains I paint outweighs the amount of walls I paint by quite a high number and I aim to keep it that way and keep pushing it harder for as long as possible. My love affair affair with trains will always be far greater than walls!

CD_

Have you had any dodgy moments whilst painting panels?

BUS98_

The most notable would be Naples. Two weeks of security, dogs and police raiding spots and hiding in small woods for hours before getting stopped by the same police and luckily getting away with everything. Probably the worst two weeks of luck I’ve had in my life! 

Another time in Lisbon after trying spots all night and entering the yard in the worst way we could, this led to security almost instantly on top of us with dogs chasing us and having to almost drag a friend out of the yard because he was ready to give up.

Other than that fortunately I’ve been really lucky so far and haven’t had many crazy situations. Just the usual having to run from security, drivers and police but nothing really on top. I’ve always managed to get out in time. touch wood!

CD_

Where has been the toughest yard to paint so far?

BUS98_

Not necessarily the toughest in terms of actual yards or situation but Hamburg always comes to mind as a very tense time for many reasons

CD_

What countries are at the top of your list?

BUS98_

I mean, really I’m trying to get to every country with good old steel models left in Europe. I’ve recently just come back from Latvia and I really want to explore more countries that still have RVR trains running in them, those trains are beautiful. I’m planning on doing some kind of tour through eastern Europe at some point to get as much older lesser known trains as I can, that stuff is really interesting to me, it’s a completely different experience to the more known painting cities.

CD_

Are you working on any edits at the moment?

BUS98_

Right now I’m not working on anything specifically, due to a number of reason. 

CD_

How would you like to take your work further?

BUS98_

Always more travel, more trains and more painting, its never enough. I'm constantly trying to push my style into new directions and building a solid aesthetic overall with everything I’m doing.

CD_

Is there anyone you’d like to shout-out?

BUS98_

I’d like to firstly shout out everyone in PBN, those guys are always making me want to paint more and truly all great friends of mine. 

respect to all the friends I’ve had the pleasure to meet througha mutual love of painting graffiti.

I’d also especially like to separately thank Scab, Rche and Vents137. meeting those three people has taught me so much about painting and how to handle myself properly in graffiti and in life, all individually with something different and I’m forever grateful for that.

Lastly I’d like to dedicate this whole thing to graffiti, you gave me so much and really shaped me as a person and the way I think. I’ve learnt so much through being a writer and having to think about everything with strategy and efficiency. I wouldn’t be the person I am without you!

Big thanks to BUS98 for exclusive images and taking the time to do the interview. You can see more work and follow them HERE