Interview with Stunk about Graffiti and Punk in St. John's, NL

Contributed by Slim

Graffiti has been alive in well in St. John's, Newfoundland for over 30 years. It's always been a mix of civilian tags, hip hop murals, punk tags and regular graffiti. Waves of writers come and go, and in the last few years it's gotten grimey and destructive. During trips to the island I started to notice what looked like Bart Simpson's head dissociating, then the crazy punk throw ups joined it, and I met my new friend Stunk. While there's always been people painting streets, this guy has brought a new energy and a new dedication to getting even with the city. I caught up with him over Signal.

Slim: Introduce yourself to The Counterforce

Stunk: I'm Stunk from Hesh mother fuckers or heshers, that's what you see.

What are some things that influence your style?

My influences are punk, hardcore, hardcorepunk, heavy metal, horror movies, death, having to die, mortality, living in a society that is hurling out of control, losing control, impulses to destroy, impulses to self destruct.

How did you discover graffiti? Do you have any early memories?

I had moved to a new house when I was 7. It was a new area for me and near the house there was a big wall. In black spray paint it said "turkey bones and mid sized homes don't trap yourself gotta have a clean sweep." I was baffled by it. I would see it at the playground everyday and it stuck in my head. It's still stuck in my head. In the same area there was a tag in blue spray paint on a pole that said "cool."

As I got into punk, it seemed to me the thing to do was spray paint walls and do bad things. There was a lot of painting of band names around town at the time, we really made a point to do this. I regret spraying on some houses and cars.

I remember later on as a teen seeing Remio up in downtown. I knew Odie, Dr.West, Sois, McTrash they were into graffiti but that was more their thing, they had bags of paint and were into climbing and I thought that was stupid and too much of a risk. Me and my friends fucking hated where we lived, we were in these shit co-op houses near this strip mall. We loved to bother the businesses and they opened this spot Smitties.

Me and some of my buddies sprayed "shitties" on it as the manager drove by. He called the cops and we all ran away. I ran behind a church to avoid the cops and I remember it was covered in tags, I wish I remembered the names. That would have been 2002. I'd say another key influence was the CRASS stencil campaigns, just the idea of such in-your-face radical stuff in this world of advertising culture. I try and walk this line where graffiti is very political and is in me and is important to me.

Would you say graffiti in St.John's has always been linked to punk?

At a certain point in St John's punk everyone went to shows, it's what young people did. We went to the Riverdale Tennis Club or Kaleo's. There were lots of people just looking for a place to drink too. I imagine some graffiti writers of the time attending shows at that time. I didn't really start thinking of graffiti being closely linked to punk.

Do you remember much about the city wide hunt for Dr. West?

I do remember. I knew him, it's a small town and you already know anyone into anything "alternative." At one point I was sleeping on a couch of a house, he lived next door.

I remember when he got raided, it was a really sad thing. That was a different time for graffiti in St. John's. I didn't pay a lot of attention it was more of a thing for some of the people around me.

I've always been around people doing graffiti but I didn't pay attention till more recently.

Tell us a recent tale from rolling around St. John's

Recently a whole block on Livingstone St. had burned down and they built a huge wood fence around the row. I could see five windows on the back of the houses, five perfect boards. I wanted my name on the panels. I pull up to the spot at 1pm. There was already a hole in the perimeter so I went in with a 20ft pole that allows you to attach a spray can to the end. It's got a string you pull that activates the valve. I go in the enclosure and I already see two kids breaking shit. I probably should've taken this as more of a sign the cops would be coming. I say "what's up" and ask "if they've seen any cops" before I start spraying. I'm standing on a dehumidifier and I'm doing my letters real high. In that moment I see the cops roll up. I disassemble my rig and hide my gear. I run but I'm trapped in this perimeter. The fences are 10 feet high and I'm not built to hop that.

But I try and climb the fence, I fall in the dirt and keep falling as I try and hop over. There was a good 5 minutes where anyone across the street would've seen me, half a body draped over the fence. I get my knee up and my bag breaks, my cans go everywhere.

I run across the street where I see this random guy from the neighborhood who raps, I tell him I don't have time to talk cause I'm running from the cops. He's like "oh man come with me" and reveals some trails behind houses that the locals use to walk secretly through the neighborhood.

I go to wait for a ride at Choice's For Youth and buy a large bag of buenos from another guy who's getting some people hyped on Easter with big bags of cheap candy.

My dad sent me a pic of a sick hollow you did at Rawlins cross. Do regular people know about Stunk?

I think some prole know about Stunk. I try not to think about that much, I've got to do what I've got to do. Some pages for concerned citizens pop up online and I see it mentioned but never with anything serious attached.

Someone said they felt bad for me because that's what I call myself. They said "what's the deal with all these names I see on things, I feel bad for stunk that's such a sad name"

What gives you energy. Is there an ideology behind your action?

NAS has a song, "Second Childhood," I've always loved that song. I believed what he was saying in the song for a while. Now I'm a middle-aged person and the song is a banger, but I see the problems in it. There is no path that we have to follow, there's an assumption that we will 'arrive' and if we go back we're in our second childhood and that's some winner loser capitalist bullshit. Quoting punk as a pressure release valve, like someone crying and they keep thinking about something more sad and they cry longer till they feel a change in state, I'm looking for that change in state because it's unbearable to be in my mind sometimes, not that I'm really special in any way, that's just how it is for me.

I needed to stop drinking, so I went all out. I was living rent free which was a blessing but by the end I had no running water. Drinking a lot and doing pills, living in a dark state.

I had an old van I got from my mom's deceased boyfriend, I started hitting the highways and racking. I was mad at the world and it made me feel good to put a mark on it. I don't like that we don't have a say in advertising, some fucking ad on a bus stop, no one asked me about that! I've had people attack me for painting. This one lady ran up on me and started kicking me in the ass!! I try and stay safe in this horrible world. I think graffiti is bad for me and can bring out the worst in me sometimes. It's not all skulls, bones, fun and games. I don't know why I do it but there's always days I need to go do it. I guess I'm in my second childhood.

I see nothing but bad changes in St John's. Rent is unaffordable. A house would be $800, now those places are split into 2-3 places and good luck getting one of those for $800. There's a lot of visible desperation like anywhere else. A lot of people using hard drugs, which wasn't a reality when I lived here back in the 2010's. I feel really strongly about harm reduction as someone who's recovered from addiction. I've experienced those lows. I feel strongly about people being judged for an addiction, or having no place to live.

I'm more comfortable around people who've had struggles. A lot of my day is smoking weed on a bench and I realized how many people needed a pipe, push stick, new needle. I started carrying all that, passing out kits regularly. Meeting lots of solid people in a bad spot, hearing dehumanizing terms, people being called "it" or "things," those people just fear for their property. I want people to feel seen and I hope I've helped them in some small way.

I don't know where the city is going. They're gonna push the poor further and further out. Living in downtown has turned into some kind of Montreal Old Port. It makes me want to paint harder. The tourists need to know it's not puffins and jelly bean houses, there's some real shit going on.

I do count myself lucky. Since coming back to the city I've found myself surrounded by more like-minded people, but the truth is there is an isolation we all feel living here.

Any shout outs or final thoughts?

Thank you Mom, Pepa, Phil, Kyle, Katie, the crew, Cirel, Croe, Nelson, Joyce, all heshers of the future. Shout out to everyone here holding it down here, we got power don't forget it. I've been doing lots of BLACK SABBATH lines on my shit, I'm happy Ozzy's still alive. Fuck community policing and fuck prisons. I love you sweet leaf.