Finally we have managed to do an interview with Wow123 from Germany.

Hi, please introduce yourself for those who don’t know you yet. You are Wow123 a.k.a. Bed but you are also presenting yourself with your common name since the beginning of the year, why?

That’s right, Wow123 a.k.a. Bed 74 “Class of 1988″. At that time, 1988, I noticed consciously this whole thing for the first time and grabbed a can. During a visit of my family in Munich, I struck the flea market halls which were legendary for me at that time. Writers like Loomit, Neon, Won, and Cowboy had a strong presence there. For my friends and me graffiti and hip hop in general was just cool at the age of 14. After this trip we started drawing styles and characters and looking for sprayed zones in my city Bremen. I painted the first piece together with my cousin near Hanover. We bought the cans for that in the shopping center KADEWE during a visit to West Berlin. We lived out our creativity in an underpass at night until a pedestrian called the police. With some luck we had a narrow escape in time. The next day we could be happy about an “Uzi Duz it” piece. Then we mingled with people from the scene in Bremen.

And why are you working under your common name since this year?

Well, Markus Genesius is the person behind the tag “Wow123 a.k.a. Bed 74″. So it’s no problem for me to reveal my real name. For this reason I also decided to use the Internet domain markus-genesius.com!

As previously mentioned you are from Bremen and you are already an important person of the local scene. Are you still feeling connected to the local graffiti community there? Do you still watch graffiti in Bremen today?

Sure! Of course I keep an eye on what’s happening in my town, it’s important to see and to understand how the scene is constantly reinventing itself. I am happy to see how the younger generation develops! There are definitely quite a lot of young creative minds. … I like what’s happening in the streets of Bremen. I don’t know every single writer and probably not the complete graffiti scene of Bremen but there are definitely different points of contact. By the way, you can get cans in Bremen in the “Big Chill” shop; the TNBOYS have a pretty good assortment….

I see. We have noticed you from time to time on gallery or exhibition flyers this year. Do you like to do some more in this direction?

Yes, I think so. As the public space as “playground” was already a kind of base for me in the past, this was just a matter of time for me too. I have discovered the medium canvas as a new possibility to present my art in a different format. But in my opinion it’s impossible to describe the energy in an exhibition or on canvas which I actually use to create the public space.

Yes, that’s what we note pretty often too. The spirit is often missing; it’s difficult to work appealing on this medium.

Yes, but for me it’s just the logical consequence to preserve a part of my work on canvases after 22 years. The drive changes and gets a different expression. However, it’s not difficult for me to express myself on a limited work space. Quite the contrary, it offers me new approaches and asks me to break new grounds but without regard to old dogmas and norms. No matter in which form, I love the traditional graffiti writing but I won’t be dictated to any limits. I would like to experiment but also keep on supporting the momentum of the graffiti culture. It’s simply another process in my own development as a writer.

Let’s get down to what we know about you – your letters which have already a certain recall value. Today, rather seldom. What inspired you and what inspires you today?

Yes, I also think that my characters have a recall value because I paid much attention to work clean from the very beginning. I’m not determined on any style. There are styles from me that are very mechanical, very angled and blocky, but mostly they are still relatively wild. And then there are styles that affect the eye quite relaxed, semi-wild styles which definitely have an impact from New York. Occasionally, I try my hand at bubble styles and in the 3D field. As mentioned it’s difficult to describe because I try to show many different facets. But I think that you can always see my personal signature in my styles and pictures and this is the most important thing for me!

So you think that a style should be multifaceted?

Well, it’s a phenomenon today that there are quite a lot of good active guys worldwide who paint on a high level. But you also lose track very quickly because many just don’t have their personal signature. There are styles which are really good but sometimes you are standing in the front of it and wonder: “Does this lettering come from Denmark, LA or Basel.” There has occurred quite a mix over the years and in the course of the Internet. If you have seen a picture from Dortmund in the past, you knew that “this is a picture from the pot!” and if you saw a style from Amsterdam then it definitely came from Amsterdam. It’s really difficult today to assign a style on the basis of certain characteristics to any city or country. As an example: the Os Gemeos many years ago or the Maclaim crew.

Maclaim Crew?

Yes, I could really note an own and new style with these guys. By the way, very cool guys. The Maclaim crew was already supported by me when they were still pretty unknown. The guys are very relaxed and we always have quite a lot of fun during common projects! Meanwhile many try to copy their style and their work and this is getting boring. I can’t even stand sprayed eyes or faces anymore… But on the other side I am happy about how for example the Maclaim crew and of course the Os Gemeos were able to position themselves in the meantime.

From my point of view many style writers also often disregard the actual letters and add tons of strange elements and botch the rest by some optical designs … only a few convince me! Many writers should simply return to the base! Sometimes less is more… before it gets really wild! Furthermore it’s also important for me being able to paint the piece by oneself, starting with the style, on the background and the character.

Well, everyone has its own certain impact. Fewest works are really new and innovating. By whom or what were you guided at the beginning?

During the first years I was primarily fascinated by writers such as Seen, Mode2, Lokiss, Vulcan, T-Kid, TATS crew out of the book Spraycan art. Apart from that of course guys like Can2, Loomit, Cowboy, Amok, Won, Scout, Chintz, Sutil, Deeone, Hex and Bates, from whom I have incidentally never seen a style I didn’t like. For me my homeboy Smash and the guys from the MSK crew are pretty fresh at the moment… this won’t probably change so quickly. In addition I get motivated by my guys like Askew, Exist, Mr.Klark Kent, Serch, Atomboy … from the Stick up kids and the TMD Crew! Usually I’m soaking up many of my inspirations in everyday life. There are endless things that inspire me; sometimes it is only a small and insignificant thing and inconspicuous details…

So, after all we read here, it’s true for you: Style is the key, right?

Yes, it´s all about Style!

Let’s touch on the subject Street Art, extensive topics of conversation.

The actual term “street art” is pretty tiring for me meanwhile. There are a few artists in this field such as Banksy who are entertaining me with their topics and I can be thrilled about. But there are also endless copies that are just exhausting and I’m glad when they vanish from the scene. Quality will win through as always. But Street art has put the classical graffiti culture into another focus and helped to an additional attention.

So, you are open-minded to anything new?

Yes, the scene should allow new flows but though not accept everything.

In the last years we discuss on and off about the why, the motives and all that. Why do you do that for such a long time? Is it a different motivation than in former times?

I have met lots of cool and relaxed people through graffiti, I was able to travel to many countries around the world and I have the privilege to take part in the creation of the public space. I am incredibly grateful for that and I am glad that I decided in favor of graffiti once. I am definitely motivated like on the first day. There are always new ideas or projects appearing that I want to realize. In addition, I constantly try to set myself new goals which worked so far and I’m just happy to be part of this culture. However, I am 35 years old now and I have a seven-year-old daughter, I bear a certain responsibility and I have some demands on life. This also means limitations referring to graffiti…

How does a typical day in the life of 35-year-old Wow123 look like?

Well, if it works out… get up, have breakfast, work, organize some projects, meet my daughter, spend time with my girl, write, eat, buy sneakers, meet friends, go jogging or swimming, computers, sex, watching Stromberg on TV, rarely just relaxing, sleeping or partying and at the same time asserting that the day has to have 48 hours! … And get up again….

Let’s talk about your crews. Tell us something more about that and what does it means for you belonging to a crew?

I represent the crew “Stick Up Kids” and the TMD crew. SUK was founded by Atom and Can2, other members are for example Daim, Askew, Kent, Persue, Exist, Serch and Desk7, to name just a few. The TMD Crew is a connection between Germany, New Zealand and an offset in Australia. Two other crews which I don’t often write on my pictures but which still mean a lot to me in a certain way are KB, the “Kesselbande” – a connection between Bremen, my guys from Stuttgart and Kesy from Switzerland. Evil Sons, an old crew from Hamburg, the founders Daim and Duke. And of course, the Almost Busted crew Boogiedown Bremen.

Wow, that is indeed a lot, why belonging to so many crews?

It’s definitely important to me to represent my crews. The TMD Connection with the New Zealanders resulted from the fact that the guys from Auckland have invited us in 2003 to a festival in New Zealand. Atom, Can2 and I started a small world tour to New Zealand, Australia and Singapore for some weeks. This trip played an important role for me with special memories. My mother died three days before our departure. The New Zealanders, Atom and Can2 supported me strongly in this difficult and very hard time. This can be better described as a good friendship, it’s not always about graffiti primarily, important are human relations. Meanwhile graffiti has a secondary priority for us. The SUK crew is definitely very important to me. It was a great honor for me years ago after Can2 admitted me to the crew. Moreover, the quality of the crews simply speaks for themselves.

Graffiti today; who’s THE newcomer in the field of classical graffiti in your opinion? Is there any stuff blowing you away and coming from the younger generation?

It’s very difficult answering this question properly because in my opinion it requires a certain degree of continuity! It is not enough to me if a writer kicks up his heels for 1 or 2 years and then vanishes from the scene … it remains to be seen … but without any doubt there are a lot of very good writers!

In times of digital media, what does Wow123 think about online services like streetfiles.org?

You can lose track relatively fast among those many online services on the Internet but especially Streetfiles is quite cool.

What will come in the future from you, can you tell us something?

The next project is coming in January, “Graffiti Handmade,” an exhibition in the art circle Hameln, together with Hendrik Beikirch a.k.a. ECB from Koblenz. We are just tinkering on a catalog for it; the vernissage is on Saturday, 16 January 2010. In May, from 12 to 16 2010, the graffiti festival “graffiti gold of the Streets” with Revok, Aroe, Smash137, Toast, Akut, Atom, Cantwo, Flying Foertress and many other guests will take place. There are some other festivals planned in summer…

We have heard something about a book?

That’s right. Therefore we are working on it pretty hard. The book “Wow123 graffiti Class of 1988″ will appear at the end of 2010 if everything goes well.

We are anxious. Thanks for the interview. Anything left to say?

Kim “Uran One” KB Crew Rest in Peace! We are always with you homeboy! In love to my Girls: Lisa & Lil `E, greetings to all those who support me to now….TMD & SUK representing, baby!!! Thx Montana Germany…

More about Wow123 aka Bed at markus-genesius.com, Wow123@Graffiti.org, Wow123@TMD Crew and Wow123@SUK