Interview for Jean Schott from Majestart

This is an email interview i did for Jean Schott from Majesart. It will be converted to French before published...

Fasm Interview

First, could you introduce yourself? Where are you from? What's your background? How did you meet God and decided to follow Him?

Hey, this is Fasm from Gospel Graffiti crew and also LaserPunch and the Rattlecan Blasters <-Duo consisting of Camer1(from GG) and myself. I was born and raised and still live in Modesto, CA, USA. I have always been drawing as far back as i remember. My mom said i drew a man with arms legs and a face at age 2, my 4 year old is just now starting to do this! I have superhuman powers..JK.. but I know God has gifted me. I drew comics then superheros, figures then fashion models, etc. etc. all growing up. I met a guy in highschool who introduced me to going out tagging illegally. Did that from 91-96. Ramping up in 93 probably as the peak. Also 93 beeing the year I started doing pieces(large works with outlined letters and lots of color). In 1996 I got my girlfriend pregnant and ,being raised in a christian home, came to a instant awareness of just how far I was from God, despite going to church on Sundays and being the goodie gooide of the graffiti crew is was in at the time(lords crew/TFL). I repented and asked God to run my life ‘cause i suck at it! The same year I met one of the original lords crew members from San Jose, CA who had years prior left a life of bombing(illegal painting) and had become a pastor. He had been sketching graffiti on paper and writing “Reflections of Christ/R.O.C.” and “Gospel Graffiti” next to his pieces. I thought Gospel Graffiti was corny but it was so straight forward. I asked Sno if I could start writing it also and we could make it a christian graffiti crew?

What are you enjoying the most in this art?

I love expressing myself and getting ideas in my head out on walls. Meeting people who are pumped about what I do is always fun. Whether they do graffiti themselves or they are just taken back that a normal looking white guy like me can do what I do with a spraycan. I love getting emails from guys that say that gospelgraffiti.com has changed their lives and pointed them to God. This is so humbling that what I started (the site) is being used to God’s glory.. also much of that credit going to all the guys who post on their and minister to people on the forum!

Graffiti has a weird status in France. French youth people and some individuals love it generally, as much aesthetically than philosophically.
But most of the people still think it's a wild and riot thing for selfish people, not an art proper to express noble ideas.
What do people think of graffiti in your country? What's your position on this topic?

It’s kinda strange here too and it changes depending on where you are in the States. Larger cities are more accepting despite having more illegal graf in those areas. Smaller cities, such as mine, hate graffiti and have very little of it seen anywhere, legal or not. So strange to me! In general I dont think people in USA think graffiti can be used to express noble topics. They see it as cool colorful shapes or something that needs to be terminated. I’m still gonna keep striving to have a message in my art and prove ‘em wrong with my actions :)


You're a graffiti artist. Did your faith changed your vision of the graffiti art ? What is the goal of your paintings ? What do you want to express through your graffiti ?

Faith completely changed my vision of graffiti! Fame vs. Faith was an early Gospel Graffiti wall we did that showed our convictions of doing graffiti for the fame or using it as a tool to show our faith in the hope we have in Jesus. This is still the same goal of mine in doing graffiti.

You're part of an international crew, could you explain us too how you are working together, especially since you're coming from all over the world? Are you meeting together sometimes, for workshops or for common events? How are you funding your crew? Are some churches or christian networks supporting you financially?

GG crew has 17 members currently from all over the globe. We interact globally via the internet and strive to have more than 1 member in each area if possible so that we can encourage each other on a local level. We have an event every year we call “auGGust” where we paint a large mural in some pre-decided city. As many members as possible depending on vacation time from work or being able to afford it. Our new website will be up soon and has a page with videos of all the auGGust events. It’s mostly us paying for travel. We’ve had churchs and others donate to auGGust some years either for paint, scaffolding, shelter, food, etc. But that’s not always the case.

Are some people in your crew working full time doing graffiti activities ?

No one in GG crew is fully living off painting murals tho most of us do graffiti jobs for pay. Mostly church youth groups.


Is graffiti a suitable medium to express your faith, and the gospel ?

Of coarse, just like any other art form can. Music isn’t the only form of praise. It’s funny how it seems like christians are just starting to realize this. Thank God they are tho!