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Introduce yourself please.

I'm KoolFunc'88 ('88 is an important year in my life, because a lot of things started then). I used to write Satur and Turs74 as a graffiti artist, then went back to Func' (a nickname for Funcrime, my first writing name) for a few years now.

I'm part of the international Ultraboyz inc, the infamous GrimTeam, the late TWMobb and a few other Parisian graffiti groups. I'm living as an independent graphic designer, I'm the art director for a Skateboard wheels brand and I take care of the U.B. Blog.

You're a kid of the 80's, born lived and grown in the suburbs of Paris. How did that sub-culture explosion of the 80's, in Europe, influence you? What was your first touch with that culture?

As a kid, I never saw it coming, at young age I started, like every average kid, to zone in the suburb on my bike with my friends trying to find some new places to play, build things, break things... at that time a lot of places were abandoned and waited to be rebuilt,so they were our playgrounds. Maybe the 1st "Sub-Culture" I encountered with was the Bmx near 83-84. I've ridden on tracks for a few years. Then comes the 2nd wave of skateboarding('86). It was big! Everybody was doing it everywhere, we were looking for some vids and magazines trying to copycat the Bones Brigade.

So if you know a lil bit about that era, you may know that the "Graphics" were very dominant and that we also gave our contribution with some whacky graffiti on our local spots. Honestly, I never realized what we were doing, we were just doing it naturally for fun, but in 1988 i put it on an other level inspired by older guys (like Bronco, Arsenic, Cap, Cesar, Torpe...) who were already bombing in our area and started to bomb "for real" with a few partners...and slowly let my skateboard home. Since then, I've never stopped.

What does the word LETTER mean to you?How should a letter be,in order to be a good one?

Whoa! How can I explain that? It's so pleasant to write, just write. The alphabet is magic. After that, doing good letters is a must and it takes time to have the right vision about the shape and look. It's very subjective to judge a letter good or bad, but not that much...hehe! A good letter must have the right balance of form, dynamic and logic, the style comes last and makes it dope or whack. I think that it's valuable not just for graffiti but for any kind of work with letters, but I could be wrong.

Music has always been the soundtrack of my life. I listen to music everyday. It is more than important, it's vital!

You've been working and improving your letters,your forms, your style for all these years, and you still are. What keeps you still in touch with the pencil, the canvas and the wall, without retiring as many writers of your generation did?

Maybe that question comes at a bad time as I've started to pump the brakes on my Graffiti activities for a while. Anyway, I'm still in contact with the Letters as a graphic designer and for me it's kinda the same. To tell you the truth I'm still working on some graffiti forms but not anymore often on walls so I can't call it graffiti anymore. It's just fun between two artworks.

Not that I'm bored or something but I have a life and graffiti has taken so much time ,so many years, I have to choose priorities. For sure, I will never stop drawing some graffiti (throwies, tags or letters) because I can't. And as soon as I can catch some time I will go back on the battlefield. Graffiti gave me everything as far as I can remember and I can't see me doing something else other than graphic activities.

Tell me some words about the "Galactic Style". How was it created and what was there, before this Big Bang?

Right, to make thing clear, I called it "galactic style" first...but it's for something that already existed, in my opinion. Back in 2000, we were all (Grim Team) in some NYC Shit like mad Ces and Fx styles. But I started to drop letters without 3d, with simple old-school outlines and futuristic letters melt with Marvel inspired background -a mix of Euro 80's graffiti and Cosmic Comics-. I think at that time, the Germans were already doing some similar type of stuff (the RTZ, GFA etc), but in Paris there was nothing like that.

I called it "Galactic Style" and since then my partners and me, followed that direction for our pieces. Now I see a lot of "inspired" graffiti with that touch. I don't think it was a revolution or something but it has put a new flavor on the map. Look how my nigga Pro is on top of that Galactic shit these days (hehe)!

Has graffiti helped you on making new friends and see new places?

Graffiti makes me find my own gang, the Ultraboyz, having some great moments with the TW and Grim Team, holding my first company with my old time partners in crime. For the places, I can't tell, because I'm a true Parisian and I don't really like painting anywhere else... I know it's strange. I never travel for graffiti.

Do you think that you have something to share with all people out there, writers or not, feeling your work?

I don't know, I think I share a lot through the webringjustice blog, at least my tastes in graphics and music. People are contacting me, giving me some love! That's nice! Thank 'em all!

How important is music for you and the creation of your work?

Music has always been the soundtrack of my life. I listen to music everyday, all day... It's more than important, it's kinda vital! I listen to various kinds of music from Gucci Mane to Black Sabbath. It inspires me a lot, I take many ideas from songs and lyrics.

Do you think that all that galactic stuff we see on your walls and illustrations may exist somewhere in the universe?

I hope so...that other beings are doing crazy graphics somewhere else in the universe and maybe paint some galactic shit on magnetic walls, but i betta don't go too far on that question, i will be out of subject very fast...hehe!

Except graffiti writing, what other letter creating methods are you up to?

I do lettering in different styles, I used to do paper-cuts graphics and I have already experienced wood-cut letters back in the days and of course computer-assisted logotypes. My favorite discipline, still, the black and white paper work with pencils.

Do you have any heroes ?

Not that much hero, but great influences, yes! It can be an illustrator, a singer, a compositor. It's just people I like to refer to for concepts and ideologies but I don't like the term "heroes" itself. If you want me to name a hero anyway, I could say "Winslow Leach" (from the DePalma's Phantom of the Paradise) or maybe Dr. Rick Marshall (do some search, he's a genius).

Any last words, regards or something we forgot and you wanna say?

Stay connected on the Webringjustice Blog, I'm trying to update on a daily basis with some fresh graphic products, illustrations, videos, archives and fun! Sometime you'd be able to cop some U.B. material too. Cop My limited edition Skateboard decks (Creepn'Crawl) for a good 90's flashback and my series for Haze Wheels Skateboards! We independent for real, support us!