Heady Graff
Grateful Ched Paints Warf Rats All Over Town
There are Grateful Dead fans (Deadheads) everywhere. It turns out that local vandal Grateful_Ched is also on the bus. With stickers and tags of a giant cartoon rat, Ched is shaking down the streets of Vancouver. I had a chance to chat tagging and the Dead with this Ace artist. Catch them on a wall near you.
Once in a while you get shown in the light/ In the strangest of places if you look at it right
‘Scarlet Begonias’ Hunter/Garcia
How did you get into tagging?
Was a little shithead skater punk as a kid, just kinda happened naturally, but that didn't last very long at all. Fast forward several years, I decided I'd stop just being a bencher [fan/observer] and start taking part. At a point in my life where most people retire from graf, I took it up. I'm disillusioned with society, and wish we would do better, I guess I just needed an outlet, to voice that frustration.
How did you come up with the rat tag?
I've always enjoyed silly illustrations. I was starting off pretty small, just hand drawing stickers, doing different variations of characters, some self portraits, horribly done tags. It all just evolved naturally. I started getting more involved with the culture and various sub cultures, and really enjoy all the amazing hand drawn 228 [USPS Mailing Labels] and sticker writers/artists. I wanted to have something original and recognizable. There's a lot of people out there all doing the same things, and I just wanted to do something different. Characters can sometimes be polarizing in graf, but I've always been a fan.
Your name is Grateful Dead reference, what’s your favourite tune and favourite show?
I feel like I can't narrow it down, as it changes year to year. Gun to my head though? Deal. Live Dead is the best Dead. There's a ton of shows from different eras I love for different reasons but lately I've been bouncing between:
May 2, 1970 - Very unique half acoustic half electric set. The opener “Don't Ease Me In” swings like a gate.
July 7, 1989 - The Scarlet Fire on this one absolutely rips. Also, just a fantastic Brent show.
People get down on Vancouver a lot. What’s something you like about the city’s graff and art scene?
This is a hard one for me. I think I’d probably default to being a downer on a question like this too. I dig supporting local artists though, I love places like Slice of Life or Layout Art Supply, happy they exist.
What would you do if you had unlimited resources for a project?
House people. Feed people. Entertain people. Paint is free or cheap, human life shouldn't be.
