In Japan you get arrested for any nonsense, did you get to know others during this time?
Yes, in any case. There were a few people there who told me why they were arrested. One because he loaded three DVD carriers and sat for 21 days. Another got two weeks for smoking weed on the street. And from the way I listened to it all, it became clear to me that we caused tens of thousands of euros in damage and that I will probably sit there for many years to come and possibly rot. I had no idea what was going to happen to me.
You could partly film during the 3 months, right?
it was problematic, but I was able to film a little bit ..
Did you actually get a lawyer?
Yes, he came at some point, the lawyer. He promised another 7 months, possibly more. Then they will send me home. Not much comfort. When they locked me up, I thought, it doesn't matter, after 48 hours they will have to release me anyway, as is customary in Europe. But there I was sent to a judge after 48 hours, and he gave me another 10 days and broke my psyche. I lost 18 kilos there.
The policemen there behave very decently, not like we do in Slovakia. In Japan they are fair, nobody wants to lie to you, nobody tries any tricks. Later in the process, too, they considered whether or not you helped with the investigation. If you don't cooperate, they can hold you on one case for as long as 11 months.
At the end there was a negotiation with a new lawyer. It was much better, he probably wanted to give his career a boost with this case. It was very much medialized ... that's why. Otherwise I would have just gotten some idiot from the state.
Yes, and that's how it went and I spent 3 months there. Then they kicked us out. I am not allowed to go to Japan for 5 years, the lawyer even told me that I should never come back. He got us out of the ****, but we should never go again, then there would be no more help for us. When the police returned my things to me, they told me to tell the one who fled that he should never be seen in Japan again. So probably no more vacation in Japan ...
And how did you go on then?
Well, over the years they only caught me in Slovakia, abroad there were bad escapes, there were shots in the air, people jumped out of the vents into the street - in Prague, for example. If you want to paint subway, you have to find the right entrance. There are cameras, sensors, security. Very often it doesn't work, but just as often it works. And luck plays an important role. Every now and then the one you go out with gets caught, but not you yourself. Organized escapes usually go wrong anyway because panic breaks out. But in Greece or Spain, for example, we always agreed beforehand that we would stay when the security comes. Unity is strength and there is nothing you can do. As mentioned, they didn't catch me anywhere abroad, just in Japan, but right there. While I was there, I promised my girlfriend that I would never do something like this again. I was really in the bag, they had already made me feel small. The Japanese can break you down mentally.
When I came back I really didn't paint anything for half a year. Then I slowly started bombing the streets again, then trains again, and now the subways as well, just like before. As if nothing happened.
But I just enjoy it. Very many people have no hobby and they waste their lives. Thanks to graffiti, I started to travel, met great people, experienced so much that my brain is unable to store them all. We want to publish a book soon, somehow putting together the stories of all and adding photos.
It's difficult to explain why you can't really stop doing it, right? Especially after such situations in Japan
Yes, that's right. I just can't answer the question of why I paint, and neither can many of my people. In my opinion it has become kind of an addiction. Addicted to travel and adrenaline. It's a hundred percent better than spending your entire ****ty life in Bratislava, drinking with friends on the weekends, doing drugs ... and in the end, spending the same money as me, but you just go to work, for a drink, and then afterwards Home. Damn stereotype! And then all the gossip, how everyone envies me where I've been and what I've seen