Say Uncle

The first graff-related narrative released to the mainstream in the past 20 years, Bomb the System, dropped in theaters late 2005.

A fictional story seen through the eyes of writer, “BLEST”, and his crew, the film depicts their daily lifestyle in New York City thru run-ins with the vandal squad, bombing the Brooklyn Bridge, and superkool loft parties. Hate or love it, the film has guest appearances from Zorro himself (LEE), SEMZ IRAK (RIP), GANO VGL, and features painting by the TATS CRU and COPE2 as some of the visuals seen in the flick. We recently caught up with the young director Adam Bhala-Lough to get the lowdown on how the production went down:

What inspired you to put this film together?

I had made a short film while at NYU about a graffiti writer that gets killed by the police, semi-based on the Michael Stewart tragedy from the late 80s (The writer that was caught catching tags in the subway, and died in police custody. No officers were ever arrested). It got into some film festivals, and then I decided to expand it into more of a feature.

How did you go about getting funding/backing to put this movie out?

I had to convince people to give us money off the strength of the script. I had to go around pitching to people. It was mainly funded first by two entrepreneurs, one from Silicon Valley and the other who used to run the stock trading company Datek Online. They really invested in the movie and took a gamble.

What’s your background, are you a writer yourself?

Growing up in Washington DC, I was more of a fan of graff. For me it was about hanging out with these older kids who wrote, being accepted and looking up to them when I was 13,14. When I moved up to NY to go to school, I was randomly dormed with this guy KAST and we bonded on a writers level. I was catching tags and into graff more than anyone in the film industry and able to utilize my background to make a credible movie. Before Bomb the System I had done a couple music videos including Deadbent and Question Mark for MF Doom.

How did you recruit the artists in the film?

The main people that helped out from the start were SEMZ IRAK and FELCH from Virginia. SEMZ had found out my ideas for the movie, called me up out of nowhere, and we met at Mars Bar in NY. We were on the same level about our ideas. He plays Knife in the flick and also has a good bio on the extra features on the DVD. GANO (from Shaolin also famous for creating the Wu-Tang logo, plays BUK-50 in the movie) came on as an actor thru SEMZ because they used to write together, and he personally hired most the writers. He brought on TRACY168, TATS, COPE, CHINO BYI, KR, STEM YNN and all the Molotov Paint.I also put on CECIL FOG who was basically my roommate, and we hired a casting director for a few of the main roles.

Did you encounter any trouble while filming?

We were shut down by the mayor’s office for 8 days, and they threatened to arrest us if we continued to shoot. Our permits got revoked for doing dumb shit because invariably having a bunch of graff writers on the set, they end up sneaking around and catching tags throughout the city and they were linked to our set. Citizens tried to push us off the block while filming, but we would tell them fuck you, we’re making a movie by any means necessary. That’s the only way you can make a movie in New York, you have to be hardcore. The city didn’t want us making a movie about graff in New York period, and after threatening us with arrests we left and shot the rest in Brooklyn on the quiet. After we finished it, I invited the mayor’s office to a screening at the Tribeca film festival, and to their credit some of them came and they liked the movie.

How did the permits work for the painting in the movie, or was it all illegal shit?

We tried to get permits when we could, but it was half and half. Certain things like the Brooklyn Bridge they wouldn’t let us do. We shot the movie a year after September 11^th and it was really hot at the time, so we had to do it illegally. The stuff we could get permits for we would paint over it when done . There was this scene at a handball court where we had some old-school writers, WAYNE, KEYO, come in and do some pieces and once we were done the school made us buff it, but all these people from the neighborhood came over and stopped us because they liked it so much.

Did you paint any trains or get any footage of the steel giants?

I had written a scene  (supposed to have taken place in the 80s) where KEYO was going to have a piece on a train, and I spent about 3 months trying to get access to a train but it was damn near impossible. They are actually dumping all the old trains into the ocean into the Great Barrier Reef. I couldn’t get access and it would have been impossible and too risky for us to do it illegally breaking into a train yard with lights and cameras.

How did El-P get involved with putting together the soundtrack?

We just called him and told him what we were doing and mentioned that Bonz Malone (who plays the comedical vandal squad member and is El’s neighbor) was involved. We showed him some of the footage and he liked what he saw. It was a coincidence that El was looking for a movie to score at the time anyway. The theme song for the movie has become Krazy Kings III and is being put out thru Bomb the System/ Def Jux.

What’s the reaction been to the movie so far from the media/overall?

The big papers have supported us, but the lame ass papers have been talking shit spending their reviews taking shots at graffiti. I thank those people because now 13 year-olds will want to see it more.

Are people jumping on the bandwagon especially with the release of Marc Ecko’s new video game?

When we first started making the film, plenty of people would say to me, “didn’t graffiti die in the 80s?” I would tell them there are more writers now then there were in the 80s. It’s not the trains in New York anymore, but Ecko is putting out this video game and the shit is bigger in the Midwest and smaller towns now. You have kids doing incredible shit like PUZL coming out of San Jose, real prolific bomber, but overall kids coming out of places that aren’t NY or LA. So when people would tell me its dead, I would say wait till the next generation of writers come up. On the flipside New Line Studios came at me with a real lame script to direct called “Graff”.

Whatchu talkin’ bout Willis?

Yeah, it was pathetic. The worst script I’ve ever read. They were putting millions of dollars into it and totally jockin’ it. Even though they were offering me a shitload of money, I was pissed they were even considering making this movie.

What’s your take on graffiti today, who are you checking for?

I like seeing kids come out of nowhere and just doing something to catch my attention. Like walking down my block in the morning and seeing 10 new throw-ups from the night before still fresh. Just grimy, nasty shit with drippy krink or mops. That type of shit just shows a kid has heart. I’m checking for EARSNOT, SACER that kid PUZL, and some DC cats NORE & COMA, APES, O’CLOCK, RAELS. I like prolific bombers, because that’s what its about. Not just pretty pictures.

What’s your advice to up and coming directors out there?

Just go out and do it yourself. I get hype about hearing some kids doing some independent underground shit, and doing it raw [no homo], not trying to copy anyone else’s style. Like when Johnny Knoxville movies came out. I just love seeing kids out of nowhere doing some creative or dumb shit with their time and putting it on film. Narratives better than documentaries because I feel they can speak to more people.

Any other movies, graff related or not in the pipeline?

I would like to re-visit graffiti maybe within the next ten years or so in some format, I can never really get it out of my blood. I’m also working on a documentary about the life of Lee Scratch Perry called The Upsetter, and an experimental movie about some random youth related murders in a typical small town that are actually inter-related called Weapons.

Hit up info@bombthesystem.com, or check www.myspace.com/bombthesystem for more info