Five questions for five flicks 

Featured artist - SNARL

Instagram@nozzlefinger

SNARL is a graffiti writer from Sydney. He started painting in the mid 90's and since then has rocked some of the freshest panels and pieces Sydney has seen. He has his own style that can't be mistaken and can paint straight letters to tech 3D wild styles. We caught up with him and asked for his favourite five flicks.

1. What got you into graffiti?

Replicating heavy metal logos on my school bag caught the attention of local writers at my school who then showed me the ropes and how to get up. I went to school with Fumen, Fink, Token and Breech RIP.

I then met other local writers Pnutz, Wicked and Days. Also, Jungs, the bass player in the band I was playing in at the time was studying at Enmore TAFE and through him I met Fsute and Pus who took me for my first panel.

2. How would you describe your style?

Visual death metal tai chi...

3. What was the Sydney graff scene like in the 90's?

I started in 95 so I can only speak on the later half but yeah it was mad fun. We were only just getting access to imported paint tailored to the market and nozzles that came out bigger than a NY fat.

The yards were easy compared to these days. Social media didn't exist and the internet was relatively new so you had to have your name on the street. Paint was a lot more freely accessible too...

4. Do you have a good chase story?

Walking down George St solo one wet miserable night probably drinking 2 for $5 longnecks and doing marker tags on the concrete pillars of the World Square construction site. They had just installed the black bubble cameras throughout the city and I wasn't used to them yet.

I had made it probably half way along hitting each of the pillars when I got the shout out. I turned around and saw old mate in the full dark blue body suit holding a German Shepherd up at the corner. Apparently he didn't like my work. I figured if I ran he would let the pup catch me but he wouldn't let it run into traffic. I ran between cars to the centre of the road and ran in the direction of on coming traffic towards Chinatown via Goulburn and Sussex. I heard them still yelling behind me but I had about 50m so I cut through to Little Hay St where, out of site, I ripped my flouro yellow Timberland hooded raincoat out of my bag and thew it on over the top of my bag and casually walked onto Dixon St.

It was probably about 9pm and there was still a lot of people about even though it was wet. I stopped in a recessed doorway as the 3 cops flew around the corner. I was standing right next to them but the yellow jacket threw them off completely. I remember trying to slow my steamy breath so it didn't look like I was the one who had been running. They were standing right there, so baffled, looking up and down Dixon st. I decided to keep walking down Little Hay St and make my exit. As I was doing my casual stroll past them, I noticed an old Chinese dude sitting in a doorway smoking a ciggie. He must have seen the whole thing with the jacket because he gave me a knowing grin and nodded his head as to say 'well done'. Cheers buddy ;)

5. What motivates you to keep painting?

It feels good and I like to have something to show for my time. Graff is also like a memory back up. There is usually a story behind every piece and it feels good to belong to a global cultural network of creatives.
Seeing people still getting over against the odds and beating the system with style gets my blood flowing. 
The fact that we are all space dust spinning on a bigger piece of dust in a cloud of dust gives me the impression that I may as well have fun during this period of consciousness that we are all sharing. Some other pieces of dust dig what I do and some don't. It doesn't really matter...