CHOCI INTERVIEW

What year did you start writing?
Depends on "writing" as a punk back in the days we used to squat houses take speed and write all over the walls, it could be poetry, political slogans/messages etc, as for New York City style writing around ‘84.

How did you get your name?
I got the name CHOCI after a punk friend of mine (MIck Hand) vicked some chocolate biscuits from Lisa' cookie jar and I got the blame. So CHOCI is the shortening of Chocolate.

Did the New York graffiti movement influence you?
Oh yes, it certainly did. Graffiti New York Style was like a new dawning of punk, a youth movement, angry at it's surroundings, getting creative, fucking over the system, a new wave of expression through an illegal underground movement. Heavy...

Describe your writing career in London.
As soon as I got back from New York I dived very deeply into the graffiti movement in London, it was in it's very early stages, very fresh, it was a mission to go all city, great fun too.

What targets did you hit, walls, streets rails, Underground?
There was nothing safe from a CHOCI ROC tag. I  hit everything from trains, walls, streets, tracksides, BTP wagons, anything and everything. Mate, I took the ROCSTAR name across the Atlantic and all city London town and on European bombing tours too.

What crews were you down with?
ROC (NYC), We Roc Hard and I started All World Experts and Tone Def Cru. Tone Def Cru was disbanded after I went over everyone in the crew (including myself) cap style. I was loosely put down in CIA (NYC) by DURO, and taken out again, also TOP by DURO although I never put them up unless I hit up a cat from the crew. He told me he's spoken to JAMES TOP about it and he was cool, who knows....

Who were your best partners?
My best partners were Carlos MARE 139 Rodriguez (of NYC), ROBBO (ROBBO and CHOCI racking battles were legendary) DRAX, SHAM 59, RVB, DOZE, WILLIS, REV, PRIME, P.I.C.

How did you end up in New York?
A girlfriend’s girlfriend asked me over. I ended up living with Normski (RSC) and his mother Nereida (RIP). It was upper west side.

How did you hook up with MARE and KEL?
I met Carlos in the Herald centre, I was breaking there with Normski and Scottie Rock. Carlos and I hit it off and used to hang out together. Through Carlos I met his brother KEL. Also DOC, DONDI, FREEZE, MIXER, CS ONE, SEAROC etc..

Tell us about your experience hitting New York trains.
MARE took me up to his grandma's house. In a cupboard was a whole heap of paint. Carlos was like "Do you wanna’ go hit up a train?" I was like “Hell yeah, why not...” We packed a rucksack, paint, milk, cookies and a dime bag, caught the One train and headed uptown. We stopped at a station got out. Carlos was like "Follow me." and we simply walked off the platform into the tunnel...I was like gobsmacked, after a short walk we came to the lay-up. It was surreal, like a film escape from Yew York It was scary and exciting, the closer we got to the trains I could make out dark subterranean figures crawling all over the trains, like ants, closer and the paint fumes and paint dust grew strong, we bumped into KASE (who did my 3d) and we hit the train. It was so awesome, I was the first British writer to get up on the trains in Yew York. I was hooked there and then. This was my new punk, my new fu*k the system! I later found out that it was FC, IBM etc. doing whole cars on the other trains. We returned as soon as Carlos was ready again. Awesome....Carlos is my Boriqua soul brother.

 What did your mates back home think about the fact that you were painting in New York?
They were knocked out. I came home with Uni-wide markers, Marsh ink, and photos of trains that nobody had seen before. I brought Carlos with me too, which also had peeps buggin’ out.

When did you quit writing?
I never really quit writing. I got into DJing through graffiti and became a successful DJ, record producer, I ran my own shop and Studio. It took all my energy, although I was always writing my name on everything especially DJ booths all over the world. I got banned from Tokyo's biggest club for hitting up dubs all over it's corridor walls.

When did you get back into writing?
Over the last three years I have slowly got back into piecing. KEEN one inspired me to do so.

How and why did you get down with Team ROBBO?
I've been down with ROBBO for 25 26 years. We're in the same crews, so it was a simple progression from what's been happening these past few years. It was my house he came round on Christmas morning telling me he had altered the BANKSY piece.

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