Nom De Plume (NOM_NOW Interview)

So, one lazy sunday afternoon, I decide to take a jog to the Piazza on 2nd St. in the trendy No Libs part of the city, to cop an overpriced latte form a cupcake in skinny jeans with designer tattoos and no deodorant when I notice some wheat pasting. Hold on y'all, I'm an official street certified graff dude from the "other side of Girard Ave." This was no small cartoon character stuck to a stop sign or some psuedo poetic, neo political, statement with a celebrity face attached. This piece was ominous, not only in it's post cold war propaganda, pre revolucion politico design, but in size alone, this thing was huge and I knew it'd been done illegaly. I drop my $12 mocha choka lotta latte cream puffery into the nearest gutter and immediatly contact my home boy Nose GO who within minutes put me in contact with these dudes. I imagine them to be a mixed breed of cyber punk and anarchist, running the seedy streets of downtown Philly in Guy Fawkes masks. Below is a quick Q & A with the leaders of the new breed of Philly street art...enjoy!

Who and what is NOM_NOW?
In a literal sense, NOM_NOW is a group of like-minded artists/designers trying to make a name for themselves and inspire others through action. We look to be a motivating force for inspiring creativity, whether it's within the group or out in the streets. Currently we have six members. Three founding members and three that have joined or been brought in since the groups inception. We are, Michael Smith, Kevin Dixon, Matt Goold, Nick Kulick, Troy Memis and Mike Smyjewski. We came together in April 10, 2009. At first it was really just to create something that we could all get involved in and have a collective voice, then it took a turn for the street art world last year.

Explain the rules for street artists. Is it a rep thing, terrortorial, are there kings?
There caertainly is a hierarchy to street art but it's usually based on the respect and quality of the work. I feel like there are some "kings" but that is all subjective. A king to me, may not be a king to you and vice versa. There are some people out there that I highly respect for what they are doing and how they use the artform.

Rep does play a big part in the street art scene. If you get known for covering everyone's stuff then you are most likely get a bad rap for that, even if your stuff is decent(ie: Shepard Fariey). There's no sense in covering up someone else's artwork. They worked just as hard to get up and out there, and you need to respect that. In that respect, it is a bit territorial, but it's not like traditional graffiti with turf zones or anything like that. Especially with us, we're not trying to convey some kind of political message or spark a revolution. We're just looking to inspire people and put a design spin on street art. Really just create something that is aesthetically pleasing and somewhat comforting.

A few of our big pastes have gotten covered with ridiculous little dittys that someone printed out at home and yeah, first reaction is to get pissed, but you know you just have to move on and take it as an oppurtunity to get back out there and "Make it better". Someone tried to tear down our skull paste out there on 3rd and George in No Libs so how did we respond to that? Filled up all the tears with little skulls to show that, not only will we come back, we"ll come back harder!

Is what y'all do, directly related to graffiti and how do you feel about graff?
In the sense of traditional graffiti with a spray can, not at all, but in the spirit of graffiti and doing things because you want to and not because you are allowed or have been given permission...I think entirely(related). Few things in life are people going to give you formal permission to do, the rest is in your hands and it's up to you to make something with that. I think graffiti captures all of that, and I think that's what we try to do, not only as artists but as regular people.

Graffiti artists and street artists all want to be seen, that's why their stuff is out in the street/public, so yes, I'd say we fall in that category. we want to be seen, but then take it to the next level and encourage people to feel something. Whether it's creativity, a sense of inspiration, or a good feeling either emotionally or aesthetically. We don't ever want to seem overbearing or out of place. We kind of want to fit in with the streets and become part of peoples everyday lives.

So long as there's graffiti it means someone is rebelling against something. Good or bad, that's important. The audacity that some graffiti artists have is enough to respect alone, even if their tag is sub par. When I see a tag somewhere and I say to myself, "How the hell did they get up there?"...that's when my respect level goes up a notch.

Favorite city to paste in?
Philadelphia, of course! The best place to paste is anywhere your heart is in your throat, you feel every beat and just get such a rush. You'd be surprised how fast we can throw up a five foot poster. It's actually very addicting, and I can understand how easy it is to get caught. You get caught up in the moment and go into a mode where you are just trucking through. It's kind of like a tunnel vision and THAT, my friends, is why you need good lookouts.

How's the scene in Philly?
Amazing! I feel like Philadelphia is on the verge of something big very soon. All the artists are just looking to support each other and have a good time out there. Philly has a whole scene of great street art bloggers and photographers, so it's awsome to see some of your own stuff pup up occasionally. Like I mentioned, I've never felt such a feeling of people looking to support a greater good in one scene. Everyone shows up to everyone else's shows and it's just a huge inspirational atmosphere.

What's the soundtrack to NOM_NOW?
Aw man, check in on the Music Mondays for that! It's of course, always changing. If you're looking for bands we listen to, we all love River City Extension, Secret Mountains and Wisdom Tooth to name a few.

What inspires y'all?
I think we strive to be open to inspiration more than anything else. Inspiration can and does come from anything, but you have to be willing and ready to accept it and perhaps it takes looking at something different from the way you are used to. Never let your eyes settle in how you assess something. To be able to look at something like it was the first time you were seeing it can often lead to a whole lot of inspiration.

What is the expected outcome?
I think we'll take it day by day. As long as people keep coming to our shows and are happy with what we're putting up in the streets, that's all we need. We're not looking to become superstars or anything like that. This is what we all do for fun, it just so happens that we like to share it with the world via posters and pastes.

What NOW, what next and what else?
Continue to strive to make things as ofetn as possible. "NOW" is half of what we are representing. It's the easiest thing in the world to put something off until tomorrow. Sometimes, it's even necessary to do so. To fall into the mode of being lackadaisical will be your creative death. Obstacles are going to be present from now until you die and you can find excuses to prevent you from dealing with them, or you can find a new way to conquer them and continue to grow and evolve. Nothing comes without effort. An important caveat.

We'll be hitting the streets with a few bangin collabs this summer so keep your eyes open for that. We're definitly looking to spread to NYC and really just keep or heads down and moving forward. Keeping up with the momentum we have going for us.

Shout outs?
We just want to say thanks to all the people that have showed their support or went out of their way to send an email that said they appreciate what we're doing. It really wouldn't be easy without all the positive reinforcement. Shouts to Yis Goodwin (NoseGo), El Toro, UWP, Goest, The TrickGo Crew (Gab Bonghi, Maxine Kramer, Courtney Brown, Matt Trigaux), Damon Landry, Conrad at Streets Dept, Fresh Melt Water and Lodge 215, WeAreBrainstorm, Masthead Print Studio and Gallery, Adam Smith, Steve Streisguth, Rebellious Reflection, Dash, Ticky, Rog!, Question Josh, Tom Buildmore, Sir Froderick, Philadelphai and it's excess of dilapidated buildings that we paste and post on and all our friends and fam that have slapped a sticker somewhere or showed up to one of our shows.

There you have it lady's and gents...another one for the books. Peep the pics, click the links and till next time...WATCH YA BODY FAM!