2. WW: Where are you from and/or where did you start?
JOKER: I'm from the Virginia/D.C. area and I started in the summer of 1985... in Reston, Virginia to be exact.

3. WW: Who influenced you the most coming up?
JOKER: Etch (who originally wrote Joker) taught me just about everything I needed to know to get started. He also showed me how to do letter connections and characters. As time went on, in those first few years, I became very influenced by T-Kid, Mack and Bio.

4. WW: How long have you been active?
JOKER: About 15 years.

5. WW: Do you see a difference between West and East coast graffiti?
JOKER: When I first came out to the west I noticed a severe difference in styles and hands. I think it was a really good experience for me as far as learning diversity. These last five or six years though have been more about the states as a whole and not just the East and the West. There's some phenomenal stuff coming out of the rest of the nation.

6. WW: What is your favorite surface to paint?
JOKER: I'm particular to concrete, but love hitting steel, too.

7. WW: What is your preferred brand of paint?
JOKER: Rusto. But I'm a sucker for Clover green and Dove gray.

8. WW: What are some nice color schemes you've recently used?
JOKER: I always seem to stick with the greens and purples... I don't know why. I just like 'em. I did do a piece not too long ago with a variance in gray's and hint of pistachio and meadow green. The outcome was pretty nice, but I got horrible photos. The piece itself wasn't that great, anyway. I think "Cloud Cover" has a good photo of it on their web site.

9. WW: Any particular person or people you love painting with?
JOKER: Nah... not really. I mean I like painting with friends, but it doesn't really matter. I'll paint with whoever... I just like to paint.

10. WW: Have you ever traveled outside the U.S. to paint?
JOKER: I've been to Tokyo, Hamburg and London... in London I did the silliest piece, but at least got to paint with a good friend. That was more important.

11. WW: Have you had any graffiti related encounters with the police?
JOKER: Unfortunately. I guess this is where I'm suppose to glorify a chase scene or something... nobody likes to have run-ins with the police. And those who get caught hate it even more.

12. WW: What do you think about the new era of writers coming from middle to upper class backgrounds?
JOKER: Whatever's clever. I wasn't aware that graffiti was structured for lower to poor class backgrounds.

13. WW: Do you have any advice for new writers on the process of laying down a piece?
JOKER: Practice before you go to the wall. Believe me... it'll make all the difference.

14. WW: Have you ever had beef with someone for disrespecting you art?
JOKER: Yeah, and I hope to never have to deal with that kind of ugliness again...

15. WW: What do you think about the documentation of graffiti on the web?
JOKER: It's definitely a neat tool. It's out there for everyone and I'm not sure yet if that's a good or bad thing. I like being able to see what's going on in another part of the world with the click of a button. And the communication is awesome, and scary.

16. WW: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
JOKER: I think I'll still be painting, but maybe not as much. Graffiti is a hard habit to break.

17. WW: What is your biggest graffiti related accomplishment.
JOKER: Progression.

18. WW: What is your current occupation?
JOKER: Grunt worker for a big retailer... it's a lame job, but I'm somewhat ambitionless.

19. WW: Can you elaborate on your abstract style? Did you give it a name?
JOKER: The style I do isn't all that original. I mean it may be definitively mine, but others long ago were doing styles that were inspirational. I had been doing the same stuff for so long, and it just got to me one day. I had to make a change. I'm not sure where it comes from or how I got about it, but for the most part it feels right. I feel like it's what I should be doing. I do wish I were a little more patient with the painting process of it, but that's okay. I'm not too pressured to speed myself up. I have a lot of ideas and I sketch them all down, but most of them are just ideas. Nothing I would really put up, but it's part of the process. I don't have a name for it... people keep telling me I'm on "some next level shit"... so maybe I should call it that.

20. WW: President in 2000?
JOKER: Gore.