Firstly thank you for taking the time to feature on www.newurbanera.org
Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and when you first picked up the can ?
Tasso 1994
When I was little I enjoyed lying under the kitchentable at my grandparents’ house painting. At one time I had the idea to write my signature and date under the table, every year, and watch the change in style, year after year.
I still went to school when I first saw a show about graffiti on television. It must have been on a Sunday afternoon and it was “Style Wars” with German subtitles. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I liked it a lot, it was fabulous,colourful and absolutely my thing.
Years would be going by until in 1985 they showed Beat Street in East German movie theatres. Like every third teenager I was trying to be a Break Dancer. But Graffiti’s fascination was much stronger and I knew I wanted to spray my first painting. Although – at the time I didn’t know how very important it was to create your signature over and over again, trying to vary in style. All I was doing …HipHop don’t stop – Throw up.
To make matters worse all cans dissappeared from DDR stores in 1986, leaving no opportunity to express anti-DDR slogans on walls and buildings. This is it, I 
thought, leaving my vision behind and starting new ways.
…Along came the political change ….and my first Graffiti-painting. It still took some time until I realized, that in towns like Chemnitz kids were discovering spray cans in no time and in 1990 you could find pieces that as I thought could only be of West German origin.
In 1991, now 25, I sprayed my first piece. In the following three years no more than three were finished, so I regard 1994 as my personal starting year. From the beginning I did not want to commit myself to a certain style, but wanted the freedom of trying myself, finding my versatility and create new ways.
In our small town Meerane I found a guy who had similar intentions and who I knew from my breaking days, BART, and we founded the StyleWandBombers. In very active times we came up to six people. Because of too little action of the crew we went different ways in 1998.
How did you get your tag Tasso?
Friends call me TASSO as nickname many years before I started to spray. My parents first dog was called Dasso.
Your part of the legendary Ma’ claim crew when was the crew formed and what have you guys been up to since?
I was the founder Ma’Claim in 2001. Till then, not a single writer from Eastern Germany had managed to become noticed and recognized. So I had the idea to form a character crew just concentrating on photoREALism together with AKUT and CASE. As style, too, is an important part of graffiti, RUSK became a member soon afterwards.
After several very committed years together, today each of us has developed his own personal style and works on projects of his own.
What or who has inspired you the most to paint?
To paint: my grandpa, my mother, my father
How important do you think it is developing your own styles when it comes to letters?
I started with Graffiti and of course I started to with tagging and to paint my name.
Over the recent years when I worked with Ma`Claim I have concentrated on my photo realistic pieces but always tried to paint some letter styles every year.
I have seen allot what’s changing and what’s happening in style writing in recent years and get a big pleasure to bring my photorealistic knowledge painting my name and developing my own style.
The next years I`d more like to go this way, because I feel more free than to copy photos and do the next face, the other next face, the next boring face, hand, eye or what ever…
Do you have any memorable moments wile painting you would like to share with us?
Please don’t forget, when I was young, I lived in a big Jail called GDR (the east part of Germany-the Russian sector)! A lot of things was forbidden and it wasn’t possible to travel in country’s outside the communist Warshaw Pact. So I learnt a normal job and I never thought that things would change.
After the falling down of the wall I started with Graffiti aged 24.
Since 2000 I live only from my artwork and I visited 31 country’s,
Only because I am a Graffiti-artist.
What more luck can you get in life ???
Whats your biggest piece to date?
I don’t know. Size is not important for a quality-piece!
Hows the graffiti scene looking in Germany at the moment?
I think today Graffiti worldwide is the same. In Germany I don’t see a special trend or something what`s different than the other country’s .
But what I think, in some other country’s Graffiti is more accept by the state and by the academic art-scene. I never heard that a museum in Germany bought and showed Graffiti on canvases. But when I was in Cali/Columbia, there is a very big Mural-Art-Festival where they save the artworks after finishing with plexiglass or in Sao Paulo where they do the second Graffiti Art Biennale and there is a guy who worked as curator for Graffiti and Streetart for museums in Brasilia.
Here they call it vandalism, youth-scene or a hipp trendy thing again…
Do you ever paint canvases and what are your thoughts with street art being in galleries?
Yes, in august 1996 I painted my first Piece on a wood panel in a canvas-size.
It’s a nice to do something creative in the middle European winter where it`s not possible to work outside.
I never do it for art, for exhibitions, for sale at the first years.
For me Graffit is the most modern art of our century . So if we want to save it for the future, it`s important also to paint on substrates that can be collected, hanging and showed in museums.
But every one of us is free and can do what he/she wants! It`s 100% not more art only because it`s on a canvas instead of a train or a wall.
Any projects lined up for 2015 you would like to share with us?
To the point there are some questions to come to events to Brazil, Miami.. but nothing is save/sure. Sure ist a highlight – the 10. IBUg (www.ibug-art.com) this year. It`s a festival I created 2004 in my hometown and it grown to be a big and important event in the street art-scene worldwide.
Will you be attending any jams this year?
If the people invite me today, they should know, if they want that I paint some photorealistic stuff, I need a lot of cans more than a stylewriter!
With my kind to paint I`m not so flexible than someone who paint ideas from his head. I like to be well prepared. And I don’t like to be the background-bitch at a concept wall 
So if I have time, it`s a nice invitation with harmonious conditions and a nice wall, I will spontaneously decide what I do…
Bring the paint 2019
Finally what advice would you give to readers thinking about picking up the can for the first time?
Looking for another hobby!!!
TASSO, Meerane d.5.1.2015
