Whisper interview @ Bombingscience

By Azim M.

Bombing Science: Why did you choose WHISPER/HESHER as your alias? Does it have some sort of meaning behind the name?

Whisper: Well, I guess a name or names choose you. Like most kids getting a nickname/tag back in the day, it’s like a rite of passage.  I always thought that when a person adopts a tag, whether conscious or subconscious at that time, they become that tag.  I went the typical route of searching for my identity though name, music, clothing, looking to the older kids for style.  One day, I saw a kid take a motion tag on the outside of a 7 Train…”BIONIC”.  WOW!  I wanted my own tag, my own style.

“WHISPER” on canvas.

I started trying lots of names out in my notebook: HELP, SET, RI (Radio Invasion), STOP, KING TRIGGER, etc.   I was hooked.  This was around 1979 in Queens, NY and all the kids on my block had a tag.  I used to write in my building, my friends’ buildings, lampposts…then I met some serious writers and got the name WHISPER (WHISP, WH. ONE).  I always liked the clandestine aspect of graffiti, so I guess the name fits.  The name HESHER is a name I used for a music project in 1999.  Everlast gave me that name.

read the rest @ bombingsciences

• graffiti
• NY
• OLDSCHOOL
• QUEENS
• Whisper