interview with vidam | graffiti | the weird

  Hello Vidam! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. Please start by telling us something about yourself and how you got into graffiti? My name is Vidam, that is a Hungarian word for joyful or just happy. That's also my artwork: A bright and vibrant style with bold characters, funny and sometimes thoughtful messages. I always loved to draw and paint and after my studies of graphic design I founded a design studio called Peach Beach with my mate Look. Alongside this daily routine in our studio I still love to paint whether on canvases for exhibitions or on walls. My second intensive passion is music! I love to produce electronic dance music. This is a perfect alternation to my life as an urban artist and illustrator.

Q: Who inspired you?
A: In the beginning when I started to intensify my drawing in my teenage years, I loved to read Franco Belgian comics like Spirou & Fantasio, Tintin, Asterix etc. I'd say that my idol from this period is definitively André Franquin, who's special style influenced me very strongly.

Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I don't know, my style looks very funny and happy mostly, but as a person don't feel like that all the time, I guess it's a compensation.

Q: I really love the surrealistic vibe in almost every design. Tell me more.
A: There's no rule for thins. Ideas come to mind in thousand different ways. Sometimes you sit on the bench and suddenly you have an idea and sometimes you think about a topic for hours to find a nice solution.

Q: How long have you been into graffiti?
A: Not that long! I was more into classic illustrations. I never did graffiti on the wall like writing my name and I guess I'll never do. I prefer to paint funny characters or bizarre situations. When I came to Berlin almost 10 years ago I got in contact with spray cans and then I discovered graffiti as a new way to express myself.

Q: Your first love?
A: My very first love is good old paper with black ink on it. But nowadays I prefer canvas.

Q: What do you like the most?
A: I always love to experiment with different techniques. I absolutely still can't say: This is my favorite media or tool or style or technique. I love bold outlines, I love illustrations without any outlines, I also really love typography and graphic design. It's always a balance between all these fields and I never know what I really like most. Sometimes that's really annoying!

Q: Tell me about the team work.
A: It's always super interesting to see how others work and I always learn from it. We enrich each other with our different views on things and reality. When we brainstorm together, weird and crazy ideas occur. It's pure fun and a personal gain for me and I guess also for the others.

Q: What's the funniest thing about being part of "The Weird"?
A: The funniest thing is to sit together, have some beers and just talk funny shit. We all have similar backgrounds, so there are plenty of topics to talk about. It never gets boring!

Q: Many people are trying to "grow" by copying someone and then trying to make something "different" Your opinion about the copy cats, the crazy comments, would you take that as a compliment or you get mad at times?
A: For me it's not a problem if young people who are starting with design or graffiti begin with copying, that's completely normal in the early stages. If I see artworks that are obviously inspired by my stuff, I take it as a compliment. Normally everybody who really tries it hard to achieve something in the business of urban art or illustration or something else, realizes one day that they have to invent something special and unique to stand out. I don't really care about the crazy comments. I use social media to show my art, but there are always people who don't like your stuff and that is ok.

Q: Favorite medium?
A: In the very beginning I started with music. At 13 years I bought myself two turntables and a mixer for DJing. I loved it, but later I couldn't afford any more vinyl. I stopped vinyl-DJing and started to work on my second passion, drawing. Now this is my main focus, but I always wanted to go back to music and I started again with music production. I absolutely love it and I practice every day to become better in this field.

Q: Do you take your music seriously?
A: The problem is that I can't concentrate that much on my production like I wish I could. The good thing is that my passion for design became a job and it works quite well. I love it and there is hardly time for anything else. I produce music very often on the fly, when I'm traveling for graffiti jobs or exhibitions. There's a lot of time in between like in hotels or on airports. I usually use this moments for working on some melodies. I love that I don't need anything else except my laptop.

Q: How do you feel about the mainstream stuff? What's the dumbest thing you hate?
A: I hate casting shows in TV, because they don't have anything in common with good and real music. This is the worst shit ever broadcasted. Of course I never ever watch them, but the fact that there are people who want to participate and other people who watch it, drives me crazy, but only a little bit, because at the end I don't care.

 

Q: Are there any musicians that you would like to work with?
A: Yes there are plenty! I can't tell you who I really like most but right now one of my favorites are Modeselektor/Moderat, Slow Magic, Ikonika and Marek Hemmann.

Q: Any challenges or obstacles?
A: To stay true to your art on one hand and to make a living with on the other hand. It's often a challenge to balance between commercial sellout and individual work.

Q: What is the biggest mistake when it comes progress?
A: Mistakes are always a good thing, because you learn from it.

 

PEACHBEACH & DXTR In Amsterdam - Collaboration

Q: Any advice for the new artists?
A: I worked for three years at a Mc Donald's grill for my income. I'd suggest everybody to work in a shitty job for some years to realize that you have to work hard to make your dream of an artist come true. I'm still trying!

You can contact Vidam at:
Attila Szamosi aka Vidam,PEACHBEACH
Fanningerstraße 3 10365 Berlin
attila@peachbeach.de / www.peachbeach.de