Connecting crews

The transition of many practitioners from modern graffiti styles to street art experimentation is still strongly rooted in old‑school graffiti culture. Following the established codes of conduct, many street artists hold fast to the rules of the game that define the graffiti culture at its purist core: skill in placement, originality of style and degree of risk associated with the creative act. The graffiti writer or street artist is rewarded with notoriety and most importantly, respect from other writers and artists operating in the scene.

A handful of Australian artists including Perth-based Yok, have managed an effective blend of the established graffiti culture and more-recent street art techniques, extending their practice with street art experiments through a simple yet highly effective adjustment of their original graffiti spray‑painted forms. Melbourne’s Everfresh crew: Meggs, Phibs, Prism, Rone, Reka, Makatron and Sync form a collective that successfully bridges the notoriety and inherent chaos of the graffiti culture and the progressive and viable experimentation of street art. These artists occupy an interesting position in connecting old and new subcultures and have played a major role in revolutionising the Australian street art scene.

Paint fumes, spilt bong water, pigeon shit, mixtapes, fatcaps and longnecks…
REKA, in response to a question about what motivates the Everfresh group.

I make t-shirts. I get people to bring in the t-shirt and give me a six-pack of beer. HaHa is not interested in commercial success.
HaHa

When I want to cause trouble I am G2S (Goodie two-Shoes). When I carry the spray can, when I want to be naughty, there is a part of that, that I can’t resist.
Mini Graff

Influences on my style? Well, there are a lot of influences: travel to Barcelona, living in Melbourne, Vikings, Mad magazine, Barry McGee, 50's advertising characters like Mr Sheen and a healthy obsession with beards and coffee.
Yok